Thread by @PublicCounsel

BREAKING: NY students file suit asserting a constitutional right to an anti-racist education, citing challenges of systemic racial inequities perpetuated by admissions screens, harrowing resource inequality, & Eurocentric curriculum as barriers #StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd 1/6

70 yrs after the filing of Brown v. Board of Education, students & advocates file a historic suit against the City and State, challenging racial hierarchies & asserting their right under the NY Constitution to an education that dismantles racism. 2/ #StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd

NYC public schools are some of the most segregated in the nation, reflecting a racialized pipeline that rewards families’ race & wealth privilege, and largely excludes students of color from the City’s prime educational opportunities. 3/ #StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd

The suit demonstrates how the NYC public education system exacerbates the City’s racial inequality by maintaining racially discriminatory admissions screens at every level; allowing schools to teach a Eurocentric curriculum that marginalizes... 4/

#StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd

…people of color; failing to build a diverse educator workforce; and failing to equip students with the tools to identify and dismantle racism and provide mental health supports to redress the harms already wrought.

Students deserve better. 5/
#StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd

Students bringing this case forward are fighting for better schools for ALL students. These students are our teachers. Read more about the suit lead by @integratenyc @peerdefense with co-counsel @SidleyLaw here: publiccounsel.org/stories?id=0322

#StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd /END

Watch the press conference happening LIVE right now: facebook.com/publiccounsel/… #StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd @integratenyc @peerdefense @SidleyLaw

"If we do not take action to ensure that we honor the students' call for an antiracist education, they will take two lessons with them: first, racism is acceptable and second, your voice does not matter.” -Sarah Medina Camiscoli, Founder &co-chair, @integratenyc #AntiracistEd

"As has been known for decades, the New York City public education system has been suffused with and perpetuates forms of racism that have been intended or willfully ignored and tolerated..." Mark Rosenbaum, Public Counsel #StudentTakeover #AntiracistEd
facebook.com/publiccounsel/…

CJ, a high school junior, shares his experience: “The more I’ve been a part of the system... the more I’ve realized the [Department of Education] is harming every single one of its students at every level.” #StudentTakeOver #AntiRacistEd

facebook.com/publiccounsel/…

“Everyday this environment, it chips away at you. For years & years, it makes you numb. Then you realize that everyone in this system at every level is being harmed, even at the top.” CJ as he describes the overt racism, resource disparities, & microaggressions. #AntiRacistEd

“We are failing our students esp. BIPOC students…Students who lean on us despite their circumstances, who look to NYC schools for care & safety. But behind that they look to our collective imagination & our will to invent a world that deserves them” @davidekirkland #AntiRacistEd

"If we are to advance excellence in education, we must first advance equity in education. Bc the issues of excellence & equity are not separate, they are inseparable. Let’s make #AntiRacistEd a constitutional right. Our students deserve it" @davidekirkland facebook.com/publiccounsel/…

"I wanted to be American and I always associated American with whiteness….bc I literally only saw white Eurocenteric westernized history and literature by white authors." Jesus speaks to the many ways the testing &curriculum harms students of color #AntiRacistEd #StudentTakeOver

"Where else in the country do test preparations start as young as 18 months? What other school system allows public middle schools to interview 10 y/o’s as if they were college students?..." Amanda Savage, Public Counsel #AntiRacistEd #StudentTakeOver

facebook.com/publiccounsel/…

"I was the only Black student in my grade to get accepted to a specialized HS...it's rly exposed racial tensions...& harmed my growth into self love, but also empowered me to be here now to say that I stand for + alongside youth in ensuring all students are valued." #AntiRacistEd

“The journey to antiracist education is one that cannot wait because all students deserve to be valued.” Fadilatou shares her experience with racial tensions and microaggressions at her high school and the urgent need for #AntiRacistEd facebook.com/publiccounsel/… #StudentTakeover

"Nobody wants to bring a lawsuit like this, these lawsuits are brought when the politcal process fails. I'm hoping that this lawsuit will not last long & that electeds will listen to these students voices..but make no mistake we're prepared to fight." Mark Rosenbaum #AntiRacistEd

https://twitter.com/elizashapiro/status/1369277139950972929

It is well overdue. The need for an #antiracisted is absolutely urgent.

https://twitter.com/ElizabAdams/status/1369338421555134469