New Get the Facts feature

"My young friends, doors are opening to you – doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers — and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.” Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia, PA (1967).

Inspirational as these words are, more than 40 years later, they also serve as a painful reminder that equality of opportunity is still unrealized in our nation’s public schools. As we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King, the Education Equality Project (EEP) is recommitting to our goal: closing the education achievement gap for low-income and minority students.

While low-income, African-American, Latino, and Native American students still face tremendous inequities in public education, we are deeply optimistic that change is coming. How do we know?

• The Obama Administration is addressing education’s most critical problems head-on, working to prepare students for success in college and the workplace, improve teacher quality, expand the number and types of high-quality schools for low-income and minority students, and turn around the country’s lowest-achieving schools.
• EEP is working on both sides of the aisle in Washington, in the states, and with a growing coalition of advocacy groups across the country to push for real education reform, particularly via the upcoming reauthorization of the nation’s education legislation – the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA), which is heating up quickly.
• Our 120 signatories are prominent advocates for education equality; they include elected officials, civil rights activists, educators, and business and public policy leaders. Their innovative work is making a positive impact on students’ lives every day.

In honor of MLK Day, we have launched a new Get the Facts feature on our website.

Get the Facts includes more than 30 facts about the achievement gap, accompanying charts/graphs, and links to source information. The facts clearly show that Dr. King’s doors of opportunity remain closed for many low-income and minority students. The good news is that we’ve also learned a great deal about what works to improve public education and what doesn’t.

Check out the facts, let us know what you think, and most importantly, spread the word about EEP. We can think of no better time than MLK Day to push for equity in education.

Categories: Education News EEP News