They miss their friends, their school, and their former daily life. All this has happened in the space of a few months.įor many children, the drastic change has been challenging. The things we think of as part of childhood education - walking or taking the bus, circle time, recess, and playing with friends - are all gone, replaced by at-home worksheets and distance learning. Most public schools in the United States have closed for the remainder of the school year. The impact on children has been immediate and profound. And it’s changed the nature of how we as humans interact and relate to one another. What’s the legacy of Brown in this age of coronavirus?Īccording to Johns Hopkins University, the global coronavirus pandemic has killed almost 320,000 people around the world, including more than 90,000 in the United States. Brown also inspired efforts to integrate students with disabilities, millions of whom had been excluded from public schools.īut this May, nearly every student in the United States is learning at home - physically, socially, and sometimes emotionally separated from their peers. The decision changed America, leading to the end of other racist policies, like laws against interracial marriage. No longer could Southern states segregate white and black children into separate schools. In May 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the doctrine of “separate but equal” in Brown. But with the coronavirus turning traditional schooling on its head, it makes sense to think about what inclusion and equity in education mean right now. This month marks the 66th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that got us this far - Brown v. We’ve made great strides from the days when black students couldn’t learn alongside white students, and kids with disabilities were kept out of public schools altogether. For more than seven decades, we’ve been steadily working toward a goal of inclusion and equity in our schools.
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