To VACAP Leadership and Friends:
First, a story that “has legs”, that is, people are continuing to pay
attention to this story. Yes, it continues to be the story about states that
are defining what kind of race-related instruction can be taught in schools and
colleges. Some call it banning “critical race theory” but the Washington Post
editorial on June 6, 2021 makes it clear:
the effort to dictate what students should learn about historical and modern racism is being led by Republican lawmakers taking their cue from former president Donald Trump, demonstrating that this is more about politics and posturing than sound education policy. More importantly, if there is any time that civics education should be expanded and amplified—not constricted and limited—it is now, when democracy itself is challenged.
As you already know if
you read The Reader or follow the media, many bills have been introduced in
many states
aimed at tamping down and turning back any momentum in schools to respond to the reckoning about race prompted by last year’s killing of George Floyd. Particularly onerous is legislation awaiting the Governor’s signature in Texas—a state that impacts school curriculums around the country because of its high textbook market—that would not only ban critical race theory but also minimize references to slavery and anti-Mexican discrimination, while emphasizing the uplifting events and grand achievements in the nation’s past”. As President Biden said at the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, “We can’t just choose to learn what we want to know and not what we should know. We should know the good, the bad, the everything.
And, yes, Oklahoma is one of the states that has enacted legislation that aims to limit what students learn about racism, and its role in shaping American laws and institutions—making President Biden’s rebuke of those who want to whitewash history all the more powerful. The Washington Post editorial concludes:
Three months ago, Educating for American Democracy, a scholastic initiative to redesign K-12 history and civic education for the 21st century, released a road map for states and school districts to strengthen the teaching of civics and history, and make it more inclusive. It didn’t set out a specific curriculum. It didn’t choose between a view of America as a land of glory or one that sees only racial injustice and exploitation. Instead, its message—the result of two years of study by more than 300 historians, political scientists and educators from diverse backgrounds and different political viewpoints—was to embrace and celebrate the contradictions, tensions and paradoxes in the country’s past, challenging students to think critically and form their own judgments. States should stop the misguided political interference that is already having a chilling effect on teachers and follow the lead of this thoughtful initiative.
Second, OK I am
multitasking Monday afternoon, listening to the Aspen Forum on Children and
Families by Ascend at The Aspen Institute while putting together the Reader. On
June 7, Ascend at The Aspen Institute released its State of the Field
report on Two-Generation Approaches to Family Well-Being . This is a
remarkable report focusing on what has been accomplished, lessons learned and
the opportunities ahead with unprecedented federal expenditures in
social policy. The report comes at a time when Americans are more fully
recognizing that a system that tolerates social, racial, gender and economic
inequities is on unstable ground, and we are reckoning anew with the history of
racism, sexism and economic exploitation that built them into the foundation of
our nation. (Yes, that language does fit with the definition of critical
race theory discussed above in the Reader).
The report identifies
the major accomplishments in the past ten years on brain science, an
equity-focused and family-centered approach to health and human services, and
transformation of providers’ mindsets from human services to human
potential and anchor role of public agencies and funding. The report
focuses on key insights that can be leveraged to drive further impact—racial
and gender lens, social capital, a test-and-learn and co-design approach,
creating systematic opportunity and lasting systems change, and working with
young parents and young children. The recommendations match the areas of
opportunity discussed in the report. Anne Mosle, Executive Director of Ascend
at the Aspen Institute concludes: “Our strategies for building prosperity
and well-being for all children and families must be bold and equitable, but
they must also be pragmatic, based on what we know works. Now is the time for
us to think big.”
For those of you
community action leaders who are looking to the future and want to be a part of
the most innovative and bold work to advance racial and gender equity, build
social capital, advance early childhood development, advance employment
pathways and advance economic assets, you will want to download and read this
important and most timely report and think about what your agency can do to use
or expand whole family strategies in the next year.
Third, “critical
race theory” attacks go national in yesterday’s Washington Post.
