Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle December 19, 2018
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
ESSA: A Roadmap for Achieving Equity in Education
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
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Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
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Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
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Photographer
2017
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MLK
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January 21
2019
tates are in the drivers
seat when it comes to im-
proving their struggling
schools. But how can we
make sure they’re not taking
the “path of least resistance”
when it comes to this import-
ant work, risking the academ-
ic prospects for students of
color.
Building on the work done
by Bellwether Education Part-
ners, which conducted inde-
pendent peer reviews of all 50
states’ and the District of Co-
lumbia’s ESSA plans that were
required to be submitted to
the U.S. Department of Educa-
tion for approval, the Collab-
orative for Student Success
analyzed plans to see which
states are taking advantage
of new-found flexibility re-
garding equity in education.
The new report, Check State
Plans: Promise to Practice,
found that just 17 states met
its threshold for even having
enough public information to
review. The report notes that
the results are “sobering” in
that “more than 9 million stu-
dents attend schools that do
not meet anyone’s standard
for what is acceptable.” This
is particularly acute for stu-
dents of color and who come
from low-income families.
The fact is, achievement
gaps between white and black
students exist. We see this
time and again in the Nation-
al Assessment of Education
Dr.
Elizabeth
Primas
Progam
Manager,
NNPA
Progress as well as on indi-
vidual states’ annual assess-
ments. Students who attend
inner city public schools tend
to fare worse than their peers
in suburban public schools.
The gaps are even more pro-
nounced when we look at pri-
vate schools that draw privi-
“
just 22.5 percent of black stu-
dents could say the same, ac-
cording to the analysis. While
that’s much better than the
1974 numbers in which just
5.5 percent of black students
finished four years of college
compared to 14 percent of
white students, that progress
leaves little cheer.
State education chiefs and
their in-state partners at
teaching and research insti-
tutions plus educators on
the front lines have a real
chance to make a difference
for black students and other
minorities. But do they have
While 36.2 percent of white stu-
dents completed four years of
college in 2015, just 22.5 percent of
black students could say the same
leged students away from city
institutions. These racial di-
vides segregate communities.
A report from the Young
Invincibles examines these
divides and developed three
main findings: (1) minorities
disproportionately enroll in
for-profit and community
colleges, which can condemn
them to a vicious cycle of
debt; (2) college costs hit mi-
nority students harder than
their white peers; and (3) the
achievement gap is racially
divided. While 36.2 percent
of white students completed
four years of college in 2015,
the courage to make the nec-
essary changes?
The Collaborative’s report
is a good starting point, and
it provides a roadmap written
by education and policy lead-
ers who are displaying the
courage necessary to create
bold plans that prioritize eq-
uity. Low-performing schools
must be identified as such
and be given real plans with
real accountability measures
to improve. There have to be
consequences for students
who don’t make the grade, but
for too long, our education
system as a whole has pun-
ished students by not giving
them the tools they need to
succeed. We have to look at
the institutions and root out
systemic problems.
As such, the Promise to
Practice reviewers evaluated
state plans based on a rubric
that included whether the
state has a coherent vision for
improving student outcomes,
whether there is a strategic
use of funding and alignment
of resources, the use of evi-
dence-based interventions,
and how well state leaders en-
gaged stakeholders. That last
component is perhaps one of
the most interesting aspects
of ESSA – federal lawmak-
ers required states to gather
input from a wide range of
groups outside of tradition-
al education. Civic groups,
business leaders, parents and
community activists were
given a seat at the table.
We watched excitedly as
several NAACP groups got
involved from the very begin-
ning, helping policy and law-
makers understand commu-
nity and even neighborhood
needs for the betterment of
students. Still, it dishearten-
ing to learn that just 17 states
are ready to identify and pro-
vide the kinds of supports
that low-performing schools
require.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Will a New CFPB Director Heed the Agency’s Mission?
I
n her first news conference
as a Senate-confirmed Di-
rector of the Consumer Fi-
nancial Protection Bureau
(CFPB), Kathleen Kraninger’s
remarks sounded a lot like
Mick Mulvaney, her former
boss at the Office of Budget
and Management (OMB). On
December 11, just one day
into a five-year term of of-
fice, Kraninger told reporters
she would continue the busi-
ness-friendly work begun by
Mulvaney.
Days earlier on December 6,
Kraninger was confirmed to
the position by a 50-49 party
line vote. However, a broad
and diverse coalition com-
prised of national and state
organizations have pledged
to valiantly stand up for con-
sumers and their financial
rights.
Labor advocates like the
AFL-CIO and the Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU), as well as civil rights
stalwarts NAACP, Unidos US
(formerly the National Coun-
cil of LaRaza) and the Leader-
ship Conference on Civil and
Human Rights, and consumer
advocates like Americans for
Financial Reform and Center
for Responsible Lending are
all among the advocates lend-
ing their names and influence
on the effort.
“She won’t answer ques-
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
tions. She won’t release doc-
uments. She let industry at-
tend her swearing in but not
the public. Now she’s forcing
“
Now she’s
forcing im-
portant mem-
bers of the
media out
of the room
during her
first press
availability
as CFPB di-
rector. What
is Kathy
Kraninger
hiding?
important members of the
media out of the room during
her first press availability as
CFPB director. What is Kathy
Kraninger hiding?” asked
Karl Frisch, executive direc-
tor of Allied Progress.
“This is not how a CFPB
director committed to trans-
parency and accountability
operates. We deserve better,”
added Frisch.
Kraninger arrives to CFPB’s
top job with no experience
protecting consumers nor in
financial regulation. Neither
does she bring experience in
directing a large government
agency. While at OMB, she
was considered a mid-level
appointee.
Earlier and in a series
of replies to questions from
the Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs, one of the questions
posed was, “Can you identify
any actions he [Mulvaney]
has taken that you disagree
with and explain why you dis-
agree?”
Kraninger’s response was,
“I cannot identify any actions
that Acting Director Mul-
vaney has taken with which I
disagree.”
Under Mulvaney’s lead-
ership, the CFPB was trans-
formed from a vigilant con-
sumer advocate into a servant
to corporations. Just a few of
the anti-consumer actions
taken by Mulvaney include
a lack of enforcement of the
nation’s fair lending laws,
rollbacks of consumer pro-
tections, and suppression of
the CFPB’s Student Loan Om-
budsman report that found
how high fees were charged
to college students by major
banks.
Most importantly, even in
the handful of cases brought
under Mulvaney, financial
actors who defrauded and
abused consumers, next to
nothing was paid in restitu-
tion – monies that could help
make consumers whole finan-
cially. Instead of enforcement,
many consumer activists
would view that lack of action
as simply a business-friendly
pass.
For the nation’s consumers,
however, financial fairness
– rules that eliminate debt
traps including payday loans,
as well as restitution from
lawsuits that earlier returned
nearly $12 billion to those who
had been financially harmed
— could seem like CFPB’s his-
tory but not its current focus.
What happens over the next
five years will test the mettle
of those who fought to create
an agency given the mission
to protect consumer finances
against profiteers who argue
that baseline protections for
consumers are an unneces-
sary burden to business.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
