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When I consider this question, equitable access to education for all students is most important  to me. One of the reasons for this  is very personal.   I appreciate the fact that my parents immigrated  to this country to provide my siblings & I with opportunities to  have access to a good education.  My parents always emphasized the significance of having the opportunity to go to school, get a good education, and use one's  skills and knowledge to help others.  These are lessons that I  have never forgotten.  My parents unfortunately did not have the opportunity to attend college but made sure that my siblings and I did not take our schoooling for granted.
Secondly,  I have seen first-hand the benefits of education in the lives of many students that I have worked with, their families, my own family members, friends, and in my own life.  Each person has used our respective education to help others, support our comunities, and broaden the educational outlook of  children in our families, and hopefully inspired others by our own educational jounreys.
The  final reason that equitable educational access is important to me,  is that I believe  within this country, having equitable access to complete your  education  wheter it is a  HS Diploma, AA, BA,  MA or PH.D., allows an individual  to see new & different possibilities for their lives.  Equitable access to education provides an individual with a level of agency that can support their societal  mobility,  financial freedom, enhanced career possibilities,  &  overall broader opportunities to  change the trajectory of their lives and the lives of generations to come in thier families

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The area of social justice that is most important to me is the lack of equity in classrooms. I work within inner city schools as well as suburban schools and I see the differences in instruction, resources, and opportunities to learn.

For example, my suburban schools are smaller, yet have equipped each classroom with technological advances to help the students learn. I see that students engage with technology with ease and as result, they can complete assignments, learn new strategies, or participate in learning games that increase their learning acquisition.

On the other hand, students in the inner city schools have limited technological resources. Furthermore, their time spent on Chromebooks or iPads are less explorative and more directive. For example, while students in the suburban schools can play games to learn as well as participate in learning programs, students in inner city schools must only participate in learning programs. More often than not, this is due to a lack of technological resources. Many students, or classes, share Chromebooks, so time spent on them must be efficient.

Equity would allow students to share all types of opportunities to learn, rather than it being a case of some schools get extra privileges with technology, while other schools do not. I know this is a case that deals with budgeting; however, students in inner city schools would greatly produce growth in their learning if they had the same privileges as suburban students. (E.B)

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The right to an equitable universal health coverage is the social justice area that is most important to me. I’ve witnessed the unfairness in the healthcare system with both my parents. First, my father was denied a surgical procedure, then my mother’s $300 medication wasn't covered by her health insurance. I believe access to quality equitable healthcare is important for everyone, but unfortunately it is not. In the US, we are likely to pay four times as much for a prescription drug compared to other countries. In recent years, the Affordable Care Act health coverage was established, but people of color and low-income individuals continue to be at risk of being uninsured. According to the US Census Bureau, around 27.5 million lower-income workers do not have health insurance. High cost out-of-pocket expenses and lack of insurance coverage have led to social and economic discrimination. I believe every person, no matter how poor or rich, should have the right to universal and equitable health care.
MS

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Equitable Opportunities Math & Science for minorities groups

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Equitable Opportunities Math & Science for minorities groups

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Working in the district for seven years I've noticed deficits when it comes to industrial technology such as aviation, computer science, the science of business, and engineering when it comes to certain demographic groups. African American and Latin-X communities need clubs in schools that support these communities by embracing early skills, and interventions to motivate these groups to be involved in the field of industrial technology. Getting guest speakers with careers in computer science, aviation, car, and entrepreneurs to motivate children from these communities to be involved in these fields.

Public schools embrace science and technology by providing the bare minimum by teaching the basics. Public schools will try to teach the necessary material to meet school standards through state testing. In most cases, this will affect a child's self-esteem and appreciation of this area of learning. Instead of making strides to embrace the method of problem-solving through trial and error and reinforcing the yearning for curiosity and problem-solving skills.  Public schools have put effort into prepping students for meaningless exams, affecting a child's self-esteem and value based on meaningless test scores.  I want to improve our school communities by embracing programs to encourage our Latin-X and African American groups to be involved in science and technology by creating clubs or classrooms that teach basic foundation skills in areas of computer science, aviation, entrepreneurship the basic foundations of circuits and gears.

