A Black high school basketball player at the free throw line during a game was taunted by a white man in the stands making monkey sounds at her. A Black high school student entered her classroom and saw the N word scrawled on her desk. The teacher quickly erased it and moved on. Another Black student cried as she recalled being bullied relentlessly by a classmate who called her names such as “monkey,” “gorilla,” and “cotton picker.” Her teacher said he couldn’t do anything because he didn’t hear it. These are just some of the experiences Black students have encountered in one California school district.
These stories come from a recent study I conducted with high school students, which revealed that Black students felt universally unsafe in school. They were not safe academically, interpersonally, social- emotionally or physically. Too often, adults lacked either the courage, wherewithal or will to intervene and protect Black students.
These students, among other vulnerable students such as emergent multilingual students, students with disabilities and students from immigrant families, are put further at risk as the Trump Administration makes significant cuts to the Department of Education. These cuts include minimizing the department’s Office of Civil Rights, which tracks data on students and reinforces compliance with civil rights laws. Without this information, there will be less accountability to support students who might fall through the cracks.
For instance, the anti-Blackness occurring in the district mentioned above is not isolated. A Black middle school student in Santa Barbara was pinned down by classmates as they yelled, “George Floyd!” Black families sued Antelope Valley Union High School District for disproportionately suspending Black students. Advocacy efforts from organizers and families led the California Department of Education to recognize the need to support Black student achievement. Yet, plans to support Black students, such as Los Angeles Unified School District Black Student Achievement Program was upended by a conservative group out of Virginia who sought to “eliminate race as a factor in determining which children will be helped.”
Yet, it’s clear that not all students are having the same experience. In California, about 5% of public school students are Black, but 62% were suspended in 2023-2024. Moreover academic performance for Black students was grim, as they scored “low” on English Language Arts and “very low” on mathematics. In order to improve schooling, we cannot pretend that racial disparities do not exist. Instead, we need to holistically understand the K12 experience of our most vulnerable students, such as Black students, to deeply understand their lived experience and recognize systemic racism and the anti-Blackness they face daily in school.
As a former teacher, I know first hand that by really seeing these students we see beyond glaring disparities and disproportionality- we see students who are unsafe in school and lack trust with peers and adults. We see students who rarely see their histories and cultures celebrated in the curriculum. We see that school makes them feel invisible, yet simultaneously hypervisible when they are constantly singled out for they talk, dress, behave or simply exist. The racial trauma that these students experience robs students of a healthy school experience and positive personal development. But we cannot begin to unpack the lived student experience by taking steps backward in eliminating accountability systems such as the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights that has conducted reports on discipline, school climate, sexual violence, bullying and more. Eliminating this department puts public education at risk of sweeping student experiences under the rug, making it difficult to hold accountable teachers and school leaders to support every student.
To focus on the Black student experience, for instance, does not take away from supporting all students. It actually allows for an opportunity to enhance awareness on how educators can disrupt harmful practices and positively impact all students. With Trump’s abrasive executive orders, Californians should ensure that Governor Newsom safeguards the California Department of Education, its data systems and Office of Equal Opportunity which reinforces state and federal civil rights laws. Yet, it’s still a step backward to eliminate federal accountability systems as if states are having isolated experiences when it comes to harming Black students and other students of color. All educators and school leaders should examine their beliefs, values and practices to interrogate any complacency in perpetuating the anti-Blackness and racism that has persisted in public schools for generations. Instead of a lack of accountability, excuses, and deficit views of children, the time is now to support our youth and advance educational equity and justice for every child.
