Nine Ways We Can Address Racial Injustice In Our Schools, Today

Recently, consumed by coverage of the protests and chaos within our cities, I watched a reporter ask a young African American man why he was vandalizing a store. His reply? “This is the only way people will listen.”

I understand how he feels. Today, a young boy can’t run in the South Side of Chicago, where I grew up, without the fear of violence or police brutality. Through my work, I have met hundreds of Black children who were born into poverty in segregated neighborhoods; sent to underfunded, segregated schools; surrounded by violence and made to believe their lives are expendable. The violence unfolding in the streets is devastating and destructive, but we got to this point—in which rage and sadness have finally boiled over into chaos—by refusing to act.

Education is a powerful antidote to injustice, empowering kids who may have otherwise been written off to claim their place in a community. As I recently shared with a group of Black journalists, when we elevate a student because of their unique strengths—and do not penalize them because of their differences—anything is possible. That’s why I find it so egregious that we have consistently failed to bring equity and justice to our schools. Majority-Black schools are as segregated as they were 40 years ago and see $23 billion less in annual funding than majority-white schools. As COVID-19 forced a sudden shift to remote learning, schools serving mostly Black students were far less likely to see students engaging with their online classes.

These inequities begin at the system-level, when we decide how to distribute funding and zone students into different buildings. As former U.S. Secretary of Education John King recently told me, we have 1.6 million kids who go to a school where there’s a sworn law enforcement officer in the school building but no school counselor. Inequities persist as Black students are met with low academic expectations and higher rates of school discipline. They persist after Black students leave school, as they deal with a lack of technology to help them keep learning from home.

Severe educational inequality has become so baked into our society that many people talk about it like it’s inevitable. But it’s not. Solutions aren’t just available; they’re everywhere. We have tested proven ways to realize the potential of Black students.

To start, here are nine strategies that have been proven to counter racial injustice—and that should be reflected in every school.

1. Fix the way we fund our public schools: Schools are funded largely based on local property taxes, which means that areas with more expensive houses almost invariably have better schools. Black children face systemic barriers to escaping poverty, and many cities still reflect the redlining policies that cut Black families off from home ownership. We cannot have equitable schools without equitable funding; we cannot have equitable funding that is based on property taxes.
2. Stop ranking and sorting students: When we put students in classes based on their perceived potential, we engrain racial biases. We should be focused on raising expectations for every student.
3. Do away with high-stake tests as the sole determiner of a student’s post-high school success: Tests have their value, but when we raise the stakes, we disadvantage students without the resources to prepare. We should be looking for as many ways as possible to recognize students’ value through tests, projects, real-world success and more.
4. Teach both Black struggle and Black excellence: Many schools still fail to recognize the enduring impact of slavery, legalized segregation and systemic racism. Those injustices are integral to understanding the modern world. But, schools should also remember that Black history isn’t just about struggle; Black communities gave the world transformative art, music, medicine, technology, journalism, books and civil rights protections. The classroom should acknowledge the Black struggle but celebrate Black people’s role in building every facet of our society.
5. Build up a diverse, culturally competent teacher workforce: Today, teachers are 80% white, but schools are composed of majority students of color. We need to make sure that every Black student has an image of Black excellence they can look up to, whether in the classroom, in the community, or on the job. And, of course, representation isn’t the end game—white teachers can serve Black students, and Black teachers can reflect biases. Teacher training programs should emphasize cultural competence as a core aspect of the job.
6. Restore, don’t punish: Traditional disciplinary systems often punish students for exhibiting symptoms of stress, trauma, or alienation in a way that only deepens the wounds. Today, Black students are 3.8 times more likely to receive at least one out-of-school suspension than white students. We should be working with students to identify and address challenges.
7. Ensure all schools have a standards-based curriculum: While every child’s learning pathway may look different, everyone needs to know a set of core skills. Students learning in every school should have access to rigorous instruction. We need to counter the pervasive misperception that Black students cannot achieve at the same level as their white peers—study after study has shown that when teachers set high expectations, students rise to the challenge.
8. Bridge the digital divide: Technology is the key to empowering students to keep learning from home, leverage resources throughout the community and progress at their own pace. Technology has the power to bridge gaps in access to social networks and the kind of experiential learning that affluent schools treat as a standard part of education. But the digital divide means that these advances are often denied to students who need them the most. Today, a quality education for every student means access to some technological resources.
9. Do away with one-size fits all education: One-size-fits-all education pushes away students who don’t fit the archetype; in a system designed by and for white learners, this means students of color are pushed out. We have to equip teachers to understand differences as strengths, and serve the needs and interests of every student.

In the education system, racial injustice doesn’t appear as a single, fatal blow. It’s little signals, every day, telling students of color that they do not fit the mold of academic brilliance. On top of the work of learning how to read and write and do math, they have to do constant mental work to deflect each signal. Eventually, for many, it all becomes too much.

This means that our efforts to create equitable, just schools cannot stop at just zoning or funding or curriculum. Racial inequities run through every element of our schools. Solutions are within our reach, but we must be willing to tackle the whole system.