The U.S. Department of Education sent out a four-page memo on April 3 reminding public school superintendents across the country that federal funding for our school districts is contingent upon, among other things, compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You are likely familiar with the legislation. No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
I don’t happen to know of any superintendents who needed to be reminded of this. In Somersworth, nondiscrimination is fundamental to how we operate — and would be even without the federal law. Nonetheless, there’s no harm in the reminder – nor in the request that we sign on behalf of our district to certify that we are following the law. A little concerning that this seems to be the federal government’s new plan for how such laws will be monitored and enforced — given that the Office of Civil Rights is currently being decimated — but if this is what 77 million Americans apparently voted for last November, so be it.
What is more than a little concerning, however, is this. The memo goes on to state that diversity, equity and inclusion programs and practices (i.e., “DEI”) may be at odds with federal law. The memo does not define what they mean by “DEI” nor does it offer specific guidance as to precisely what is or is not legal in the eyes of the current federal administration. We know that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of race in the college admissions process two years ago (in the SFFA v. Harvard decision), but our elementary, middle, and secondary public schools have no admissions process. As was the case with the earlier “Dear Colleagues” letter from the U.S. Department of Education (on February 14), what we are left with are ambiguous threats about possible funding loss and/or legal action for anything related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
John Shea
Here in Somersworth, we do not have any particular programs, policies, or practices specifically labeled “DEI.” Diversity, equity and inclusion were fundamental values in our school district — and in our community long before the murders of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, George Floyd, and the reckoning that emerged. They still are our fundamental values today. And I believe they always will be — regardless of whoever happens to be president of the United States. Clearly, there are now people in the White House who do not like the letters D, E, and I side-by-side, followed by words like initiative, program, or practice. And they want all of it gone.
In the Somersworth School District, what these three letters/words represent is pretty straightforward — and fundamental to who we are and how we strive to live. For starters, diversity is not a program, practice, or policy, it is who we are as a community. You can’t outlaw it; it is us. Black, white, Asian, native American, and Latino. Of Indonesian, French, Irish, Mexican, Canadian, and countless other national origins. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, agnostic, atheist, and more. Straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. Rich, poor, and everything in-between. Native English speakers and English language learners. Independents, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and so on. Toddlers, kids, teenagers, and adults of all ages. Blue collar, white collar, unemployed, retired. Individuals with disabilities, challenges, and learning differences of all sorts, minor and significant. We are immensely proud of who we are here in Somersworth. You can embrace your community’s diversity or despise it — but you can’t legislate it away. I guess you could deport everyone that fell into the categories you didn’t like —but that would never happen here in the United States. (Would it?) In Somersworth, we choose to cherish our diversity.
Equity, in our Somersworth schools, is about providing all students a fair opportunity to learn, thrive, and go on to be healthy and productive adults. We want them to find meaningful and fulfilling work and contribute to our US economy. We want them to be good citizens, in the noblest sense of the word — meaningfully engaged in their local communities and in our nation’s democracy. At least while we might still have one. Equity is a wheelchair for a student who needs one to attend classes. It’s English language instruction for students who come to us needing it. Or breakfast and lunch each day for students who qualify for the free meals program — along with a bag of food on Friday afternoons to take home for the weekend. It includes curricular and instructional accommodations for special education students. It can be flexible programs to meet the needs of a student missing a few weeks of school due to a health matter or family crisis. Equity is about doing our best to give all students the appropriate resources and opportunities to learn and grow — regardless of their family’s income, their family’s country of origin, their skin color, their religion, their sexual orientation, any disabilities or learning differences, etc.
Inclusion, for us, could not be more basic. If you embrace and cherish your community’s diversity, inclusiveness follows naturally. We aim for all students, all families, and all staff to feel welcome, appreciated, respected, and included in meaningful and fulfilling ways in our school communities. This takes countless forms, big and small, formal and informal, clubs, festivals, events, and meetings – often organized around shared interests, common backgrounds, or a collective purpose. And everyone is welcome. If the U.S. Department of Education is concerned that, for example, upper middle class straight white Christian males are somehow being harmed or left out by our emphasis on inclusiveness, I can only assure them, again, that we work hard, have always worked hard, and will continue to work hard — at including everyone — regardless of socioeconomic status, race, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Period.
Our annual school district budget in Somersworth is about $35 million. Close to 10% of it comes to us through federal grants — primarily Title 1 funding (focused on higher poverty communities and lower-income students) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding (supporting a small fraction of our special education costs). We cannot afford to lose this support. We are not an affluent community. We do not have a large property tax base. And, like all the other districts in New Hampshire, we must contend with the fact that our state department of education and state government rank dead last, 50th out of 50, with respect to state funding of public education. As a percentage of total public school spending within the state, no other state government or state department of education does less than ours here in New Hampshire.
Something is horribly wrong when a superintendent of a public school district is asked to choose between federal funding and doing the right thing. It’s critical that we continue to get federal support. We need it. But we also need to do the right thing. Shouldn’t we all? Shouldn’t we always?
John Shea is the superintendent of the Somersworth School District. He is also currently serving as Rollinsford’s superintendent. This is the third in a series of commentaries on threats to the future of universal public education.
More: Want to understand New Hampshire’s education funding fights? Read Andru Volinsky’s book.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Shea: Schools face choice of federal funding or doing the right thing