Keep the focus on equity: A reply to Jennings

Let’s not forget, the reason the federal government got involved in education was to serve as champion for the students being systematically overlooked and underserved by states and local communities.

The need for this role is no less urgent now than it was during the War on Poverty. Every day in America, low-income children and children of color attend schools where we spend less on their education, expect less of them, assign them to teachers who are ill-equipped to serve them, and fail to provide a supportive environment for learning.

These inequities matter. They hinder mobility for individual students and families. And they erode the health of our collective economy, society, and democracy.

So any conversation about a revised federal role must start with attention to opportunity and achievement for low-income students and students of color. And it must be grounded in a commitment to action when any group of students is not getting the education they need and deserve.

Would more federal action on preschool, teacher quality, curriculum, and funding be welcome? Absolutely.

But it must be grounded in a commitment to prioritizing the needs and interests of historically undeserved students. Experience is clear that without a specific focus on equity, even the best-intentioned policy advances can end up exacerbating disparities.

And it must come alongside meaningful accountability for the outcomes of all groups of students, and the expectation of meaningful action when schools or districts underserve any student group. Evidence from schools and systems that are making the most progress for all groups of students demonstrates that this progress happens when targeted resources and meaningful accountability go hand in hand.

We can do this all: prioritize historically undeserved students, maintain — and indeed improve —accountability for results, and expand opportunity for the students who most need it. No new federal law should do any less.

This article is an invited response to “It’s Time to Redefine the Federal Role in K-12 Education” by Jack Jennings.