Victory for DACA recipients; get ready for another round of renaming schools

Changing the names of schools named for slave-owning presidents and other leaders with racist views can be divisive. This week, school PTA president Maisha Cole tells us how she led a community process to rechristen Wilson School in Richmond, CA, named for President Woodrow Wilson, as Michelle Obama Elementary. We also interview Lauren Kroiz, associate professor of art history at UC Berkeley, who says she welcomes renaming schools because it allows communities and schools “to reengage with the past and our concept of history in complex ways, and also teach our kids to do that.” 

And Maria Blanco, executive director of the University of California Immigrant Legal Services Center, based at the UC Davis School of Law, discusses the impact of the long-awaited U.S. Supreme Court ruling that rescinded the efforts by President Trump to eliminate the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program.  As a result, undocumented immigrants who arrived  in America as children can continue to work or attend college without fear of deportation — at least for now. 

For background to this podcast, check out the following from EdSource:

California districts look to rename schools linked to racist history

California moves toward requiring CSU students to take ethnic studies to graduate

Supreme Court upholds DACA, protecting hundreds of thousands from deportation

How Supreme Court DACA case could affect U.S. citizen children

Quick Guide: Understanding DACA and education in California