Unequal access to quality education is a long-standing challenge in the United States with deep historical roots, tied closely to geography and the segregation of cities and neighborhoods by income and race. This student working group will examine the extent to which legislative policy proposals in the United States Congress over the past 20 years have attempted to grapple with – or failed to address – the legacies of institutional racism in education. Some prominent examples of efforts that will be studied include the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the Race to the Top competitive grant included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. The purpose of this research is to inform education policy advocacy by Our Turn, a non-profit group that mobilizes, amplifies, and elevates the voices of students in the fight for education equity. Specifically, the project will track the extent to which any legislative efforts have included reforms that are a part of Our Turn’s Student Agenda. For more information, please contact John Dearborn.
