R.A.C.C.E’s latest work in the community.
Waterbury has long suffered from large amounts of pollution and hazard-filled brownfields that impact our students in ways we have just begun to count. Waterbury is filled with passionate and smart young folks that will lead our city to the next chapter of educational, environmental, and economic success.
The Board of Education has done a poor job as the oversight body of our education system. Too many have been on the board for too long and have long resisted the public’s urging to take bold measures on a host of issues.
“I think what I’m hearing is we need to bring the constituency in, in setting the goals up front…” ~Board President Elizabeth C. Brown (D), 8 years on the Board of Education “I’m not pleased with it. I look forward… Read More ›
On April 30, 2019, RACCE convened its last of four community forums by hosting a student round table. Students ranged from 4th grade to 11th grade. Students discussed their concerns on school climate, school-based arrests and school resource officers, and the overuse of school suspensions by the Waterbury Public Schools.
Join us on Tuesday night to listen to Waterbury public school students discussing the state of our schools from their perspective. The round table will be guided by RACCE staff. Parents, community members and members of the press are invited to attend. A private strategic advocacy session will take place from 8:15 to 8:45 pm. See you there!
Waterbury Board of Education Commissioner Tom Van Stone’s recommendation to eliminate two of ten annual federal holidays for our schools because students have chosen to sit during the Pledge of Allegiance exhibited a large degree of racial insensitivity and complete
disregard for students’ rights protected under the Constitution.
The school-to-prison pipeline is not just a school-based issue. When the data is hidden from the public and the applied solutions don’t work the school-to-prison pipeline becomes a public safety issue as well as a public health issue. School-based arrests disrupt learning, damage student-teacher relationships beyond repair, and cause trauma that permanently harms students and bystanders.
Simply stated if all we advocate for are student-facing school reform strategies then we will never achieve racial equity in our schools…Working in schools, being parents of students, and as advocates, we wholeheartedly agree that educators must be emotionally and physically healthy themselves in order to help students develop social and emotional competencies…This is why we are launching a 10-Session professional development series that operates more like an affinity group than traditional training.
In this case, by looking at our three-year trends we can see a disturbing trend of systemic failures to address the root causes of poor student performance, especially for Black and Hispanic students.
Malloy’s veto allows our lawmakers to complete the difficult task of constructing meaningful and comprehensive legislation during a full session in 2019… If we are serious about increasing educational access for all children, closing all opportunity gaps, and ending the school-to-prison pipeline our elected officials who have expressed a sincere desire to promote education equity should allow the veto to stand…