Category Archives: Equity

Protect our teachers and students from harm (stop the Department of Education’s targeting of teachers)

I taught in Vermont public schools for nearly two decades. I spent years working with teachers across the state as a professional development coordinator. And now I have the honor to work with pre-service and practicing teachers at university for the last three years.

I owe my learning about equity and justice to so many people. Friends, scholars, authors, educators, social justice oriented educators on twitter before it became X, far too many to name here. I’m deeply grateful for this learning, and know it is a forever process of reflection, learning, making mistakes, and trying again. And I know that my whiteness, particularly my white woman kind, wants me to be quiet, protected, “nice”, docile. 

But the kinds of bravery I see around me are inspiring. Folks standing up for national parks, for federal workers, for Ukraine, at Sugarbush this past weekend. I have been searching for my access points, my places and ways to speak out for what I believe in.

And I believe in our students, and with all my heart, their teachers. 

Vermont teachers, especially in the schools I have taught in, and in the schools I have worked with teachers in, have made incredible strides in the areas of equity and inclusion. In the second whitest state in the country, I have been a part of, or seen teachers do work that helps them better understand and interrogate their own privileges and identities, the challenges faced by historically marginalized students and families, and how to develop criticality with their own curriculum, re-designing curriculum to make it more diverse, expansive, engaging, and accurate. 

Teachers have read studies and articles about racism, LGBTQ+, and immigrant students and applied the learning in their contexts, learned new, more inclusive practices, met and reviewed anti-racist scholarly work, developed units of study with rich, diverse, texts from multiple perspectives, and sought to create supportive communities with their students to affirm their dignity and belonging. They have thoughtfully co-written district equity policies with their most vulnerable students and families in mind (and after gathering their feedback). 

This is often on their own time, after teaching students all day. 

And now, those same teachers could be reported to the very “Department of Education” that is supposed to support them. Any of these actions, because they don’t center around a white-washed, inaccurate, Christian narrative of this country, could be reported and a complaint filed by this new, very Professor Umbridge-style form: endDEI.ed.gov. 

Also, this website’s name? You want to end diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools? What exactly do you mean by that? Which part are you against?

Diversity (so you want all of the same kinds of people? I wonder which ones?).

Equity (ALL people having access to education and resources to live? Which people don’t deserve this?)

Inclusion (Including all people with dignity, kindness, and compassion in education and daily life? What students do you think should be left out?)

Ending these efforts sounds horrifically similar to our violent past and will lead to more segregation, institutionalization, and economic inequality. 

This is all taking place in an already hugely challenging field, especially after the pandemic. Teachers worked through the pandemic, many in person with students, while many other workers were able to work from home for 2 years. Now, students are behind academically and socially (because, duh, pandemic) . Student behaviors are at their most challenging. Our teachers are tired, and now, individuals may be reported for reading aloud a book with a gay or Black main character. Or explaining what racism is. Or what the term LGBTQ+ means. Or helping students feel seen and heard, no matter what their identities are. These are protective, supportive moves that help our students see themselves, develop empathy, and learn from other perspectives. The Department of Education, or what is left of it,  is placing a muzzle on teachers, and threatening their very practice. 

Now, teachers have families to feed and bills to pay. Many will not be able to challenge this and will have to change their curricula back to the 1950s, with old textbooks and read-aloud that portray an American that doesn’t exist and never existed, especially in states with laws that limit the discussion of equity related concepts.

We will lose teachers from this field, particularly those with any marginalized identities, at a time when we can’t afford to lose any and their voices are sorely needed. But they won’t be safe. 

And we will raise a generation on half-truths, on stereotypes, on single stories and many students will turn away, give up, be isolated, and many will continue a legacy of harm and hate. 

I can’t abide. Teachers and students mean too much to me. 

Let’s go to our school boards. Let’s write to the Dept. of Ed to stop this madness and clog this form with random claims (and real claims of discrimination— that the students are not learning all of history). Protect our teachers, students, and their families from the harm and fear this will cause and preserve their work toward creating inclusive and supportive learning communities featuring diverse voices so all of our students can be heard, feel dignity, and our support. 

Our nation’s students and teachers deserve so much better than this.

Vermont schools have a transportation equity problem.

