Closing the Educational
Achievement Gap: No Child Left Behind, De Facto
Segregation, and the Quest for Educational
Equality
When: Wednesday May 2 nd, 6:30
pm
Where: House of the Association, 42
West 44th Street.
Closing the educational achievement gap is a
hugely important issue for our democracy, and
we are at a critical moment: this year, Congress
is slated to consider the reauthorization of
the No Child Left Behind Act, the sweeping federal
overhaul of the education system, while Governor
Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg pursue ambitious
agendas for improving education. Additionally,
the Supreme Court will decide whether school
districts have the right to take voluntary steps
to remedy de facto segregation.
This program will feature Andres Alonso, the
deputy chancellor for teaching and learning at
the New York City Department of Education, Edwin
Darden, Director of Educational Policy at Appleseed,
Douglas Mesecar, the Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary at the US Department of Education,
Dennis Parker, Director of the Racial Justice
Program at the ACLU, Sheila Evans-Tranumn, Associate
Commissioner of the New York State Education
Department, and Randi Weingarten, President of
the United Federation of Teachers. Moderating
will be Anthony DePalma, from the New York Times.
Topics under discussion on this night will
include:
- Is No Child Left Behind (NCLB) meeting its
goal of closing the achievement gap?
- Should NCLB be reauthorized, and what changes
should be made?
- What educational policies will work to close
the achievement gap? Do some of the educational
policies currently being used discriminate
against the low-income, largely minority children
they attempt to help?
- Must policy makers address the de facto
segregation of our urban schools as part of
the effort to provide equality of educational
opportunity?
This event will have a particular focus on
New York City , but the issues at hand are relevant
across the country. For more information, please
see www.nycbar.org.
