By Elona Street-Stewart, December guest blogger
Last month, I made plans to attend the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership (MMEP) conference. In fact, I knew I was to be honored there with the "All My Relations Award" for exemplifying service to increase the success of students. When I heard that tickets were sold out I was thrilled. The overwhelming presence of the crowd was great news that many people and organizations are working collaboratively to make equal opportunity — and therefore education equity — a reality in Minnesota. As 350 of us ate breakfast together on November 6, it was clear that there is a "hunger" in Minnesota to do justice on the issue of race inequalities in educational outcomes.
Every two years, MMEP holds this conference to coincide with the release of a status report that captures how Minnesota's students of color and American Indian students are being served by our state's education system. This year, MMEP distinguished American Indian students from their counterparts in the African American, Asian and Latino communities because of the unique history and legal status American Indians possess by virtue of their nations' sovereignty relationships with the US federal government. As an American Indian, I know we face similar outcomes of diminished opportunities because of both the legacy and continuation of racism. But our future necessitates that we hold all these as our children.
Here is one of the statistics shared at the conference: "...only 41% of American Indian, Latino and African American students graduate from high school in Minnesota." I know that we want all students to excel. In fact, conference participants made a covenant agreement to prepare students for academic competency, future life skills, and civic responsibility toward our earth and humanity.
In order to teach children to value education we must first value them. I believe that you should walk the way you want others to follow. Our best efforts to value students begin by knocking down barriers to their success — the inequalities in our education system.
Our conference closed with a call to action, a dedication of our best efforts to keep students from tuning out and giving up. Looking around the room, it was obvious that our futures are interconnected; we are all related. What are you or your organization planning or doing to ensure school success for all our students?
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