Beloved,
This month, alongside more than 54 million school-aged students across the country, my two youngest children headed back to class. My wife and I have purchased pencils and paper, book bags and lunch boxes, sneakers and “jorts.” (Yes, blue jean shorts are a thing again.)
For their part, as near as I can tell, my son and daughter have been crafting first-day outfits since the Fourth of July. By the time we got to that fateful first day, my 11-year-old daughter had laid out style combinations for an entire week, all hung in aligned succession with rotating kicks to match. Frankly, I hope the level of visible, psychic energy deployed on this school project extends into their academics. Our eleventh-grade son, who walks in the spirit of “look good, feel good,” is convinced that it will.
But children don’t just return to school each August; they reenter learning conditions we have created for them. Long before the first bell rang, we made decisions about their promise, practices, and possibilities. Unfortunately, while young people and parents are going to great lengths to look, act, and perform their best, barriers to academic success and persistence are being erected at every level.
A promise we made to give every child in the nation access to a head start through education is now contested with the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to quality standards in the name of deregulation and cost savings. The Head Start program, initiated through the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and formalized as its own program through the Head Start Act of 1981, has enjoyed bipartisan support, reauthorization, and investment to serve more than 40 million children over two generations. In 2007, the Bush Administration added provisions to improve kindergarten readiness so every student would be prepared on day one.
As proposed Head Start changes would diminish student readiness for the first day, new student loan caps are already making it difficult for young people after graduation. At this end of the learning journey, saving money and a questionable theory for lowering tuition costs have become the excuse for limiting access to federal resources for college. These arguments to reduce expenses and regulation are the same ones being leveled to dismantle the Department of Education, its civil rights enforcements, and support for students with disabilities, altogether.
Conventional wisdom suggests that this time of year, when young people prepare for school, is also the season when adults begin to pay attention to the Fall election cycle. That works out well because the only way to definitively ward off these challenges to our children’s education is at the voting booth. So, we should approach Election Day like it’s our first day of school and prepare with the zeal of our students.
How to Prepare…
First, get registered. With efforts to redistrict and undermine voting underway, it is important to check your registration early and often. During a recent Justice Revival for voting rights in Dallas, Texas, I met a woman who was a regular voter and poll worker. While she was sure she was registered, when she checked her status at our rally (only a week since her last assessment), she had been purged from the registered voter list.
Second, check your “class” schedule. Learn the issues at stake in the mid-term elections. For the next few months, pay close attention to action alerts from trusted organizations, like CDF, your local congregation, or your labor union, and attend town halls for candidates seeking your vote. Make sure people answer the questions you have about your children and grandchildren’s education.
Finally, lay out your clothes, or make your voting plan. Plan ahead for how, when, and where you will vote. This year, CDF is asking all our partners to “Vote FOR your children and WITH your Children.” Take a child with you to the polls. Cast your vote for their future and model the value of civic participation.
If we prepare for our “first day” the way our children have, we will have no reason to fear the coming tests (or parent-teacher conferences). Just after the election, November 4-5 in Washington, DC, that’s exactly what we’re hosting. During the American Youth Policy Forum, CDF is gathering parents, policymakers, students, and scholars to assess the impact of the election on children and youth. Like a good parent-teacher meeting, we’ll consider how we can improve so every student is ready for civic life and work.
Join us.
For our children,
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
President and CEO