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Social mobility, social efficiency, and democratic equality

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Problem: Black students are more likely to be suspended or expelled

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Problem: Black students are more likely to be suspended or expelled

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Decades of studies have shown that black students are far more likely to be suspended or expelled from public schools than any other racial group. The reasons for suspension and expulsion vary but the cause suspected to be the most guilty is implicit bias.
The East L.A. Walkouts taught the nation about many different forms inequity can exist in our schools. Overcoming implicit bias has always been a challenge of the human race but it is something we come closer to achieving with every generation.

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Problem: Gender Gap starting in elementary schools. (Kloie)

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Problem: Gender Gap starting in elementary schools. (Kloie)

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The gender gap has always been a problem in schools. Girls are supposed to be good at language arts and grow up to be teachers, while boys are supposed to be good at math and grow up to be doctors. Girls like dolls, boys like cars. This gender stereotyping is super dangerous especially when the kids have learned it from their teachers at a young age. At USU, students did a study that talked about this. The gender gap starts at a young age and progresses all the way into higher education. Especially in Utah, women have already started having families by their second year of college - and that’s what is expected of them. We need to fix this problem and empower young women and men to be whatever they want to be.

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Problem: Latinx students receive less support than other students

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Problem: Latinx students receive less support than other students

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Studies show that many Latinx students begin public schooling without many economic and social resources that school districts depend on students having. Schools are often ill-equipped to make up the difference in what students lack in these areas.
An analyzation over the last few decades of Latinx students in public schools shows a dramatic decrease in high school dropout rates and an increase in college enrollment. Since the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement of the late 20th Century, these numbers have increased and schools have become much more equitable for Latinx students. However, there is still a disproportionate amount of support received by Mexican-American students than by nearly any other racial group.

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Problem: LGBTQ+ youth face greater health risks - especially trans women (Kloie)

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Problem: LGBTQ+ youth face greater health risks - especially trans women (Kloie)

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It’s been proven that some of the highest suicide rates are those who identify as apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Especially for transgender women, the education system is a battlefield. Title IX is supposed to protect all students from educational discrimination, so why is this still an issue? In a study from John Hopkins University they write,
“In models of all risk and protective factors, interpersonal microaggressions was a risk factor for depression and attempted suicide among cisgender LGBQ students and was also a risk factor among trans* students for depression. In all but 1 model, resilience was a protective factor. Resilience moderated the microaggressions–suicide relationship among cisgender LGBQ students, whereas pride moderated the victimization– depression relationship among trans* students.”
Even at SUU this is a problem. We have literally had “anti-trans” protests against the trans community at our school.

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Problem: Florida Parental Rights in Education Act—aka "Don't Say Gay" act

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Problem: Florida Parental Rights in Education Act—aka "Don't Say Gay" act

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In March 2022, the House Bill 1557—the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act—was passed in Florida. Lines 97-101 of the bill states “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” Because of the general interpretation of this sentence, people are calling the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” act. The bill prohibits any classroom instruction and discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in specifically kindergarten through third grade, but the other grades are also affected by the phrase “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” By prohibiting any discussion about these topics—even strictly informational, factual ones—schools are creating unsafe, stereotypical environments for LGBTQ+ students. It also creates a community of people who are uninformed about real-world people and situations, which may lead to sex-based discrimination. Laws and policies like this bill end up hurting all students involved, not protecting them,

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Congress and at least 17 other states were considering a bill that would prohibit students from playing on sports teams and using locker rooms and bathrooms that did not match their assigned gender at birth. Part of this bill would include “checking” a student’s gender by asking a doctor to check their genitalia. A few days after this bill was brought to the House, executive order 13988 was signed which prevented discrimination based on sex and gender identity. However, this still did not change certain policies for public school districts, and this is in direct opposition to Title IX. For example, in August 2022, a couple demanded that the school investigate if a student that beat their daughter in a sport was biologically female, and the school complied. Continuing to do the opposite of Title IX will harm many students, creating schools that are unsafe and unwelcoming places, although we should be working to make schools just the opposite.

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Problem: English language learners are forced to only speak English and are often given less support than other students (Katie)

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Problem: English language learners are forced to only speak English and are often given less support than other students (Katie)

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Students that are not primary English speakers that enter into American English schools are often expected to learn a whole new language and understand almost all content and assignments with little special attention or assistance and then get in trouble for not being proficient or getting even farther behind in school which they usually get blamed for when in actuality, it is the school's fault. This relates almost directly to this court case because this act should protect students from their rights being violated but still doesn't stop students from being discriminated against. Although schools have come a long way since this case, there is still a long way to go.

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Problem: Forcing students to conform to white culture (Katie)

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Problem: Forcing students to conform to white culture (Katie)

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Often times, in the education system which we talked about is a primarily white stem which leads to students being forced to conform to a white American culture. This often looks like not being able to speak their primary language, not being able to celebrate their cultures holidays/ only celebrating white christian holidays, only being exposed to certain kinds of music etc. This problem relates to the Lau v. Nichols court case because this problem stems students rights being vilolated by being a different culture and speaking a different language then the norm and taking away language is one of the most common and frequent ways students are forced to conform.

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The court decided that the “civil rights of non-English speaking students were violated when the school (in this

case) took no steps to help them acquire the language of instruction.

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After years of school administration ignoring pleas of help from Chicano students in East L.A. about rising problems of inequity, the students began planning to walk out of class in protest. Police responded with violence and arrested 13 of the teachers who encouraged students to walk out. This event is considered a catalyst for the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement.

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Prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.