The education system in New Orleans faces a number of challenges, but one that has persisted throughout time is racial discrimination. As Orleans Parish School Board member Ethan Ashley stated, the city is experiencing two pandemics: Covid-19 and “the pandemic of systemic racism.” Structural racism has disadvantaged communities of color by enacting policies such as redlining, predatory lending by banks, unequal access to health care, school funding policies based on local property taxes, and teacher assignment patterns that place the least experienced teachers in the most disadvantaged schools. Educational reforms that encourage teachers to increase test scores but provide no means as to what to do when students and their families are struggling to meet basic needs are not conducive to the change that is necessary for improvement.
The conversation begins when systemic racism can be recognized as a force that shapes the way students access resources to nurture their educational success. To start the gears on improving racial equity, the Orleans Parish School Board has actually hired one of our partners, Beloved Community. They will assess a districtwide racial-equity audit that addresses both the central office and individual schools and provide recommendations for change. All seven of the current board members have pledged to carry out Beloved Community’s recommendations.
“Educators, scholars, and policy makers can learn to pay closer attention to the structural racism affecting the neighborhoods, cities, and towns where they work. When they do so, they are better equipped to help improve the lives of their most vulnerable students, and when those young people ask them to talk about race and social justice in education and society, they are much better prepared to lead that discussion.” - Pedro Noguera, Dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles
As a business, it may seem far-fetched to want to create any change that affects the education system. However, there are ways that businesses and education systems can intersect to push schools forward. Forbes defines a few ways businesses can improve academically and better career outcomes in the local community:
Partner with schools and serve as mentors - create high school and local business partnerships programs that include input from students and have them assist in the designs of programs.
Bring work-based practice to school-based learning - internships or apprenticeships can provide business opportunities to students and educate them on real-world applications. Business leaders can then identify talents early and approach problems in new ways.
Improve DEI in hiring, training, and education - require unconscious-bias training and provide workers with tools to combat bias
Sources:
https://www.educationnext.org/whats-next-new-orleans-most-unusual-school-system-in-america/
https://kappanonline.org/structual-racism-urban-geography-education-noguera-alicea/