Educational Equity Requires School Reform - and More

“After seeing the impressive and powerful cross-section of advocates, researchers, and policymakers at the summit, there can be no doubt a movement is building—and gaining strength every day,” says Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a Calilfornia-based advocacy organization. The movement to which she is referring to is the regional equity movement, a multifaceted approach to reform based on contributions from different fields and collaboration of different sectors. This idea radiated throughout the recent "Regional Equity Summit" that PolicyLink convened in New Orleans on March 5-7 2008.

Over 1800 leaders from 35 states and five countries, experts from different fields and experience levels, attended the event. The Summit provided a forum for top leaders in different areas of development, including health, housing, and education, to discuss strategies and policies that have proven successful in providing low-income communities with increased access to resources and opportunities. By joining forces and uniting under a common agenda, Summit participants greatly advanced their efforts towards achieving social justice and development. “I was inspired and educated and brought back ideas to inform my work in Los Angeles,” said one participant involved in health and community work.

The conference featured interactive panels, caucuses, and multimedia presentations, where according to Blackwell participants were able to “share innovative and cutting edge ideas that are making a difference in the lives of millions of people." There was a special focus on rebuilding New Orleans through local, state and federal policies that promise racial and socio-economic equity. Yet, the conference kept its focus on regional equity, which is only sustainable if widespread across different sectors and regions. It considered the needs in other urban cities as well. Danny Glover, actor and producer of Trouble the Water, an award winning documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, reminded Summit participants that "in Detroit, Chicago, [and] New York, communities have been left behind." He noted that urban areas of concentrated poverty in these communities “suffer from an epidemic” because they are lacking in education and health care.

As Michael Rebell notes in one blog post the PolicyLink summit “puts education reform in proper perspective” by establishing the importance of a multi-faceted approach to development. Just as development is not confined to one area, education is affected by many different factors as well. Richard Rothstein, Senior Researcher at the Campaign for Educational Equity notes that schools often bear the whole responsibility of a child’s education, but he argues that schools can only do so much to achieve educational equity. According to Rothstein, in order to ensure that every child has the opportunity for an equal education, we must also consider other areas of youth development such as health care delivery systems, housing quality, and availability of after-school and summer programs. Policy Link’s Regional Equity Summit highlighted the importance of this multi-level approach to education reform.

PolicyLink is a national research and action group committed to social and economic equity, and poverty alleviation policies. PolicyLink hopes to continue the conversations of this year's summit with the launch of the new blog – www.EquityBlog.org.

Prepared by Marcela Briceno, March 20, 2008