Housing and school integration: Executive Director Phil Tegeler and Michael Hilton, our Policy Counsel for education, have collaborated on a chapter on housing and school integration policy, titled “Disrupting the Reciprocal Relationship Between Housing and School Segregation,” as part of a forthcoming Joint Center for Housing Studies volume on segregation in the U.S. Our paper is posted here, and you can see other papers from the JCHS symposium here. This work is part of an ongoing exploration of state and local policy opportunities at the intersection of housing and education policy.
Anti-busing rider: We assisted the NCSD in a letter signed by over fifty organizations and academic leaders, protesting the reappearance of an arcane rider in the 2018 Appropriations Bill that purports to bar the use of federal education funds for student transportation. This provision has been included in appropriations bills since the anti-busing heyday of the early 1970s, and its continued appearance in the budget in not just an embarrassment, but is undermining voluntary local efforts to promote school integration around the country. See our letter here, and a related story in Chalkbeat here. Also – please sign our petition here.
Continuing risks to children from lead exposure: We joined and contributed to comprehensive comments, developed by a coalition of environmental health advocates, to the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children “Drafting a New Federal Strategy to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Impacts.”
Resources, conferences, jobs
Kerner Commission 50th Anniversary Conference: February 27-March 1 at UC-Berkeley (hosted by the Haas Institute) – more information here.
Housing mobility leadership position: The Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership is looking for a new Executive Director – details here!
Southern Poverty Law Project: Several interesting job openings at multiple locations across the South .
Soros Equality Fellowship: A great mid-career opportunity for activists.
