November 23, 2021
It’s been a rough few months for America’s students. From kindergarten to high school, America’s diverse student population has had to deal with issues that very few ever imagined. I know that most people right now are likely thinking about COVID-19 and how a pandemic forced a dramatic disruption to our education system. But it goes much deeper than that.
Yes, we were pushed into emergency distance learning with no guarantee of having access to key distance learning tools like high-speed internet and a laptop. We also faced the reality of returning to outdated school sites that lacked proper ventilation and were not sure if any real protective health measures would be in place. While all of this is very true, and there are plenty of important stories that students can share about their experiences, what I am really talking about is the obscene amount of incidents where adults have demonstrated a complete and utter failure to understand the dramatic demographic changes in our schools. More importantly what those demographic changes mean and what actions must be taken to protect the humanity of students.
For the first time in the history of our nation’s public education system, we faced the reality that students of color were the new majority.
In 2018 the National Center for Education Statistics released data on the racial/ethnic enrollment in our nation’s public schools. The data demonstrated that from 2009 to 2018 the percentage of white students in our K-12 system fell from 54 to 47%. For the first time in the history of our nation’s public education system, we faced the reality that students of color were the new majority.