Race equity in schools
BY ERIN PAGE
“Questions like why do Black people need to have their own history month?” explains Price. “Or [saying] the Civil Rights Movement happened so long ago, so Black people need to just get over it.” But passionate about her work and determined to fight for equity, Price connected with Moore Public School’s Committee for Racial and Ethnic Minorities, which is seeking to improve equity for marginalized groups within the district. “I was looking for a place where there were people who looked like me that could understand the experiences I was having,” said Price, who has served as committee chair. “I wanted to have some real discussions about how educators are harming each other and students and [to] address racism and bias in our schools.” Price is proud of the committee’s work, from providing anti-bias and diversity training for educators to engaging administration in meaningful discussion about methods to improve equity, but acknowledges there’s still much to be done. “I have seen the hiring of more diverse
principals and change in the way we are creating marketing materials,” said Price. “I think the work that’s been done the past several years has opened the door for further conversation about antiracism and racial equity, and I hope the district starts to shift toward a more culturally-responsive mindset. We have a lot of students who are being harmed by the things their teachers are saying, not just Black and brown students, but our students who identify as queer or trans or non-binary, too.” Other metro districts have recognized the need for equity committees and administration-level staff. In 2018, Oklahoma City Public Schools established the division of equity and accountability, and in 2019 Dr. Marsha Herron became executive director. Herron is now chief of equity and student support in a newly designed division. One year after launching a Diversity Enrichment Council, Norman Public Schools hired the committee chair and long-time educator and principal Stephanie Williams as its first executive director of diversity and inclusion in July 2020. Deer Creek Public Schools will launch an inclusivity committee
Stephanie Price calls her career an act of resistance. A mixed race Black woman, she’s a minority in her field of speech- language pathology and in the education industry. Price grew up in Norman and has worked for Moore Public Schools for the past 11 years. Both as a student and an educator, she has regularly experienced racism, a situation not unique to these districts. “I am an exception,” said Price of her presence in education as a Black woman. “Would you want to work for an institution that has caused you trauma?” As a student who posed questions about concepts she didn’t understand, Price was often told she wasn’t trying hard enough. As an educator, she regularly deals with microaggressions and comments that indicate bias.
34 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / OCTOBER 2020
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