Getting to ‘Somewhere Else’ Without A Map: The Role of Liberal Arts Institutions in Addressing Educational Inequality in K-12 Schools

Sixty years since Brown v. Board of Education—what to make of the educational landscape and our civil rights imperatives? Brown was driven by a perception that “green followed white.” If that is still the case, what role for liberal arts institutions and what role for the liberal arts? In this presentation, I will explore the heightened tension among critical education forces—equal access to the markets of a global society; equal access to the culture of liberal arts institutions; and the disconnect between the worlds of liberal arts institutions and the K-12 worlds of our urban poor. Alice’s visit with the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, illustrates the unending effort to move, like Alice, from “here” to “somewhere else.” I intend to challenge liberal arts institutions to get out there and be more visible in the land of K-12 instruction and learning. If that cannot be done, we will flounder amidst the politicians who know little, and the liberal arts will continue to be a noble concept—still critically important to a democracy, but ultimately serving ever-shrinking elites. We need liberal arts places that continue to honor liberal arts traditions, and help young adults learn and grow into people who are increasingly able to be independent and critical thinkers—but we need for these places to draw a more diverse crowd, engage more students in knowing what it means to be participants in a diverse society, and, most important, weigh in on conversations about how our K-12 schools and districts should be doing the same. Way too many of our K-12 schools and school leaders are in the pedagogical toilet, and without being called on to change antiquated practices—and having mentors and coaches available at all higher ed institutions—including liberal arts schools—I fear things will remain largely the same, and, 80 and 90 years after Brown, we’ll be singing the same tune. These issues will be explored in general and with specific reference to the Yonkers desegregation case, focusing on the limitations of court action, the evolution of federal programming, and the journey of running and standing still over the last 40 years in the world of civil rights and educational reform