Editor’s note: This article was written by Tiffany Grays, an Aurora, Colorado native and the 2021-22 chair of the Black Family Advisory Council. She is also a Denver Public Schools parent, as well as the Founder and CEO of Justice Journee.
The Black Family Advisory Council (BFAC) in Denver Public Schools, of which I am the current chair, is a direct legacy of the late Dr. Sharon Bailey. BFAC stands behind the needs, concerns and goals pertinent to Black families in DPS. Our goal is to lead, collaborate and work to ensure that the voice of Black families represents the often ignored and marginalized members of DPS’s community.
BFAC is concerned about the direction, action, and support that the DPS board of education and superintendent execute.
From Dr. Bailey’s legendary Bailey Report came the African American Equity Task Force, and from the Task Force came the Black Excellence Resolution and BFAC. Simply put, BFAC is here because of Dr. Bailey’s vision for equity and is here to see her vision fulfilled. BFAC remains committed to ensuring equity through Black Excellence by utilizing recommendations that are clearly outlined in the Black Excellence Resolution and from the task force.
Dr. Bailey frequently stated, “We must create equity,” and to create equity, we must define it. Therefore, BFAC has asked DPS to co-create a district-wide definition of equity that will be displayed on the homepage of every school’s website, so every person in DPS shares a common understanding of what equity truly means.
While Dr. Bailey tirelessly fought for equity for Black students and educators in DPS, we know this continues to be an issue. Happy Haynes wrote here about the oppressive atmosphere and racism that she and Dr. Bailey experienced in their DPS high school years. The fact that we are having the same conversations 50 years later is reprehensible and indicative of the absence of equity, and why it must be created.
Dr. Bailey sowed the seeds of equity that have produced BFAC’s equity work in DPS. BFAC has asked DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero, along with the entire school board, to truly honor Dr. Bailey by creating equity for Black students and their families in DPS today.
BFAC believes that the time is now and that both the new board and administration will fulfill Dr. Bailey’s dream of equity for Blacks in DPS in the following ways:
- DPS will truly honor Dr. Bailey’s legacy by removing the systemic barriers that prevent the district from creating the equity that has been promised yet has remained unfulfilled for Black students and their families for decades. In addition to co-defining equity, this means ensuring that BFAC has a prominent place at all tables where issues concerning or affecting Blacks in DPS are decided. That means decision-making tables, discovery tables, creation tables, implementation tables, and assessment tables.
- DPS will stop making decisions for Blacks in DPS without Blacks in DPS. The Listening and Learning Tour conducted by Dr. Marrero demonstrates that DPS must make use of community if it is to provide an equitable education for Blacks in DPS. Yet too often, still, DPS is not listening to community, which is not creating the equity it seeks.
- DPS can create equity today by fully funding the work Dr. Plashan McCune is doing with and for our Black girls. As we know, based on data, Black girls are more likely to receive harsher punishments than their peers, and the work Dr. McCune does for more than 300 Black girls in DPS is critical to the fulfillment of equity.
- DPS can create equity today by funding the creation of three Far Northeast Denver 24×7 crisis teams: The teams should consist of:
- Five therapeutic mental health providers of color/therapists culturally aware and able to connect with kids;
- Five prevention resource coordinators
- A social worker,
- A registered nurse.
DPS can create equity today by ensuring transparency. Too often today, data is not being disclosed, which deprives the community of the ability to monitor equity. Equity in data transparency means collecting various data points about Black students including but not limited to data through Black Excellence Plans and providing that data to community via easily accessible platforms. Equity in data transparency also means the data is disaggregated by race, disability, and state assessment scores.
For years DPS has funded other affinity groups, for Latinx, American Indians, and Asian communities, but has not provided the same for Blacks. Therefore BFAC asks the district to create a line-item in the budget for Black community equity that goes beyond what other groups receive.
Because Blacks have been disparately treated in DPS for decades, true equity requires an abundance of resources to be distributed to the Black community to address these systemic inequities, so tripling the amount be disbursed to ensure Black community equity Is not only appropriate but will help ensure the gaps suffered by Blacks are permanently closed.
Equity can also be created today by creating a Dr. Bailey STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) and Equity campus to house Robert F. Smith Academy, which is the only HBCU- style school in the district and is 98% Black. This campus would not only focus on preparing students for STEAM careers, but also teaching them what equity is and how to ensure equity for themselves and those in the future.
Developing a 2025 strategic plan is excellent and necessary, however, our Black students in DPS cannot wait until 2025. Dr. Bailey’s sudden passing affirms tomorrow is not promised. Youth and gang violence is taking our kids today. Like so many others, my daughter graduates in 2024 and will not reap any of the benefits from plans proposed for 2025 and beyond.
In short: BFAC believes that alongside the current board and the new superintendent, BFAC and DPS will finally remove those systemic barriers that seek to continue the systemic oppression of Blacks in DPS through intentional, operational, financial policies and/or procedures, to establish the equity Dr. Bailey dreamed and fought for tirelessly.
