From Chicago to Connecticut, Moms Are Fighting for Equity

From Connecticut to Chicago, moms of all backgrounds are starting a conversation about educational equity. In Connecticut, mom Gwen Samuel and parents like her are fighting to open empty seats in magnet schools to Black and Brown children. One of Connecticut’s greatest challenges in creating diverse magnet schools has been building bridges to white and affluent families who have multiple good options, while Black and Brown Hartford families are betting everything on the magnet lottery.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, moms have built bridges from a whiter, more affluent school community to public housing residents and their neighborhood elementary school.

Think there’s a good conversation here? You’d be right.

The story the effort to merge Ogden and Jenner elementary schools is going on the road, to Connecticut this weekend, via this video:

Here’s hoping it’s just the beginning of a national conversation about building parents united for equity across lines of race and class.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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Maureen Kelleher

Chicago Unheard blog manager Maureen Kelleher also serves as a senior writer and editor at brightbeam, a nonprofit network of education activists demanding a better education and brighter future for every child. Before joining the brightbeam team, she spent a decade as a reporter, blogger and policy analyst. Her work has been published across the education world, from Education Week to the Center for American Progress. A former high school English teacher, she is also the proud mom of a middle-schooler. Find her on Twitter at @KelleherMaureen.

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