Schools that are made up of more than 50 percent students of color are nearly twice as likely to be overcrowded as schools with less than 20 percent.
Classes in high-poverty schools are 77 percent more likely to be assigned to an out-of-field teacher than are classes in low-poverty schools.
High school drop-outs are three and a half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested in their lifetimes.
For every 100 students in the United States who begin ninth grade, only 67 finish high school in four years, and only 38 go to college.
When we hear disturbing facts like these, we often feel incapable of enacting meaningful change. Education Action! offers concerned students, educators and families the opportunity to confront these issues together.
Education Action! is a new group at Tufts that is part of Jonathan Kozol's recently formed network of education activists. Jonathan Kozol is a renowned education writer and activist who spoke at the Tufts Social Policy Forum in February.
The purpose of Education Action! is to create, for the first time in America, a unified and broad-based national movement that aims to confront the shameful inequalities of inner-city education and to bring about dramatic transformations in our public schools.
As the first college branch of the organization, our group is working to address these issues in our host communities of Medford and Somerville. We hope to actively pursue improvements in such areas as high-stakes testing, President Bush's No Child Left Behind policy, funding inequities, inadequate school facilities, the lack of qualified teachers in high-poverty areas, and the increasing segregation of our nation's public schools. Seeking to drastically improve public education is an ambitious goal, but through grassroots efforts on campus and in the community, we hope to make a small but significant contribution to the larger national movement for educational reform.
As a kickoff project, we have been planning an action campaign related to immigrant education issues. Today we will be holding a Call-In Day at the campus center to support the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act is a federal bill that will allow undocumented students who have graduated from U.S. high schools to pay in-state tuition should they be accepted into a state college or university.
Every year, thousands of qualified students who meet residency requirements and have clean criminal records are unable to attend college due to financial restraints. Allowing these undocumented but highly qualified students to pay in-state tuition will bring greater diversity and equity to our nation's college campuses.
Stop by the campus center between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. today and we'll give you all the information you need to call your state representative and tell them you support the DREAM Act. Flooding the phone lines of representatives across the nation is a powerful symbol of support, and your voice really can make a difference. You'll get a free baked good just for taking the few minutes to make the call!
If you're interested in joining Education Action! or have any questions, please contact TuftsEducationAction@gmail.com.
Statistics regarding U.S. schools are compiled from Children's Defense Fund, the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Interface journal.
