It’s as I thought back when so many were supposedly dropping all their “DEI” programs; those were “washing” names to begin with, for the profit-makers, who likely run their HR the same way today as they did under “DEI”, and as they did before we used the term, “DEI.” I like this guy in Wichita; obeying the law and the federal E.O., and taking good care of things. My guess is, this is similar to how most entities are doing things. I actually was reading the story because I’m curious how our (KS’s) public schools are working things out, with various federal funding methods stalled. Schools here have to turn in their next-year budgets to the state Leg. in the Spring before the session ends, then receive their money after July 1, when KS’s fiscal year begins. But as we’re aware federal dollars are held up, so I was curious. Some of that is addressed in this story, but what a nice surprise to read about the other!
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) — As summer comes to a close for Wichita Public Schools students, the district is preparing the welcome students back to the same schools with some slight changes.
The very first change is monthly updates from Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld through press conferences, the first of which was held Friday. Superintendent Bielefeld says WPS principals returned to school this week, and teachers and students will soon follow as school is set to begin on August 14.
Over at Isely Traditional Magnet Elementary School, a 6th-grade class will attend the school for the first time. This is the start to a transition that will take years as Isley begins to accommodate grades Kindergarten through Eighth.
“The parents that I’ve talked to that have students attending Isely are very excited about it, the fact that their kids can stay there for middle school,” said Bielefeld. “The plan was to also do something similar at Cessna had the bond passed. That’s on hold for now.”
The district says it’s looking to communicate better with parents in light of the feedback it received after its bond failed in February.
In addition to monthly updates from the superintendent, the district announced the creation of a new “Director of Partnerships and Belonging” position. The district says it’s accepting applications, adding that this person will be responsible for working with community partners and strengthening the school-home connection for students and parents.
“This program will target more the community engagement piece that we’ve been hearing from parents, constituents, teachers, everybody, we need to do a better job of that,” said Bielefeld.
The district says programs that fell under Dr. Polite will continue, as those programs have never been about race and instead focused on the different risk factors students face.
“The guidance we’ve been given from the Department of Education currently is that any race-based initiatives are illegal. We have not been doing that,” said Bielefeld. “We’ve been complying with the law. We continue to comply with the law, which is why we’re continuing the programs. And it wasn’t necessarily intentional, but it does describe the position better.”
The district will be creating a Night School at West High as a way for students to complete additional coursework in the afternoons. This is the first time the credit recovery program will be offered at a comprehensive high school.
Over at South High, the “school within a school” alternative program will help sophomores who get off track as freshmen.
“So instead of waiting until junior or senior year when they’re significantly behind on credits, we’re intervening earlier,” said Bielefeld.
The Superintendent says the district will also be establishing AI guidelines at an upcoming board meeting. Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education released a statement encouraging teachers to utilize AI as a tool in their classrooms.
“The better they understand it, I think, the less they fear and the more they can understand how students are using it,” said Bielefeld. “We continue to look for ways to support our students to become future-ready, and every student in the district to become future-ready.”
Additional information released by the district is as follows:
In-person enrollment is July 28, from 12 to 7 p.m.
All kindergarten families need to enroll in person.
(snip-local info)
Girls Flag Football will launch this year at all 7 comprehensive high schools, supported by the Kansas City Chiefs and Chiefs Flag Football League.
With Trump’s second presidential administration looming before us, Americans who care deeply about equality and social justice are asking ourselves: What now? How do we move forward in this dramatically changed political and legislative climate? What actions will have a fighting chance of getting traction? What is the most effective sphere of influence for individuals?
The truth is some diversity, equity and inclusion programs, like training, haven’t worked. Research shows that while DEI trainings increase attendees’ awareness and knowledge about bias, there’s little evidence of changes in attendees’ behavior, nor increased diversity in the types of people hired, promoted, retained or more inclusive climate in the organizations where such training is implemented. Sometimes DEI training backfires, creating resentment and resistance when people feel coerced.
Ashley Dorelus (R) and Tanya James (L) demonstrate outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Dec. 23, 2021, during jury deliberations in the trial of former police officer Kim Potter, charged with first degree manslaughter over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, 20. (Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images)
DEI training tries to change individuals’ beliefs, hoping it will change their future behavior. But individuals’ beliefs often don’t shift behavior because human behavior is buffeted by multiple situational forces. These include the social roles individuals occupy and their accompanying behavioral etiquette, what others around them are saying or doing, and norms and rules that constrain their actions, all of which guide people’s behavior no matter what their personal beliefs.
Another situational force is the physical design of places where people live and work, which influences whether casual interactions with others of diverse backgrounds are easy or not. Such interactions, when pleasant and repeated, morph into familiarity and friendliness that are an essential building block for trust.
Like wallpaper, these situational forces are in the background, barely noticed. Yet they subtly nudge people’s thoughts and actions in small ways, accumulating over time in one of two directions. They either pull us apart based on initial differences, increasing unfamiliarity, mistrust and polarization, or they push us together, increasing familiarity, trust and inclusion.
We need to notice the wallpaper that silently pulls and pushes our own behavior. To do that, we must step out of our bubble and mix with people different from ourselves.
Even if individuals’ behavior were to be changed by DEI training, they would be quickly overwhelmed by the wallpaper when they returned to their workplace, stepped into their old roles, surrounded by unchanged norms, rules and colleagues, and in buildings with limited physical arrangements for cross-group mixing and relationship building.