When I travel to schools around Vermont, I hear many versions of the same concerns:

  • Going anywhere from our school costs hundreds of dollars.
  • We want to take students into the community, but we burn through our budget by October.
  • Transportation funds are running low (or are gone).
  • We know it is so important to give our students community and field experiences.
  • Technology can support this work but nothing takes the place of getting students out into the field for hands-on experiences and opportunities.

How is this supporting the promise of Act 77?

Specifically, the promise “to extend and validate learning experiences in our communities, campuses and beyond”?

It’s a complicated issue in Vermont schools, but it comes down to two things: what we know works best for students, and equity. So let’s take a look at some of the transportation equity issues Vermont schools are facing — and what a few rural educators have to say about them.

What we know works best for students,

First of all, why do middle level students need to have access to community and field experiences?

(Hint: it has to do with engagement, motivation and transferable, lifelong skills). Let educator Morgan Moore sum it up for you:

These allow authentic audiences for our students. Seventh and eighth grade students are much more motivated to research, write, present, etc. when they know they will be presenting outside of the school. In a K-8 school we provide many leadership opportunities for them in the building, but after nine years they need new, challenging, audiences. They also learn more while out in the community, by interacting with other students and places. It is imperative that they are on college campuses, at fish hatcheries, local libraries, ordering food on Church Street, etc. In all of these experiences they learn about the resources in their community and state, and apply school skills to real life experiences. After thirteen hours in Burlington for Vermont History Day last Saturday, students went home and immediately started researching for next year’s project — that is not the norm in a typical social studies classroom.

-Morgan Moore, Humanities Teacher, Burke Town School

And what we know inequity looks like.

Reducing isolation and increasing access — across the board

Vermont is a rural state. Many students live in rural locations, with limited access to transportation and activities beyond schooling. Teachers often marvel how many students have never been to Vermont largest city, Burlington, or even to a park in their own towns.

This impacts our students living in poverty most of all.

Families who can provide transportation to extracurricular activities do so. They bring their kids to lessons, activities, and sports regularly. This is not available to all of our students, creating an opportunity gap for learning key transferable social skills, growing social capital, developing interests and purpose in the community. Providing increased transportation equity to field experiences for students can reduce some of this isolation and the associated opportunity gaps.

The majority of our student population have limited resources to plan experiences beyond the local area. Most families have two parents who work. As a result, children (esp. in rural areas) do not have access to a variety of experiences; they are limited to what is available in their particular community.

Students of all ages need a wide variety of experiences to build background knowledge, language development, an understanding of the wider community, and an understanding of people and places outside their limited communities.

-June Murphy, literacy coach

Reducing dependence on parents — and teachers — hauling students

Many times we hear that students getting out into the community in support of their project-based and service learning experiences hinges on teachers driving students to these locations. This is, of course, incredibly generous of these teachers, but can put them in a difficult spot, driving students in their personal cars. Do we want to place this extra burden on our teachers? Often, teachers doing this is the only way they can make these experiences happen.

At The Cabot School, in Cabot VT, a trio of middle school students have the opportunity to spend school time working on one of Vermont’s oldest organic farms, Molly Brook Farm, over in West Danville, as part of the Cabot Leads program. West Danville is about 10 minutes from Cabot, by car. The students describe the experience as invaluable and engaging. Farmers Myles and Rhonda Goodrich teach students math, biology and economics on the farm — and the only way for students to get to Molly Brook is through the good graces of Cabot’s school librarian and her electric blue hatchback.

We also frequently call on parents to provide transport. This comes with its own set of concerns. Insurance, safety, and yes, equity. Does every parent in your class have the ability to take time off work? Do they all have their own vehicles in good repair?

Also, many districts require parents to undergo a background check, complete with fingerprints. It’s a long process, and a complicated one and extra expenses for the district to pick up.

So, classes with more parents available and willing to do this can go more places.

How is this equitable? Who might it leave out?

Buses are expensive

Buses in rural locations can be prohibitively expensive. In school budgets, teachers can blow through the allotted amount for field trips by October, and often with one trip. Sometimes schools only budget for one field trip a year for each class. Do we really want just one performance, presentation, community visit, field experience and opportunity per year? How does that limit the experiences of our students, especially those who have a one somewhat traditional field experience (such as a museum visit or theatre performance) in the spring?

What about collaborating with other students regionally? Or presenting at state-wide conferences such as Dynamic Landscapes and Vermont Fest?

