July 29, 2020
Dear SRI Community,
We are very excited about School Reform Initiative’s first Summer Virtual Meeting. It has been our tradition to have an annual face to face gathering where educators come together and renew their commitment to educational equity and excellence. Given the current health and economic conditions of our country and the concerns related to travel due to COVID-19, we postponed Fall Meeting in Memphis to 2021. While our format for coming together as a community of learners has changed, what cannot change is our focus on giving students what they need to be successful regardless of their internal and external social and cultural contexts. In the midst of the pandemic our students still need us to uphold our commitment to educate them. Over the last few months a very bright light has been shed on the racial disparities in this country, from our health care system as we see drastic differences in outcomes of individuals who have suffered from the COVID-19 virus to our criminal justice system where we have repeatedly observed the lives of Black men and women taken indiscriminately.
It would be ingenuous of us to believe that the ideologies that drive our healthcare and criminal justice systems do not also influence our educational system. If we are honest with ourselves the patterns of the past in public schools reveal to us that we have not served all children well. It is time for us to fulfill the promise of education, particularly to those who have been marginalized by our beliefs and our practices. The theme for Summer Virtual Meeting 2020 is Keeping it Fierce: Affirming Our Commitment to Equity and Excellence. I look forward to hearing from affiliates who will open Summer Meeting by sharing what affirming a commitment to equity means to them.
As I reflect on this year’s conference theme, I believe that affirming our commitment to equity and excellence means that we do the personal work of reflecting on our own equity journeys. As individuals we ask ourselves, “When did I first become aware of difference, power, and privilege?” Furthermore, when I became aware, did I experience the pain and discomfort of being different and powerless, or was I empowered in my privilege? Because of my lived experiences as a Black woman in this country, I immediately make connections with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he spoke about the “Other America”. He suggested that “one America is beautiful for situation” where millions of children grow up in the sunlight of opportunity. Yet, there is another America where the ugliness of systemic disparities “constantly transforms the ebullience of hope into the fatigue of despair.” This place is where many children of color and from poverty find themselves, particularly in schools, because the beliefs and practices of adults create barriers that impede their opportunity to learn in a physically, cognitively, and emotionally safe space.
I hope that we all come to Summer Virtual Meeting prepared to engage in learning where equity consciousness is at the center. Come ready to develop an understanding of what it means to have an equity mindset. Bring your problems of practice and dilemmas and look forward to participating in Reflective Learning Groups where facilitators push you to reflect on how your identity, power, and privilege influence the work you do in schools. Make a commitment to knowing, doing, being, and becoming the educators our children deserve as you affirm your commitment to equity and excellence.
We hope to see all of you virtually next week!
Deirdre Williams
on behalf of School Reform Initiative
