Our Voices

By Adrienne Benjamin (Amikogaabawiikwe) I recently was selected as one of 50 “Young Cultural Innovators”…

In October, I attended my first WIDA Conference. Minnesota is a WIDA member state, meaning Minnesota schools…

Education leaders, community members, and students comprise the Race Equity and Excellence in Education Network (REEEN) to inform important equity planning in Greater Minnesota. We have learned a lot from these partnerships and from our role in building the capacity of leaders and communities to use an equity lens in their equity planning, leading, and systems change work. 

Here are some important lessons we have learned, and how we can continue to use them to build race equity in education:

The newly elected will soon begin the work of governing; setting policy to direct the actions of school districts, colleges, and departments of education. They will determine how to collect and appropriate taxes for the largest activity of our public institutions – the education of students in early through post-secondary education. But no matter the outcome, one thing will remain constant in the education of our young people: race equity still matters.

Help us reach our match challenge by May 2019! Every new dollar raised for our rural equity work (Mille Lacs region and Multilingual Learner communities) gets matched dollar for dollar by the Bremer Foundation.

As we look toward the election, and the impact it will have on the future of all Minnesotans, it’s important to ask these questions:

What do we teach young people of color about aspirations? About making a difference? About giving back? About the value of work? About their strengths and talents?
Most importantly, WHO IS GOING TO TEACH them or the generations to come?  How do we attract more change makers and nation builders to the teaching profession?

Minnesota and the federal government have written in statute various protections for students, including for those whose first language is not English. As we look toward the election, it’s important to understand how these laws and policies should guide all candidates and elected officials—and hold them accountable— in supporting equity for EMLs in Minnesota schools.

How do we maintain our state’s prosperity if our economic vitality depends on obtaining advanced knowledge and skills by communities which, although they will make up the bulk of our economic workforce, struggle with attaining postsecondary credentials? This is an important question for our state, and the answer may well be that we won’t be able to maintain and grow Minnesota’s quality of life unless we find a way to end racial disparities.