LaRuth Gray, scholar in residence of Metro Center, recently participated in a summit on Legal and Legislative Strategies to Eliminate the Achievement Gap hosted by Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott.
The summit held on Capitol Hill engaged three panels in addressing the following questions: What are the legal precedents set in Brown v Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (ending racial segregation in public schools), PARC v. State of Pennsylvania, 343 F.Supp. 279 (E.D. Pa. 1972) (required free and appropriate education of children with disabilities) and Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 348 F.Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972) (requiring free and appropriate education of children with disabilities)? Can these precedents be applied to a consistent and acknowledged pattern of under-educating low-income and minority students? Does the very existence of an achievement gap demonstrate that low-income and minority children have been deprived of equal educational opportunities in violation of the U.S. Constitution?
On a panel which discussed "The Future: Where We Go From Here," Gray joined Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education, White House Domestic Policy Counsel, Governor Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Member of the Board of Directors, National Council on Educating Black Children and Professor, Stanford University School of Education, and Amy Wilkins, Principal Partner, The Education Trust.
The summit held on Capitol Hill engaged three panels in addressing the following questions: What are the legal precedents set in Brown v Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (ending racial segregation in public schools), PARC v. State of Pennsylvania, 343 F.Supp. 279 (E.D. Pa. 1972) (required free and appropriate education of children with disabilities) and Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 348 F.Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972) (requiring free and appropriate education of children with disabilities)? Can these precedents be applied to a consistent and acknowledged pattern of under-educating low-income and minority students? Does the very existence of an achievement gap demonstrate that low-income and minority children have been deprived of equal educational opportunities in violation of the U.S. Constitution?
On a panel which discussed "The Future: Where We Go From Here," Gray joined Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education, White House Domestic Policy Counsel, Governor Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Member of the Board of Directors, National Council on Educating Black Children and Professor, Stanford University School of Education, and Amy Wilkins, Principal Partner, The Education Trust.