Schott Foundation's Jackson Declares"Our Nation Can No Longer Neglect Marginalized Students"
Resolved. No child walks into a classroom as just a student. Our children carry with them a whole identity inclusive of their varying home lives, community experiences, and rates of development. Yet in each system they encounter—education, community, health—they have their various parts “siloed” rather than treated holistically.
For far too long we have known that too many children enter school buildings languishing under the burden of poor physical or emotional health, disabilities, and cloaked with residue from conditions of neglected communities, all of which create systemic barriers to their academic and career progress. Yet, we continue to approach the task of increasing their opportunities to learn with simplistic narratives and solutions—more tests—more turnover—more short-term grant cycles—while labeling their schools, their parents and even the students themselves as “failing.”
Resolved. More standardized testing will not produce better academic outcomes. Increased educator turnover will not improve a city or communities’ outcomes. A three-to-five-year philanthropic grant cycle will not allow philanthropy to achieve the ultimate goal of supporting the creation of healthier living and learning communities that provide all students an opportunity to learn...