Your weekly newsletter from Learning for Justice

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October 19, 2021
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** Reimagining Digital Literacy to Save Ourselves
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What is the role of schools in helping dispel disinformation and create more inclusive online communities? In our latest magazine, digital literacy experts emphasize that the role of schools can be huge—and must be urgent. From the January 6 insurrection attempt to anti-Asian violence, offline injustices and violence are often catalyzed by online actions. But as LFJ Senior Writer Cory Collins writes, “despite the massive scale of the problem, experts say change is possible.” Read Collins’ full story here ([link removed]) .
Parents Push for Student Safety // Coshandra Dillard ([link removed])

What Critical Race Theory Is and What it Means for Teachers // Robert Kim ([link removed])

Pay BIPOC Educators for Their DEI Labor // Selena A. Carrión ([link removed])
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Down the Hall: Embracing a Limitless Mindset
Meet Jamilah A. Hud-Kirk, who serves as principal at Fountain Elementary School in Forest Park, Georgia, and works with fellow school leaders through the Off School Grounds Coalition. In our latest magazine issue, Hud-Kirk spoke with LFJ about embracing a limitless mindset in heeding the lessons we learned from education these last two years. “Even before the pandemic, the things we were doing in education weren’t always working,” Hud-Kirk told LFJ. “Inequities didn’t start then—they were just magnified.” Read more here ([link removed]) .
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** Envisioning School Safety Without Police
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To many, the police-free schools movement may feel like a byproduct of 2020 uprisings against racial injustice. The number of districts taking the issue seriously has certainly surged. But as LFJ Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard reports, this movement is decades old—and strengthened by solidarity movements of students, caregivers and community members. Read the full story here ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
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** Language Access Is More Than Just Translation
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In our Fall issue, Julie Feng—a senior communications strategist for the Community Center for Education Results—explores how the pandemic shined a bright light on a longtime problem: the need for better strategies for communicating with families in languages other than English. The feature story highlights the work of school districts in Washington state that illustrated the value of prioritizing language access to improve family and community engagement. Read here ([link removed]) for more of this story and best practices in language access.
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** Story Corner for Young Learners: Kaia Speaks Up
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“My life matters, and my voice deserves to be heard!” Based on events in real life, this story by student activist Kaia Woodford offers young readers a relatable tale of seeing injustice, realizing your power and taking action. Check out the full story and accompanying reader questions in the latest edition of Story Corner ([link removed]) .


** Check Out What We’re Reading
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“Even in normal times, the journey through grades 6-12 can be fraught for students, but the pandemic has made it especially complicated as many are struggling with more anxiety, depression, grief, uncertainty, and loneliness. These emotions get in the way of students being able to process and learn new information—just as schools are pushing to make up for lost learning time.” — Education Week ([link removed])

“‘Teachers are literally afraid that we’re going to be punished for having books in our classes,’ an elementary school teacher said. ‘There are no children’s books that show the ‘opposing perspective’ of the Holocaust or the ‘opposing perspective’ of slavery. Are we supposed to get rid of all of the books on those subjects?’” — NBC News ([link removed])

“School districts don’t have to offer virtual learning this year, and most have scaled back their virtual offerings to encourage students to return to in-person school. But where virtual school is available, some students with disabilities are finding it’s closed to them—or they are being asked to give up certain kinds of support to enroll.” — Chalkbeat ([link removed])
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Have a comment, question or idea for Learning for Justice? Drop us a line at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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