Fifty-two years after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision that legal segregation of public schools violated the U.S. Constitution in Brown v. Board of Education, the NAACP finds that gross inequities in school resource allocations still exist with far reaching and devastating implications for children of color.
To improve progress that has been made in education as a result of the Brown decision, the NAACP will soon launch "Equity Matters," a national campaign to reverse lasting patterns of unequal school resource distribution.
"As we celebrate the 52nd anniversary of Brown, we must continue working to eliminate funding disparities in public education," said Michael T.S. Wotorson, NAACP National Education Director. "The promise of a quality American public education is severely weakened by persistent disparities in resource allocation and educational processes," said Wotorson.
In 2001, the NAACP issued a "Call for Action in Education" and asked the nation's governors to outline specific information on how they intended to reverse education funding disparities over a five-year period. To date, only 23 states have submitted their equity plans to the NAACP while 10 states have outright refused to submit any plan. The "Call for Action" asks state and district educational agencies across the country to establish annual benchmarks that reverse inequities in staffing, school facilities, instructional supports and access to academic rigor.
Research has shown that low-income and minority students are more likely to attend schools where nearly 75 percent of the student body is eligible for free and reduced meals and that these schools are more likely to experience academic difficulty. More than 40 percent of black public school students attend a school where more than 70 percent of the students are poor.
"It's a fact that money spent on hiring qualified teachers, reducing class sizes, expanding preschool access and academic intervention programs boosts student achievement dramatically
Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.