R.H

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I value education. I am very passionate about foster youth completing their educational goals. No one likes to speak about how foster youth are placed in and out of foster homes; group homes, and possibly juvenile detention centers. Most foster youth have been placed in several different "homes" and enrolled in several different schools, and in different school districts. The majority of the time, transcripts, IEPs, and or school records are never completed and or lost in transition. Did you know that biological parents hold educational rights, even if their kid/s are in foster care. Try locating a bio parent to make an educational decision that would benefit their child. Try finding a bio parent, agree with an IEP. Try getting a bio parent to attend an IEP meeting (yes, bio parents are invited to IEP meetings even when their kids are in foster care). The change I want to work towards is removing Ed rights. I had this idea that foster agency, can and should temporarily hold ed rights. I also wish foster agencies would consult with school psychologists and or have a school psychologist on contract to perform some a battery of assessments and have these reports follow the youth through their foster care journey. By having the foster agency hold said records (and by default, the county), these records can be added to their Health & Education Passport (HEP). Its basically a medical and (very minimal) educational record. But, just imagine if we could change the world and add multidisciplinary educational reports to foster care child reports. This would make a huge difference. A.G.

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In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that is still the most far reaching education act ever passed by Congress. This bill emphasized equal access to education for all and accountability by providing benchmarks for schools to achieve. The goal was to sho

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(A.N.) As I have shared many times in class, I am most passionate about equal work opportunities for adults with disabilities. In my job, I am their biggest advocate, so I am very passionate about this. It makes me angry reading job applications of the most popular retail companies in the world put in fine print "we are an equal opportunity employer and will provide accommodations......." but when an individual with disabilities stands in front of them, ready and deserving of work, suddenly they are "not the right fit" or their accommodations are too "complicated" or "do not mesh" with the position. It is unfortunate how often I come across this issue. However, the most rewarding part of my job is not only helping these individuals achieve their first paid job, but also the impact I help make on the community. I have "convinced" many managers, who have never worked with an individual with disabilities before and are fearful to hire such an individual, to give them a chance. In the end, the managers are beyond pleased with their work ethic and it makes me proud to know I have made a difference in one more store, and I have raised the chances that manager will hire more individuals with disabilities in the future because of the positive experience they have with this individual through my work program. There is much progress to be made with equal opportunities in the workplace, especially when it comes to the companies honesty of being an equal opportunity employer. A company cannot consider themselves such if they do not allow job coaches in their stores as an accommodation. They are not equal opportunity employers if they cannot hire someone with disabilities who is unable to work weekends because their work program is a weekday program and they are unable to do their job alone. They do not believe in equal opportunities if they expect double the work to be produced because they are getting "two for one" when an individual has a job coach assisting them. There are many ways that employers make the hiring process difficult and complicated for individuals with disabilities, but the good news is that more managers are becoming comfortable with hiring these individuals as time goes on, and even become advocates by asking if they can hire more of our students in the program at their store or neighboring stores! Through exposure and awareness, we are slowly making a difference in the community. The more individuals with disabilities that have jobs, the more exposure!

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The importance of Social Studies in the classrooms.

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The importance of Social Studies in the classrooms.

