One front on which the fight for racial justice is being waged is in the area of education. We have been led to believe that education is the great equalizer in this country, but the reality is that Black and Brown students have disparate experiences in school. For example, a national study from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, issued in 2020, showed that African American students were more than four times as likely to be suspended from school and lost five times as many days of instruction due to disciplinary push-out. How do we stop this, and where is the accountability? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Liz King, the Director of Education at the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights about efforts to fight discrimination in our nation's public schools. She makes the case for doubling the Department of Education's budget of the Office for Civil Rights, a primary agent in holding school systems accountable for injustices inflicted upon students on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. She revisits the damage done to public education during the DeVos era, and offers some solutions to help protect students against discrimination in schools.

Narrator  0:01  This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Liz King (LK)  0:14  We need to ensure that there are sufficient funds to meet the variety of children's needs, including the need to attend safe, welcoming and inclusive schools free from discrimination.

Narrator  0:27  One front on which the fight for racial justice is being waged is in the area of education. We have been led to believe that education is the great equalizer in this country. But the reality is that Black and Brown students have disparate experiences in school. For example, a national study from the Center for civil rights remedies, issued in 2020 showed that African American students were more than four times as likely to be suspended from school and lost five times as many days of instruction due to disciplinary push out. How do we stop this And where's the accountability? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Liz King, the Director of Education at the Leadership Council on civil and human rights about efforts to fight discrimination in our nation's public schools. She makes the case for doubling the Department of Education's budget of the Office for Civil Rights, a primary agent and holding school systems accountable for injustices inflicted upon students on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. She revisits the damage done to public education during the divorce era, and offer some solutions to help protect students against discrimination in schools.

Alex Wise (AW) I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Liz King. Liz is the Senior Director of the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights. Liz, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Liz King (LK)  2:13  Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate the opportunity to engage.

Alex Wise (AW)  2:18  So you are not only the Senior Director of the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights, you are a former middle school teacher, what's the mission of your organization? Liz?

Liz King (LK) 2:31  The mission of the leadership conference is to build an America as good as its ideals. We bring together a diverse constituency is to advocate for civil and human rights policy, and the full opportunity and exercise of civil and human rights for all people in the United States.

AW 2:48  And you want to double the budget for the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.