This spring, three schools took part in the first ever Battle Physics tournament. The tourney was located at Green Mountain Union HS in Chester VT. Now, Leland & Gray students wrote a grant application to support their tournament entry, and it included bus rental. At the same time, The Dorset School, in Dorset VT, provided funding for student bus transport. Two schools, two school budgets, one big disparity.

Incredible learning opportunities cost money for transport.

Buses are very expensive and we are not able to take frequent enough trips to allow students to pursue personal interests and flexible pathways, within their school day. Therefore, it means that only students who have transportation can truly pursue flexible pathways. I wrote a grant to address this challenge, but then found out that buses are only available within school hours – so we are not able to use the buses for trips that end later. Being in a rural area, it often takes us 1-2 hours to get to a destination, which leaves us only two hours at most to be in a location (often this is not long enough and we need to leave conferences or experiences early, or miss them due to timing).

-Morgan Moore, Humanities Teacher

Often, schools have a limited budget for transporting students on longer trips by bus. Many classes rely on parent chaperones/drivers in order to plan field trips. This is an obstacle for some classes. This also poses inequities from class to class. If there is a grade level where there is a “pocket” of parents who are available to chaperone AND have larger vehicles to fit more students, those classes tend to have more field trip experiences than others.

-June Murphy, literacy coach

Arranging transport shouldn’t be a teacher’s responsibility.

We know authentic audiences want to hear from students. We know students benefit from sharing their learning widely. But all the time and effort it takes teachers to plan opportunities for their students to share their work makes my head spin. Fundraising and grant applications take hours of extra work. Work that takes teachers away from teaching and their personal lives. All of this impacts the sustainability of teaching as a career.

Coordinating and leading these experiences is no small task. Adding “find funding” to this list makes these experiences only available to students where the teachers take this on.

The promise of act 77

The two tenets of act 77 are flexible pathways and personalized learning plans. According to Vermont’s Agency of Education, flexible pathways (bolds mine):

Flexible Pathways Flexible Pathways are any combination of high-quality expanded learning opportunities, including academic and experiential components, which build and assess attainment of identified proficiencies and lead to secondary school completion, civic engagement and postsecondary readiness. Flexible pathways allow students to apply their knowledge and skills to tasks of personal interest as part of the personalized learning planning process. This does not refer to a finite menu of pre-selected pathways from which a student must choose, but also includes school-based course offerings, virtual or blended learning opportunities, community or work-based learning opportunities, and post-secondary learning options among others.

If we are designing ways students can have equitable access to expanded learning opportunities, we must address all facets of the system.

And transportation’s one of them.

If we had access to affordable transportation students could regularly meet with community partners, engage in field activities, present at conferences, visit other schools, see performances, art, etc. A teacher could truly create captivating experiences at the start, and during lessons, that would engage middle school students. Students would be interested in learning because they would see the real life applications and be able to present to real audiences, win awards, prizes, recognition, etc.

-Morgan Moore, Humanities Teacher

Leaving students out of learning experiences based on access to transportation is a serious problem. Plans for Act 77 implementation have to include district-wide plans for transportation.

No really: #fleetofvans

The hashtag #fleetofvans first emerged in a #vted Twitter chat about equity and flexible pathways. Lindsey Halman of UP for Learning, tweeted #fleetofvans as she highlighted this problem and ignited a hashtag, but really, a way of thinking about this issue.

Is a fleet of vans the answer to the transportation issues faced by Vermont students?

Imagine if all Vermont schools had a fleet of vans — or affordable buses — at their disposal.

Imagine if those vans and buses could be booked by students as part of taking the reins of their opportunities.

I’ll leave you with a quote from teacher Kim Dumont, from the Ottauquechee School, in Quechee VT.

In order to provide authentic, meaningful learning experiences to all children, regardless of location, transportation is crucial. Children in rural areas would particularly benefit from having readily accessible vehicles at their school. Without vehicles at their disposal, valuable opportunities may be out of reach. In this case, investing in a fleet of vans is truly an investment in our future.

Districts, schools boards, communities, and school leaders: how could *you* address the transportation equity problem in Vermont?

Race Against Racism VT

It all starts with an idea. Races Against Racism have taken place around the country, and last spring, a community member and organizer Henry Harris suggested that 15-year-old Hope Petraro organize an event in her community. He said she might be interested in having this event in Montpelier. That was just the spark she needed.

Since then, Hope, with the support of her teachers and community mentor, has created an important event to fight back against racism during a time when our country is seeing a resurgence of racial conflict.

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