On May 16th, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) announced a major directive against states
where racial disparity still exists in public school systems. This
marks the first wave of direct actions to achieve equity in education
as outlined last fall by the "NAACP Call for Action In Education." The
Call For Action aims to reduce racial disparity in the nation's public
schools by 50% over the next five years.
Kweisi Mfume, NAACP President and CEO, said, "Twenty-eight
governors have pledged to join the NAACP and our partners in
the efforts to reduce racial disparity and close the achievement
gap. However, 22 states failed to respond by the May 10, 2002
deadline. The NAACP will file Title VI complaints with the Office
of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, and the Civil
Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department against those
states that did not submit an equity in education plan."
The complaints will be first filed against the states of Florida,
Louisiana and Ohio. John Jackson, NAACP Education Director,
said, "The basis of the complaints is the continued existence in
these three states of clear and consistent racial disparities in
testing, graduation rates, suspensions, placement in special
education and the lack of access to gifted and talented
programs." As part of this long-term, sustained initiative, the
NAACP will take the lead in pursuing legislative action and ballot
initiatives throughout the nation.
The NAACP will begin work immediately to ensure that smaller
class sizes are implemented in every county in Florida. Numerous
studies have outlined the benefits of smaller classes, yet the
state of Florida's data shows disparities in class sizes in every
county. The NAACP is spearheading a campaign to collect the
more than 400,000 signatures required in Florida to place this
issue on statewide referendum on the November 2002 ballot.
This announcement by the NAACP is consistent with the
Association's mission and mandate as it was over 40 years ago
with the unanimous Supreme Court verdict in the Brown
Decision. The NAACP's education action comes on the eve of
the 48th anniversary of the landmark ruling that outlawed legal
segregation in public schools, ending "separate but equal."
The NAACP issued these latest measures in its Call For Action
on the opening day of the NAACP 5th Daisy Bates Education
Summit. The summit honors and reaffirms the civil rights
organization's commitment to continue the legacy of Bates, the
former NAACP Arkansas State Conference President. In 1957
Bates became an American heroine when she led nine black
students into Central High School In Little Rock, Arkansas.
The following 22 states failed to submit an Equity Plan in
response to the Call For Action to reduce racial disparity in
public schools over the next five years:
- Colorado
- Minnesota
- Rhode Island
- Florida
- Montana
- South Dakota
- Hawaii
- New Mexico
- Vermont
- Idaho
- Nevada
- Virginia
- Kentucky
- North Dakota
- Wyoming
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- Alabama
- Massachusetts
- Oregon
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
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