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Social Studies is a very important subject to be taught in schools. Asking students to see history through the eyes of the people who lived it is, for most us, a natural extension of the act of learning history. With thought-provoking activities, impromptu questions, and discussion prompts that ask students to step into historical events, teachers bring the past alive for their students. In the classroom, perspective taking can be described as an instructional method that activates students’ imaginations by asking them to put aside their modern views to experience history in its context. With presenting these types of activities will increase student engagement, interest, and enjoyment in social studies classes, and to increase long-term retention of learning._AG

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Gender equality is important to me since I have personally witnessed the negative effects as a cis woman. Throughout our grade school classes to college history courses, we have learned about how women were considered to be "domesticated housewives". If a woman were to be educated and of higher social status, they would be deemed as unapproachable. However, if this were the gender were to change to a male, he would be deemed as a successful business man. Famous figures such as Rosa Parks, Queen Elizabeth, and Madam Curie advocated for women to be treated as equals in the work place and social communities. It was not until June 1949 that the 19th Amendment was introduced and approved to allow for women the right to vote. Despite all these changes and more, we are still battling with the gender pay gap, lack of women at the policy level, and gender bias within schools. I believe that gender equality is very relevant and begins with the way we raise our children. Women are not always inferior and men are not always superior. - KH

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Access to mental health resources for all

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Access to mental health resources for all

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I believe that all aspects of social justice are important, but when i think about the most important aspect to me it is access to mental health resources for all. Many students are struggling with mental health concerns and either are not receiving services or even identified. In my life I have seen how having access to mental health services can substantial improve someones life. Individuals who are come from low SES may not have the resources to access quality treatment. Therapists and psychiatrist can be expensive and not everyone has insurance to cover the costs. Even if insurance covers the cost, the services may not be quality. Individuals who have the resources to pay out of pocket can access better service providers. Those without the financial resources do not have the same options. Additionally, There may also be a stigma surround mental health and it is important to make efforts to destigmatize talking about and seeking help for mental health. At the schools there can be more done to address mental health especially after the hardships that everyone felt during the Covid-19 pandemic. I feel like more should be done as prevention measures instead of waiting until a crisis for a response to what is occurring. -AQ

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There are so many aspects of social justice that is important but to me I believe that a child's physical and psychological health is key. I believe that for a child to be successful within the school setting they need to have the basic needs met. Basic needs include food, water, shelter, and clothing. When a child is deficit in one of these areas it becomes difficult for them to perform to the best of their ability. When a child has their basic needs met then they are prepared for school and ready to learn. Imagine you are a child at school, yet you have no food at home and mom is struggling to make ends meats. The child's mind will not be in school but instead preoccupied with worrying about mom. At my previous job at the YMCA, we provided before and after school care, while the children were at our program, we required to provide them a snack. When providing the snack, there was times where we had kids who would ask for another snack because they were still hungry. My director was very good at having the ability to give the child another snack because she knew that they are growing and need to fuel their body.  Growing up my grandpa insisted that in order to be successful we need to fuel and take of our bodies. By taking care of our bodies it will put one in the best place to be successful. SR

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I believe an important social justice issue is Food insecurity. I believe that it should be everyone’s right to food. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2021 approximately 828 million people were affected. The Number has probably Increased since then.

This correlates to us as school psychologist because there are times where students do not care about schoolwork due to hunger. this impacts their mood, academics and life situation in general. This places a perception of what they may never do, Such as going to college, because they have to feed/support their families.
By organizing a food fair, setting up presentations for school wide acknowledgement, and allowing for the students perceptions to be known ( mental health). This advocates and promotes the notion that we care about our students.

Having worked in a public school I have seen students who  deal with this issue on the daily.  Fortunately, there are programs which provide students with backpacks with food, so they have resources to eat. For many low-income families who have to deal with this harsh reality, they are forced upon  the difficult decisions of feeding their children or providing medicine, clothing, etc.

They may not have the adequate resources and this impedes a child from growth and development; which may lead to malnutrition and cause severe health issues. What we can do to help is to increase income wage, donating food and supplies at local institutions to aid families. We need to let students know that we care about their well-being in order for them to perform their best. -CR

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Teacher scaffolding and creating a learning environment for all. 

