Solidarity-Equity-Education Connecticut (S.E.E. CT) represents students, parents, and community members who are working in solidarity to strive for equity in K-12 curriculum. S.E.E. CT believes that every student has the right to a culturally responsive education that reflects and respects their identities, particularly those that have been historically underserved and underrepresented. In order to ensure that this right is upheld, S.E.E. CT aims to address institutionalized racism, bias, and other issues of social justice in Connecticut schools and beyond. 

As humans, we carry internal, often unconscious, biases against groups that we perceive as different than us. The particular dangers of being biased as a school official are that 1) their unchecked bias can harm Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and students of other marginalized communities, and 2) their biases are likely to be noticed and internalized by all students. To this end, we urge you to commit to enacting the following measures as necessary steps in creating school environments that are inclusive, anti-racist, and equitable:

1. Provide anti-racism/bias training for all school officials facilitated by qualified experts in racial equity work. It is not enough to train some teachers sometimes; 100% of educators (including para-educators), faculty, administrative leaders and support staff, and Board of Education members need to be educated on how to create inclusive, anti-racist, and equitable school environments. Training should include how to teach social-emotional learning, social contexts, and cultural diversity so that all students who enter a classroom are understood and supported. This holistic approach will support teachers to effectively, respectfully, and safely communicate and learn with students and families. With regard to budgetary concerns, the harm done to all students by unchecked racism and bias comes at an immeasurable cost; for our communities, the opportunity cost is graduating students who are ill-equipped to reach their full potential, and lack the skills to contribute to the betterment of local and global communities.
2. Mandate and prioritize anti-bias curriculum in all subjects K-12. Racism and bias are embedded in every facet and system of American society, including education. There are countless ways that existing curricula uphold, reinforce, and teach bias, examples of which include but are not limited to: dishonesty/omission of details about historical and modern events involving racial injustice; misrepresentation of the effects of European colonization; and lack of attention paid to non-white, non-Western experiences. Books, lessons, conversations and other activities influencing school culture that further anti-bias, diversity, and racial justice need to be assigned and facilitated in classrooms of every subject. Visit the S.E.E. CT resources page for links to accredited organizations with thousands of free lesson plans, teaching strategies, and more curriculum resources organized by grade level and subject. Resources include tools for ethical and inclusive celebration of holidays, use of school mascots, and fruitful conversations around how to integrate the history and culture of BIPOC communities in and outside of the classroom, beyond just a single day or month. Furthermore, regular equity audits for all curricula should be performed by a qualified third party in order to “facilitate ease of use and to promote insight into, discussion of, and substantive response to systemic patterns of inequity in schools and school districts” ("Conducting an Equity Audit" - Hanover Research.)
3. Enforce a formal bias reporting procedure. Too often, incidents of racism and other forms of bias in our school communities go unreported and thus unchecked. Whether it is teacher to student, student to student, or any other combination of school community members, the goal is not to criminalize the subject of the report. Instead, the goal of keeping a thorough record of incidents is to properly address them through a combination of education and punitive measures, both at the individual and systemic levels. The ramifications for individuals that engage in racist/biased behavior need to be defined and transparent to all students, teachers, parents, and community members. To be clear, this does not include details about specific individuals that would violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), but rather the general consequences and response system for incidents of racism/bias. In addition, students, educators, parents, and all other school community members need to be made aware of this procedure, including how it works and how they can access it. Furthermore, this system needs to include measures to keep track of reporting data in order to determine baselines and measure progress. Finally, regular reports need to be distributed to both report filers regarding the status of their report, and to the larger school community including general information on the types/amount of reports filed and relevant progress. 
4. Eliminate policing in schools. Across the U.S., public schools have seen a rapid increase of school resource officers (SROs) since the 1990s. We urge you to divest from policing in schools and invest, rather, in a) student support services that center on social and emotional wellbeing and cultural responsiveness, and b) alternative safety solutions that are rooted in anti-racism and anti-bias.
   Placing SROs in schools came as a response to school shootings in an effort to make schools safer, however there is no direct evidence that SROs are effective in guaranteeing physical safety. In fact, quite the opposite. Without specialized training in child development, SROs are likely to replicate “broader patterns of police targeting and criminalizing Black, Indigenous, Latine, and students of color” ("The Prevalence and the Price of Police in Schools" - Chelsea Connery). In addition, SROs bring negative outcomes to all students, but particularly BIPOC students, in the form of increased arrest rates, conflict escalation, interference with education, infringement of rights, and increased trauma. As Sandy Hook Promise states, "Instead of adding guns [to schools], we should train and empower both educators and students with research-based programs that teach how to identify, intervene and get help for students in need." Read more about data on SROs and suggestions for alternatives that are CT-specific here.
5. Create and work closely with a community racial equity task force. As a community imperative, it is necessary to spotlight the voices of marginalized groups. Work with students, teachers, parents, and community members of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds in developing a concrete plan to address issues of racism and bias in our public schools. The task force must be given responsibility to review, comment, and recommend changes/adjustments on policies, practices, and other school culture-related matters that directly impact the school community, particularly BIPOC students. The task force should also develop a specific plan to foster a culture of mutual respect, inclusion, transparency, and accountability.

We know that meaningful change does not come quickly nor easily. As an advocacy group, we are committed to this work for as long as it takes to ensure that all of our school environments embody inclusion, anti-racism/bias, and equity. We believe that our community can be a model to follow and based on the growing commitment to our cause, we know we have a strong foundation to get started. Please join us in our fight against systemic racism in our public schools.