Last week, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) joined state and national partners of The Education Trust, or Ed Trust, for a three-day boot camp focused on increasing opportunities for underserved
students, entitled “Equity Matters: Advocates in Action.” NCAN was invited to participate alongside a diverse network of students, educators, parents, and others involved in advocacy surrounding educational inequities, and civil, disability, and immigration
rights.
The convening kicked off on Wednesday evening with “Can’t Be Erased,” a panel discussion featuring education advocates and civil rights leaders, focused on combatting curriculum censorship, book bans, and efforts to eradicate the teaching of honest history
in public schools. The conversation was a timely response to the unprecedented surge in book bans during the latter half of 2023. PEN America reports that between July and
December, there were 4,349 book bans across 23 states and 52 public school districts – a higher frequency than recorded throughout the entirety of the 2022-23 academic year.
Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA,) who introduced the Books Save Lives Act – which would require public and school libraries to maintain a diverse
collection of literature and classify discriminatory book bans as federal civil rights violations – closed the event with an empowering call to action: “If hurt and harm can be legislated, so too, can equity, healing, and justice.”
In Thursday morning’s opening plenary, experts unpacked how misinformation and campaigns to undermine public education signify broader attempts to erode democracy in the United States. Dr. Diarese George, Founder and Executive Director of Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance, called for “multi-racial, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and student-centered,” coalition building as the best antidote prevent “concerted efforts to destabilize the public education system.”
Several panelists emphasized the existing lack of educator voices in policymaking and highlighted the need to actively prepare educators of color, specifically, to engage in policy and advocacy, in light of ongoing legislative attacks.
In content-focused breakout presentations, advocates and policy analysts unpacked the implications of anti-diversity, inclusion, and accessibility legislation, recently introduced in Texas and Oklahoma. Research Analysts from Ed Trust’s Higher Education
team led participants through a comprehensive analysis of the roots of the anti-diversity, inclusion, and accessibility movement, and an explanation of trends in similar bills across the country. The session was grounded in data from Ed Trust resources, which have tracked the onslaught of anti-diversity, inclusion, and accessibility legislation, particularly following the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action last year.
Later, state partners spotlighted stories from effective coalition work, showcasing how organizations in Tennessee (TN Alliance for Equity in Education) and California (CA Family Engagement Network) have joined together to increase their reach and influence, demonstrate diversity of supporters, bolster their expertise on a topic, and leverage resources for impact. Coalition building is an area
of interest for many NCAN members as well, and one of the best ways to unite for impact in state and federal policy advocacy. For more information in this area, see our Coalition Building Guide.
On Friday morning, the Ed Trust Justice Fellows guided a packed room through an analysis of complex barriers facing justice-impacted students in Higher Education in Prison
(HEP) and Traditional Higher Education programs. The Fellows, a cohort of professionals employing their lived experience with the legal system to amplify and advocate for policies to support justice-impacted students, facilitated reflection on unique
student challenges and tangible solutions in the HEP space. This exercise was directly relevant to NCAN’s current work with our inaugural Ascendium Fellowship:
a national network of college access and success programs building specialized expertise regarding the support of justice-impacted students as they pursue postsecondary education.
In a powerful closing panel, student leaders shared recounted the challenges they’ve faced, and their goals for the future. In doing so, they stressed the importance of not just centering, but listening to youth voices. When asked by another boot camp
participant how youth could be supported to lead advocacy for change, Jenn Galinato, Ed Trust West FIERCE fellow, put it succinctly: “Take a backseat, give us the wheel, and we can take
you to the destination.”
By sharing resources, tools, strategies, and allowing us to tap into a network of state and local activists, this event was a boon to NCAN members who are working in states to combat book bans and anti-diversity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts and uplift the voices of marginalized
students. For more information, please reach out. We’d be happy to share more information with you or connect you with like-minded participants from all around the country!
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