Senate Republicans are pushing back on Kiran
Ahuja’s nomination to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management for her
past emphasis on the concept of systemic racism known as ‘critical race theory’
that has become a lightning rod for conservatives. Republicans are also pushing
back on Kiran Ahuja’s support for abortion rights at a time when a
long-standing ban on federal funding for the procedure—known as the Hyde
Amendment—has emerged as a renewed flash point for the right because of Biden’s
support for overturning it. The delay on Ahuja’s nomination is being led by
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), although several Republicans objected to a quick
confirmation vote for her. The move will force Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-NY) to go through procedural hurdles on the Senate floor, rather
than move quickly with a pro forma vote that is more common for nominees to
lower-profile posts. The White House has pressed Schumer to bring the
nomination to a quick vote, but Ahuja is competing for a spot on a heavy Senate
calendar. Her nomination touched on two matters critical to Republicans as they
prepare a midterm campaign on culture issues, with Hawley—the freshman senator
at the center of the movement to discredit Biden’s election—at the forefront.
The obscure personnel agency is suddenly at the center of a political war over
Biden’s whole-of-government approach to promoting racial equity and
reproductive rights. The administration in March restored diversity and
inclusion training for federal employees that the Trump administration all but
eliminated by requiring agencies to submit materials to the White House for
approval. The Office of Personnel Management may have a limited role in
diversity and inclusion training—as personnel director, she probably would
oversee the curriculum, although it would vary by agency. Republicans have
targeted critical race theory as divisive and false and have moved to ban its
teaching in schools through measures in GOP-led state legislatures. Former vice
president Mike Pence called systemic racism a ‘left-wing myth’ and said critical
race theory is teaching young children to ‘be ashamed of their skin color.’
Hawley called diversity training for federal employees deeply divisive and said
it was cleaving federal employees along racial lines. Hawley asked Ahuja
whether she thinks the US is a systemically racist country. She responded, ‘I
am a big believer that we seek to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity. I
understand and appreciate the historical challenges many individuals have
experienced, based on their race and ethnicity.’
Fourth, an analysis by the Washington Post on June 4 found that officials at federal, state and local agencies have struggled to get funds to renters, mirroring problems nationwide. US Treasury Department guidelines provide that the rental assistance is meant for “renters most desperately in need of assistance to avoid evictions and secure housing stability.” Officials say that unlike other federal stimulus programs, there is no existing process for spending emergency rental aid. The stimulus legislation gives state and local governments wide latitude to design programs according to their own priorities. Stimulus checks, unemployment insurance and job growth has helped stabilize people’s incomes.
Experts say that the year-plus when many renters were unable to pay and landlords have been unable to collect has left a glaring need that so far the emergency rental assistance program has not filled. Apartment building owners say more tenants and landlords need to be made aware of it.
This is a one-time, once-in-a-generation response from the federal government. The Biden administration has gone big on this. We need to have a massive PR campaign like what he had with the covid vaccine to bring awareness to people, but the money is out there for them,' said Peggy Jeffers of the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington. Gene Sperling, coordinator of the White House’s American Rescue Plan said, 'Creating a first-time national infrastructure for emergency rental relief has been challenging to say the least. But the more they are set up the more we can expect exponential growth as we move through the summer. We wish we could make states and local government start up faster, but renters and landlords in distress should know there is substantial relief that is growing in availability.
According to Treasury officials, Virginia has one of the strongest programs in the country and yet has spent only about 30 percent of the money it received from the first funding round (not counting Fairfax and Chesterfield Counties which have their own programs). About 16 percent of Virginia renters were behind on payments as of April, according to Moody’s, above the national average of 13.8 percent. The federal ban on evictions remains in place until the end of June. White House Official Gene Sperling said, “We are not sitting back. We are looking for every potential step we can take under the law. The new guidance reflected our all-out effort to listen to experts, advocates and those delivering services on the ground in real time while asking what is everything we can do to respond?” Money from the first round of $25 billion in funding expires on September 30, at which point the federal government may repurpose it.
That is it for this week’s Reader. Expect something about infrastructure in next week’s issue—yes, Virginia, you should still be planning for infrastructure funding, probably later in the summer.
Thanks for reading!
Jim Schuyler
VACAP
