ST. LOUIS — Incorporating racial equality and social justice into area schools' curriculum is top of mind for several St. Louis area school districts.
5 On Your Side spoke with a number of school districts who say these topics have been in the lesson plans for years. Today’s current events make those conversations even more crucial.
In order to understand the uphill battle our educators face, it’s important to note that it’s been 65 years since the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to segregate schools in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. That ruling was made in 1954, and here we are in 2020, and St Louis' desegregation program is still necessary.
More than 3,000 students in the City of St. Louis currently choose to be bused out of their neighborhood so they can go to schools in the county. Rockwood takes in a third of those students.
Brittany Hogan is Rockwood’s coordinator of educational equity and diversity.
“We have 1,500 kids, black kids, bused in from St. Louis city into Rockwood every day. The truth of the matter is we are not becoming a less segregated society. Redlining is still very real in real estate and St. Louis especially. Where you live determines your access to education," Hogan explained.
Which is why teaching equality in schools is so tough, because it simply doesn't exist for many students.
Dr. Shenita Mayes is an Asst. Principal in the Parkway school district and
a fellow with EdHub.
"I really do believe that it starts at home and it starts with the things that your child is exposed to throughout their life," explained Dr. Mayes.
EdHub is a program that started after the Ferguson protests in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown. The program's goal is to encourage educators to incorporate equity in all corners of the classroom.
"I recommend for any teacher while you’re trying to plan learning experiences for your kids make sure you're also engaging in your own learning experiences as well," she recommended.
Dr. Mayes said curriculum re-writes are in the works trying to bring in more diversity. In doing that, she says teachers need to be careful.
"Our experiences are not just all about struggles and so we need to make sure that the struggle is part of the story, but also there are a lot of ways that people of color show up in the world and we need to make sure we have variety there too," she explained.
Glenn Barnes has taught at St. Louis public schools for over 20 years where 80% of the students are African American and 100% are on free and reduced lunches.
"It's an ongoing process for everybody," Barnes said.
He said building relationships and trust leads into those tough conversations.
"Give them the love and support that they desperately need. There are so many resources that we try to share with our children and empower them to be proud of who they are but to be the problem solvers and to take action when they see a problem around them," said Barnes.
"For me, the real change has always been the kids and how can I allow them to see the beauty of what it means to be any race," Hogan said.
Dr. Mayes said now more than ever people are listening, "we've got a good momentum. This is the perfect time to come together and start tackling those issues."
Many of the districts 5 On Your Side spoke to have already been holding anti-bias, anti-racist training for their staff.
Rockwood has created a black literature course which will launch in the fall and will be available at all four high schools in the district.
Dr. Shenita Mayes will transition to the Webster Groves School District in the fall when she becomes principal at Hixson Middle School.
Webster Groves Superintendent John Simpson sent 5 On Your Side a statement regarding the district’s practices moving forward:
“While we have been looking at our curriculum and are in the process of finalizing a more inclusive K-8 social studies curriculum, we also will be creating specific anti-racism/anti-bias curriculum and possibly coursework K-12. We believe embedding such learnings and explicitly teaching them as “stand alone” lessons will better support our children’s understanding, and critically important – application of that knowledge in their lives.”