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Equitable opportunities for Special Education students in a General Education Classroom

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Equitable opportunities for Special Education students in a General Education Classroom

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Equitable educational opportunities within the classroom is the social justice area that is important to me because it takes more than creating an IEP or an SST to create change. As educators we need to take accountability and responsibility to create a learning environment where all students feel included and appreciated.

I have observed special education students in their general ed. classroom where they are being ignored, assigned to sit in the back of classroom facing the wall, and/or are reminded to pay attention with no redirection or motivation. I have interviewed Occupational Therapist and a Speech pathologist about a student who has a behavioral intervention plan and when asked what where some current recommendations or future interventions plans that we can advise to teachers or teacher assistants they responded with "nothing works", "I would rather focus on kids who have executive functioning skills."

I believe it is sad when educators feel that there is no solution when they should know that a solution takes patience, time and consistency. Educators should know that any accomplishment a child makes should be celebrated. It is sad that as the days go by parents are not aware of how their children are being treated.

By creating a system where educators feel supported, teachers are given recommendations of their progress and trainings are mandatory as a result can encourage educators to be more accountable and consistent. I believe there is more work to be done within our classrooms to make special education students feel included.
DF

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Racial Injustice is the area of social justice that is the most important to me because I have witnessed the negative effects it has on all minorities, including myself. Being Mexican-American I have been a victim of racial injustice throughout my life. Currently, learning about microaggressions I have been noticing more comments that are made towards me based on my race. Additionally, I have been discriminated against by my own race because I do not speak the native language. I have also witnessed the School to Prison Pipeline in my family that was based on racial profiling. I am extremely grateful for the AB256 law that passed in 2021 that allowed persons with convictions to seek relief if racial bias was proven to be present. Although, this is a micro-step to racial equity. I believe that racial injustice is still prevalent and it begins when children of color are born. Hence, racial injustice remains in the schools when teachers treat children of color differently, or how African-American males are overrepresented in special education for emotional disturbance or how African-American females are five times more likely to be suspended for behavioral outbursts. These are only a few examples that demonstrate the disadvantages racial minorities face. I look forward to bringing awareness and possibly changing systems that consciously and unconsciously promote racial injustice.

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I believe that we need to create a more inclusive environment in high school especially in the academic "A-G" requirement, for the students that don't see themselves going to college straight after high school. I personally was a student that I didn't see myself attending a cal state (and I wasn't able to go straight after high school due to my grades). We need to be culturally aware that not always will students have this belief in their household, that they need to go to college. Therefore we need to make our students as successful as possible in any area of their life! Such as learning about real life financial information, credit cards, rent, credit score, APR % etc. Let's be more realistic and inclusive to all students from different environments and backgrounds. We need to make sure that every student feels like they have a purpose, especially after high school.  CT

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One of the areas of social justice that is important to me is providing more inclusion in the classroom. Sometimes I feel that even though we have made some great strides towards providing resources and making education more accessible there is still more to be done. These kiddos at time are not included in the schools activities and don't feel like a part of the school community. We need to do a better job of making the school climate more open and accepting of students that have a disability. We can do that by creating buddy/ classroom partnerships. Having events in which you openly mingle student with various abilities and backgrounds. This is some thing that I hope to be able to implement further once I am part of the school. I don't know entirely what it would look like but I think that it could only be to the students benefit. Not only would it make learning more of a positive but it would help make these kiddo more empathetic to difference and open them up to notice similarities with in their peers. These relationships skills would also be beneficial for them once they are adults. In the work place we will work and engage with people that are different from us, that have various ideas and perspectives and we need to know how to manage those differences. -JH