Here is an alternative roadmap to social justice backed by scientific research simplified in the form of five steps.
First, we need to notice the wallpaper that silently pulls and pushes our own behavior. To do that, we must step out of our bubble and mix with people different from ourselves. Have real conversations, be curious and learn about the material conditions of others’ lives that may not be visible from the outside. Repeated interactions start a virtuous cycle of growing familiarity, understanding, trust, cross-group relationships and a sense of belonging in a shared community. These interactions reveal stories about people’s material conditions, highlighting inequality or vulnerability in a personal way, and grow solidarity and momentum for change.
Know that inequalities often hide in the “3 Rs” where we live and work: rules, resources and recognition. Do the rules in the place where you live or organization where you work exclude some people’s voices from decision-making, especially people with less power? Are there transparent and reasonable processes to change these rules? Are resources distributed to individuals based on need, merit, effort, seniority, or a combination? Are the criteria and processes for resource distribution open and transparent? Are people recognized for their contribution fairly?
If you see inequalities in the 3 Rs where you live or work, don’t be silent. Talk to others, see what they think, and explore ways to act collectively for change.
Second, actions make more of a difference if they attempt to change the material conditions of people’s lives—access to high quality education, healthcare, housing and employment—than if they are mostly symbolic—mission statements, lawn signs or imagery of diverse people on websites and marketing materials.
Third, acting collectively with other people will get more traction rather than acting alone because individuals quickly get swept away by situational forces. In acting together, the goal is not to limit ourselves to gather with people who are all the same. Rather, when we are not afraid to mix with people different from ourselves, we are able to discover and develop new allies across the spectrum instead of being caught in old identity traps that haven’t served us well.
Because the wallpaper is old and sticky, collective action is needed over and over again in different ways. It’s not one and done. That’s the fourth step.
Finally, actions get more traction if they are local. That’s the Goldilocks space. That’s our call for action in the next four years and the hope for change.
Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs for our series, ‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom.’ Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Say What? Could you please, Pleeeeeeeeeeease repeat Did you say: Molleta? Prieta? Morena? Ohh African! Hmmm Soy Puertorriquena Yes, Puertorican
That I don’t look What ? Oh, I guess I don’t look cafe con leche mancha de plátano Mulata, high yellow grifa By the way I did not know that there was a puertorican look. And what exactly is that? That I just look more what? Well, Y Tu abuela dónde Está? I should say abuela, tío, Tía, y to el barrio Let me tell you something FOR YOUR INFORMATION Most ricans are a mix of Africans, Spaniards, and Native Americans called Taínos By the way, no one has seen a Taíno in the last 500 years. Sooooo exactly … You know what that means My English is covered with spices spices from the Caribbean Spices that you might find Strange Because you were born in this cold fast food of a mall of a country Where Spanish is a foreign word That you are ashamed to learn
And when you try Is not there Only mumbles of a murmur Susurando el olvido A reganadientes Pretendiendo Escondiendo la vergüenza You remember Puerto Rico on the 2nd Sunday of every June When everybody is suddenly proud to be Puerto Rican No the word is Boricua Boricuas Here, Boricuas THERE, Boricuas everywhere And everyone waves the flags The flags that they don’t even understand And no one knows why they are here Yes HERE Now Do you Know? why your parents or grandparents vinieron aqui? De que Pueblo? Cuando te bañaste en las aguas calientes del Caribe? Better yet Do you really know that …? We all came from the Motherland Africa Even the Spanish people that came with Colon, Columbus However you want to say it Lived 700 hundred years under the Moors You heard that right The moors as in Arabs as in black Arabs SO … in other words Not only I But we Have over 500 years of African mestizaje The so called “white people” that everyone is so proud of As in “my grandparents are from Spain Well if they are … They Too have negrITOs in them Remember the Gitanos But that is another story … Getting back to the Boricua’s issue
What history do you know? Ever heard of Agüeybaná Albizu Campos Luis Palés Matos Rafael Betances Arturo Schomburg Francisco Oller Julia De Burgos Rafael Hernández Segundo Ruiz Belvís Enrique Laguerre Mariana Bracetti Pedro Pietri
Still havING problems figuring me out? Or is it that you just don’t know Who you are?
On Water Street, scaffolds envelop the buildings, wire screens surround the benches, iron fences line the street. You must walk a hot summer block in either direction to cross.
To the east, construction continues. To the west, trucks sit, waiting.
Approaching or leaving, it feels like a detention center without passports or means of escape.
Late nights on Water Street, beneath the scaffolding, behind the steaming sidewalks, and the screens and the fences, the men set up their dominoes table and their friends watch them play, awaiting their turns.
We wave on our way to walk our dogs and when returning home in the humid air.
There are no passersby on Water Street, no loitering without intent or purpose but I will reply to the questions they might have asked had they existed.
Why, they might wonder, do the men sit at a bridge table in the stifling heat beneath scaffolds, behind screens and fences? Surely, there are air-conditioned apartments where they might socialize and yell Capicu!
Because, I would answer, it is our street, this is our Lower East Side that we breathe, this is our space where neighbors smile as they pass by and call out, Otra vez you’re still at it, as time slowly propels us closer to wherever we are headed, but until we get there, the table is set for another night of apocalyptic dominos.
Scottie's Playtime 