The Superintendent of District 65 says his suburban area of Chicago will give priority to "Black and Brown students” and others it considers to be "oppressed” when it comes to returning to the classroom.
The Evanston Roundtable reports that Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton wants to make sure “students who've been oppressed, that we don't continue to oppress them and that we give them opportunity.”
'I've heard for quite some time that this is a community that's about equity for Black and Brown students, for special education students, for LGBTQ students. We know that this is important work, and we're going to prioritize that.'
Because District 65, which includes students from Evanston and Skokie, won't force teachers to work on-site, school buildings may not be able to accommodate all students who would like to come back to their classrooms. In that event, Superintendent Devon Horton reportedly said, the district would give priority to "Black and Brown students," and others it considered to be "marginalized" or "oppressed."
A spokesperson for the school board told Fox News that the "decision aligns directly to the guidance released by the Illinois State Board of Education on June 23 in using an equity lens to implement and transition into blended learning.”
“We are in a pandemic,” Dr. Horton said. “And we also know that everyone is affected by this differently. But there was a pandemic before this. That was inequity and racism, and classism and all of these other things. And so I just want to make sure that as we're making a decision – no decision is going to make everyone happy – we understand that.”
H/T Fox News