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The most important way to encourage social justice is to promote it school-wide and advocate for change in the way staff members speak to students. The current education system and policies are disproportionately disciplining students of color, emerging them to the school-to-prison pipeline while also diminishing their educational drive by suggesting they pursue easier classes or post-graduation routes other than a four-year college. The school’s administration needs to take a more restorative approach to disciplining students and before suspending or expelling them. There are several tiered methods of restorative intervention such as boy's counsel that allow them to talk through experiences in a safe group with a trusting adult. Additionally, staff need training on how to talk to students while being equitable. Oftentimes, students of color are told they shouldn’t be in AP or honors classes and are recommended easier ones despite their capabilities all because of the counselor's stereotypes and assumptions. Hearing that an adult doesn’t believe in you can be incredibly diminishing to a student's self-perception and also the goals they create for themselves. If a student is confident in their abilities, staff members should be able to advocate for them and make appropriate suggestions. Similarly, these students often hear that they should consider an alternative route after graduation such as a trade school or community college, when that may not be what they wanted to pursue. I think it’s important as a school psychologist to communicate with other educators to support and encourage the advancement of students. It’s also important to help educators acknowledge their biases and bring their implicit biases to the forefront so they may better serve the students rather than bring them down. -TA

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Creating a Community of Conscience in the Classroom

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Creating a Community of Conscience in the Classroom

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I believe that an important way to promote social justice is to start in the classroom. Teachers need to promote and create a space for students to foster a community of conscience. When this type of space is created for students, it ensures that their voices, opinions, and ideas are valued and respected by their peers and other school staff. This community of conscience should have rules that teach things such as fairness in the classroom and will help to facilitate discussions and classroom behavior. In this environment, students will be able to hold productive conversations and be able to effectively share their ideas in a way that allows for healthy disagreement. Teachers will be able to model critical thinking questions to facilitate thoughtful conversations as well. Fostering this type of safe learning environment will allow for students to then critically engage in issues that affect them directly. This such as Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ issues, racism, bullying, etc. I feel that it is a critical component that needs to be included into the core curriculum in schools today. Being able to discuss such controversial topics will help students to feel a sense of purpose in real-world issues that affect their everyday life. Another important thing that can come out of this sense of community of conscience is helping students to see each other as co-learners rather than adversaries. -DG

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The social justice areas that are most important for me are authentic inclusion and support for LGBT students. I believe these topics are important because there is still a lot of stigma around students' ability levels in special education. Also, I think the LGBT community, predominantly trans students, are underserved and politically targeted. Authentic inclusion is when everybody feels free to bring their voices to the table and the belief that all students, regardless of labels, should be members of the general education community. I understand that students should be placed in classes that best serve their needs. However, an inclusive school climate is where all students are integrated with general ed as much as possible. This supports an inclusive school climate where students participate in events and destigmatizes special education. It also allows students of all ability levels to interact and normalizes disabilities and conditions. Lastly, LGBT support is essential because there was no support when I was in school. Authentic inclusion also supports the fundamental rights of everyone, and its objective should be to embrace everyone regardless of race, age, gender, disability, religious and cultural beliefs, and sexual orientation. When we have true inclusion, we have removed all barriers, discrimination, and intolerance in the school systems. I want to advocate and support the unsupported and let them know, from personal experience, that it gets better. - DP

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Equitable Access to Mental Health Resources 

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Equitable Access to Mental Health Resources 

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Picking an area that is most important to me was difficult to decide, but after thinking about my own personal experiences and those around me, access to quality mental health resources is most important to me when considering social justice. Therapy and quality mental health services has been seen as a luxury for people of higher SES that can afford it. If a person does not have quality health insurance that covers therapy or a psychiatrist, they will not be able to access quality mental health services they may need. Many homeless struggle with mental health and I often wonder if they had access to quality mental health services how different their lives may be and many others in between. I have struggled with my own mental health and the process of finding a quality therapist and getting mental health services has not been easy for me. As someone with low quality health insurance the waiting list and quality of mental health professionals that accepted my insurance was low and they seemed to be overworked and did not give quality time or care. It took me 2 years to save and find a quality therapist that charges on a sliding scale (based on what you can pay). If I wasn't an advocate for my own mental health, I may have never been able to receive quality mental health services and I am fortunate to be in a position now to afford therapy and mental health services. In my opinion, mental health is just as important as physical health and as a future school psychologist I hope to advocate and provide students with access to quality resources for mental health needs. - JP

