AISD’s Equity Initative

AISD’s Equity Initiative

By Charly Chatelain

It took 26 years. More than two decades after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown versus Board of Education, Austin complied with its integration requirement. That’s more than two spells of a 12 year curriculum. From historic redlining to its enforcement of Jim Crow, racism is baked into Austin’s history; its education system is not an exception to this. In Austin there are perceived to be rich schools and poor schools, “good” schools and “bad” schools. The difference is that the “good” schools are majority white, and the “bad” schools are not. Often, the white schools get better resources, campuses and opportunities, while the minority ones are forgotten and shut down. Students of Austin Independent School District (AISD) are affected by the legacy of segregation today. AISD has been putting a lot of effort into creating equitable learning opportunities for all students. The fight for equity in schools is not one that could be solved overnight. It could take decades. Two people at the forefront of the push for these opportunities are John Allen and Lupe Molina. Allen is a director for AISD’s equity team. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Education at The University of North Carolina, Charlotte where he wrote his dissertation on cultural sustainability in education. Molina is the principal of Allison Elementary School, a small school in southeast Austin that is 96% Hispanic. Allen said he and the equity team have been pushing hard to create a framework of equity in AISD. Molina said she is working to implicate engaging learning programs at her school to pull the mostly minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students into an academic atmosphere and enable them to excel. Molina and Allen said working to achieve these goals has not been easy, particularly in the last two years, which were marred by a school closing plan that targeted minority schools and global pandemic.

Graphic by Charly Chatelain

Austin ISD’s headquarters in South Austin. The building hasn’t been in heavy use recently due to the pandemic. (Photo by Nicholas Cicale, 2020.)

“It was a prime example of 21st century racism.” -John Allen

said, “is our main objective.” An equitable framework, as Allen describes it, is a state of mind where questions of equity, opportunity and diversity are asked in every decision and action.

Allen said having an equitable framework would be beneficial for opportunity, particularly for the students of AISD, who are majority minority and economically disadvantaged. Allen said when AISD published its plan for school closings in 2019, their primary intent was to ensure every student had access to a modern campus. However, Allen said the plan specifically targeted schools that weren’t performing well,

Allen said that bringing equity to education is his life-long passion. Allen said he wants to make a difference, and he believes that it can be achieved through cooperation and understanding. Allen said the equity team has been attempting to facilitate initiatives that will espouse equitable opportunity in the district since their inception in 2019.

“Pushing for an equitable framework,” Allen

Allison Elementary in Southeast Austin. (Photo Courtesy of AISD.)

Learning online, a child working on school from home using a chromebook. Millions of students were forced to stay home for learning in 2020 due to the COVID 19 global pandemic. (Photo by Thomas Park/courtesy of Unsplash.) “Renovating and expanding the schools in question was entirely feasible, but AISD chose to neglect the interests of those disadvantaged students and instead take a shortcut for its own sake.” -John Allen

weren’t predominantly white and weren’t affluent. “It was a prime example of 21st century racism,” said Allen. The equity team at the time released a report that went into the details of the flaws of the plan. The report touched on many studies from the past that had demonstrated how school closures often caused hardship for the students who were required to leave their schools

Graphic by Charly Chatelain

and would take, in this case, already disadvantaged children and dig them an even deeper hole. “Renovating and expanding the schools in question was entirely feasible,” said Allen, “but AISD chose to neglect the interests of those disadvantaged students and instead take a shortcut for its own sake.” The equity team and Allen were eventually able to host lectures on issues of discrimination and mindfulness for AISD staff to ensure that the continuation of the plan would take equity into account at every step.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, everything shut down. This was a problem that hadn’t been faced at this scale in a century; panic, fear and chaos were ubiquitous. While moms across the country were wrestling to the death for toilet paper, education was at a tough spot as well. AISD had to think of a solution for learning that took precautions for the pandemic, worked well for students and (most importantly) granted equal opportunity to every student. The first (half) semester of online learning, they were unable to achieve this as they figured out 100% online learning wasn’t super feasible and left less affluent students with a disadvantage. “This last semester [though] was definitely a success in that department,” Allen said. “I found that hybrid learning was a good compromise and it helped more kids succeed than we even anticipated.” Another person who was affected by the pandemic is Lupe Molina.

“It was unlike anything I had seen in my scholastic career before,” Molina said. She said that at first (the first semester that was shut down), things were quite difficult and it was almost chaotic, but the next semester, with hybrid learning, worked out

“We want every child to be engaged. Learning has to become something special to them.” -Lupe Molina

much better. “It’s remarkable,” she said, “how we were able to make things work with hybrid learning.” Though, she says, it did take adjusting to. Molina shares a similar passion to Allen. She became a principal because she wanted to give opportunities to children that she would have preferred in her childhood. of Austin lack these tools to this day. “Kids who go to Allison are equal to those who go to Kiker (a top elementary school in the district who is part of a sister school program with Allison),” Molina said, “so they deserve equal opportunities as students.” Students at Allison Elementary have access to many special programs, including dual language, the Creative Learning Initiative and STEM programs presented by Eastside Memorial High School at each level. “We want every child to be engaged,” said Molina. “Learning has to become something special to them.”

“I didn’t have many good teachers as a child,” she said. “They didn’t care about my success as a student.” Molina became an educator wanting to flip the script. She wanted children to be equipped with the tools to succeed, tools that weren’t readily available to her as a child. The truth is that children in most schools on the east side

Graphic by Charly Chatelain

People like principal Molina and Allen are working hard to bridge the gap in education. They know that a strong education can lead to better futures for minority students who are at an inherent disadvantage in Austin. They know that if they are given opportunities to fill their potential, they will be able to navigate a difficult society better. Maybe people like them can make it so one day every school can be a “good” school.