Page 2 The Skanner June 21, 2017
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
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Opinion
Civil Rights Groups Ask for Broad Access to Affordable Lending
A
s the Senate Banking
Committee turns its
attention to reform
the nation’s secondary
mortgage market, civil rights
leaders recently spoke in a
strong and united voice. For
these national organizations,
the housing finance system
must embrace—not aban-
don—its obligation to provide
broad access and affordabili-
ty in mortgage lending.
In a June 6 letter to Com-
mittee Chairman and Rank-
ing Member, Senators Mike
Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sherrod
Brown (D-Ohio), were advised
that any emerging legislation
for the secondary housing
finance market must set in
place guidelines to protect
against unlawful discrimina-
tion.
A second and equally im-
portant requirement is for
all credit-worthy borrowers
have access to the mortgage
credit they deserve.
Signing the letter was a
broad coalition of activists:
The Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights,
NAACP,
National
Urban
League, National Council of
La Raza, National Coalition
for Asian Pacific American
Community
Development,
National Fair Housing Alli-
ance, National Community
Reinvestment Coalition, and
the Center for Responsible
Lending (CRL).
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
Together they wrote, “Any
reform of the secondary
mortgage market must en-
sure access and affordabili-
ty to mortgage credit for all
creditworthy potential home-
buyers in all regions of the
nation…Diminishing the role
“
Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, two government-spon-
sored enterprises also known
as GSEs, followed that market
trend, hoping to capture prof-
its for their investors.
This led to them facing loss-
es that resulted in their being
placed into conservatorship
by the federal government.
Like many other private
firms, the GSEs received a
financial bailout from the
U.S. Treasury Department
to avoid a complete market
meltdown. Eventually and
as authorized by Congress in
Today’s public policy housing
debate is also an opportunity to
learn from the mistakes of the
past and craft new policies
and importance that the sec-
ondary housing finance sys-
tems plays in achieving this
goal will continue to deepen
the racial wealth gap that al-
ready exists in America to-
day.”
The current public poli-
cy debate on the secondary
mortgage market has its roots
in the foreclosure crisis that
began in 2007. Lax federal
regulation and excessive
risk-taking by Wall Street
firms led to a housing boom
where investors chased prof-
its on unsustainable mort-
gage loans.
the Troubled Asset Relief Pro-
gram, or TARP, a $187 billion
taxpayer investment saved
the GSEs out of the total of
$698 billion in rescue funds.
Even today, the GSEs remain
under conservatorship.
But with the housing mar-
ket stabilized, multiple calls
have urged legislative reform
of Fannie and Freddie, de-
spite some reforms already
enacted.
For communities of color,
the next decade is projected
to demographically change to
majority minority. According
to the Joint Center for Hous-
ing Studies at Harvard Uni-
versity, seven out of every 10
new households formed will
be families of color. In addi-
tion, the future of Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac is tied to sev-
eral statutory mandates that
include requirements for the
GSEs to share responsibility
in reaching affordable hous-
ing goals, as well as access to
credit that is free from dis-
crimination.
In a broad sense, today’s
public policy housing debate
is also an opportunity to learn
from the mistakes of the past
and craft new policies that
will avoid their recurrence.
“The nation’s housing fi-
nance system has never
worked for people of color,”
noted Lisa Rice, Executive
Vice President of the National
Fair Housing Alliance.
“The system was originally
and purposefully designed
to exclude these consum-
ers. That construct infused
barriers to equal access into
the system and those barriers
have never been unwound.”
“As a result, people of color
face grave difficulties when
trying to access credit,” added
Rice. “This means that the Af-
fordable Housing Goals must
be strengthened and the re-
sources and resolve to achieve
them must be set in place.”
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Our Children Deserve High Quality Teachers
I
am a native Washingtonian.
I still live on the same street
that my parents brought me
home to 50 plus years ago.
I am a product of D.C. public
schools. I began my education
prior to integration. I was
taught by, in my opinion, the
best-prepared teachers in the
city. I remember that most of
my teachers had masters’ or
doctorate degrees and they
taught in the field in which
they earned their degree.
They were highly qualified,
dedicated, and allowed no
child to be left behind. The
principal knew every stu-
dent by name. She knew our
strengths and weaknesses.
She made sure that her teach-
ers addressed the individual
challenges of each student.
I left public school well pre-
pared to face the world.
Through the years, I have
witnessed many changes in
both education and commu-
nity. I have watched my neigh-
borhood demographic change
from middle-class Black fami-
lies, to a neighborhood where
drug use, unemployment, and
the lack of marketable skills
has resulted in random acts
of violence. Today, my neigh-
borhood is nearly unrecog-
nizable due to gentrification.
However, my immediate con-
cern is not growing property
taxes or well-intentioned, but
ill-informed redevelopment
projects. My immediate con-
Dr.
Elizabeth
Primas
Progam
Manager,
NNPA
cern is for the children in my
neighborhood, right now; the
children struggling to suc-
ceed in a rapidly changing en-
vironment and an ineffective
education system; children
“
ous causes for this phenom-
enon, the fact remains that,
ill-prepared teachers under-
mine student achievement.
According to an article by
Emma Garcia published by
the Economic Policy Insti-
tute, about eight in 10 poor
Black students attend high
poverty schools. Garcia found
that 81 percent of poor, Black
children attend high pover-
ty schools compared to 53.5
percent of their poor White
peers. It is also noted that at-
sional credentials; and out-of-
field teachers. Reporting this
data provides states with the
comparative data necessary
to examine the root causes of
inequities.
Title II of ESSA provides
program grants to states and
districts that can be used for
teacher preparation, recruit-
ment, support, and contin-
ued learning. ESSA changes
the distribution formula for
funds by requiring that any
increase in funding is prior-
itized to states with high
rates of students living in
poverty.
ESSA has ended the re-
quirement of states to set
up teacher evaluation sys-
tems based significantly on
students’ test scores. Growing
evidence suggests that using
student test scores to deter-
mine teacher effectiveness is
misguided and does not im-
prove instructional practices.
ESSA includes a Teacher
and School Leader Innovation
Program that will provide
grants to districts that want
to try out performance pay
and other teacher quality im-
provement measures.
At some point, we must stop
treating our children like
widgets. They won’t all fit into
a round hole; some of them
are square pegs.
We owe our children the
best education possible.
They are our future.
It’s critical that parents engage with
educational leaders and demand
equal access to high quality teachers
who are taught by teachers,
who do not relate to their per-
sonal struggles and lack the
skill set to respond to their
individualized needs.
The “Every Student Suc-
ceeds Act” (ESSA) addressed
many of my concerns in ed-
ucation. The NNPA contin-
ues to echo the message that
giving parents a voice in how
the school system operates is
vital to closing the achieve-
ment gap. It’s critical that par-
ents engage with educational
leaders and demand equal ac-
cess to high quality teachers.
Unfortunately, high-poverty
schools are disproportionally
staffed by unprepared, substi-
tute, and out-of-field teachers.
Although, there are numer-
tending a high-poverty school
lowers math and reading
achievement for students in
all racial and ethnic groups.
These discrepancies in access
to adequate education expand
into discrepancies in econom-
ic prospects and social mobil-
ity.
ESSA requires states and
districts to ensure that low-in-
come students and students
of color are not dispropor-
tionally taught by ineffective,
inexperienced, and out-of-
field teachers. ESSA requires
state and school district
report cards to include the
percentage of inexperienced
teachers, principals, and oth-
er school leaders; teachers
with emergency or provi-