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Inclusion for Students with Disabilities in Extracurricular Activities

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Inclusion for Students with Disabilities in Extracurricular Activities

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In the school setting, there are many opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. But due to social injustices, most of the time it is it not always promoted for students with disabilities. Although some disabilities may hinder their performance depending on the activity. As a school psychologist we must advocate for students with disabilities to have the same opportunities as the rest of the student population. To do so, it would have to be a team effort on campus. Starting with the school psychologist, their role would be to educate staff on social justices and how important is to provide equity to our student population. Being a member of clubs, teams, and organized extracurricular activities provides students with disabilities to gain beneficial experiences and skills. In addition, it allows students to be a part of a community with their peers and provide them with additional opportunities to explore their social skills in an inclusive environment. By including students with disabilities in extracurricular activities, it can promote resiliency, self-confidence, and acceptance from peers. Often times students can be accepting, but depending on the disability students may make assumptions of what other students can and cannot do. For this reason, it is empowering to normalize students with disabilities participating with their peers in these activities. As well as normalizing that they can contribute to the part of a team just as their peers. -FV

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When I consider this question, impartial and good quality healthcare is most important to me because I believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. In other words, I think it should be considered a fundamental right for every person, not just a privilege for the upper class. Here in the US, BIPOC and marginalized communities do not get to avail themselves of the right to equitable health care. Our country has a system that has been devised to repudiate the rights of our most vulnerable communities and to deny the right to good healthcare. Needless to say, good-quality healthcare improves quality of life and due to inequitable access to healthcare, many people’s lives are compromised and lost, more particularly those who are disenfranchised. The United States is a country known to have advanced technology and plenty of professionals who have pioneered groundbreaking medical research, therefore, people should not be dying because they can’t afford healthcare. On top of that, what’s even more perplexing is the fact that good health is treated as a commodity because in order to obtain optimal health, one has to have a good financial standing to afford it.  And with this unbalanced and discriminatory system in place, it ultimately makes our right to healthcare contingent upon our financial status. This area of social justice is also particularly important to me because both my parents are immigrants and they both struggle with chronic illnesses. My father is diabetic and without his current healthcare plan, he would not be in good health and probably would not even be alive. My mother on the other hand, passed from cancer four years ago but did receive treatment for many years. Without her healthcare plan, her prognosis would probably have been cut in half. However, because my parents were immigrants, they were not able to affordable good quality healthcare for many years and had to work very hard in order to attain it. That said, their sacrifices and hard work have ultimately given my siblings and I the “privilege” to have access to good healthcare.

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When I consider this question, equitable access to education for all students is most important  to me. One of the reasons for this  is very personal.   I appreciate the fact that my parents immigrated  to this country to provide my siblings & I with opportunities to  have access to a good education.  My parents always emphasized the significance of having the opportunity to go to school, get a good education, and use one's  skills and knowledge to help others.  These are lessons that I  have never forgotten.  My parents unfortunately did not have the opportunity to attend college but made sure that my siblings and I did not take our schoooling for granted.
Secondly,  I have seen first-hand the benefits of education in the lives of many students that I have worked with, their families, my own family members, friends, and in my own life.  Each person has used our respective education to help others, support our comunities, and broaden the educational outlook of  children in our families, and hopefully inspired others by our own educational jounreys.
The  final reason that equitable educational access is important to me,  is that I believe  within this country, having equitable access to complete your  education  wheter it is a  HS Diploma, AA, BA,  MA or PH.D., allows an individual  to see new & different possibilities for their lives.  Equitable access to education provides an individual with a level of agency that can support their societal  mobility,  financial freedom, enhanced career possibilities,  &  overall broader opportunities to  change the trajectory of their lives and the lives of generations to come in thier families