OPINION: Equity is not an initiative

May 8, 2024  |  By Harmony Belle Devoe and Pat LaClair  

With school budgets being voted down and pandemic-era funding waning, Vermont schools are being forced to weigh the strength of their commitment to educational equity. We, a Vermont youth and adult, are writing together to share the value of this work in Vermont schools, in hopes that these efforts will not be abandoned in the rush to reduce budgets.  

Vermont communities have not been immune to the right-wing vilification of school equity efforts, but the legislature and most school boards have largely supported and affirmed the work, in clear contrast to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill or Alabama’s “Divisive Concepts” legislation. 

The bigger threat to the progress on educational equity in Vermont schools now may be how districts prioritize it as they cut their budgets. Addressing the disparities and inequities within our schools takes time and money, including hiring district-level Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinators and the long shift toward restorative practices. We are concerned that some people may see these expenses as easy cuts in a tough budget year. But equity is not an “initiative” that can be cut, it is an essential part of public education. 

We believe educational equity means everyone receives opportunities and resources they need to reach their highest possible academic and social potential. This looks different for all students because everyone was born with different circumstances, identities, abilities and skills. 

To us, educational equity also means creating opportunities for everyone to learn about injustices in the past, present and future, and to develop the knowledge and skills to address those injustices. Students need to be taught about the past, to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself; taught about current events, so they’re aware of what is going on in the world, and taught about how to be respectful, open-minded, understanding and actively engaged citizens, in order to create a better future. 

In short, the work of fostering equity in our schools is about supporting all students with what they need to succeed, and ensuring that our students leave school seeing themselves as part of a larger society where their voice matters. Because while public education should certainly help students get into a good college, or learn an important trade or have a successful career, it should also cultivate good citizens who know how to identify and address injustices when they see them.

In practice, these efforts take many forms. At Harwood Union High School, Harmony works as an equity intern, along with fellow student Janelle Hoskins and teacher Rachael Potts, to identify and address inequities in the school. Upon noticing that the images in Harwood’s hallways depicted exclusively white people, the group worked to dedicate a new mural to alumnus Maroni Minter, now the first person of color to be represented on Harwood’s walls. They also reached out to the group that chooses the people who go on Harwood’s “Wall of Legends,” to advocate for more people of color, women and LGBTQIA+ identities to be recognized. 

The group’s work includes visiting the district’s elementary schools and teaching about land acknowledgments and the Abenaki peoples in Vermont’s past and present to build respect and understanding among students and staff. Connected to this teaching at assemblies, the group is installing artwork representing Indigenous peoples by Harwood students in every school in the district. 

Around the state, the youth-adult teams partnering with UP for Learning similarly work to identify and address inequities in their schools. That means using data to uncover and discuss hard truths about how different aspects of students’ identities impact their lives and their school experiences. In schools across Vermont right now, these youth-adult teams are addressing topics such as supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, advocating for anti-racist policies and practices, confronting disparate physical and mental health outcomes among students, helping implement restorative practices, and working to ensure all students feel like they belong at their school, along with a broad array of other projects.

UP for Learning’s Youth Action Council created a short video exploring young people’s view of educational equity, featuring youth and adults in Vermont and beyond. This project is youth-led and youth-created with support from the UP for Learning adult partners. 

While the work of advancing educational equity is broad and varied, our experiences together share two key commonalities: First, these efforts are successful when they are supported by both youth and adults. Second, they are most successful when they are supported by the schools themselves, through resources, funding, time and access to opportunities. 

We believe that this work is best supported by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinators, positions that some (but not all) of Vermont districts have. Increasingly it seems like those positions are being cut to reduce school spending. Cutting positions like this exacerbates the inequities in our education system that Act 127 was meant to address.

Support with words alone is not enough. We know our schools are serious about ensuring that all students receive what they need to succeed and we hope to continue to see that commitment in the actions they take to continue the essential work of educational equity.

Harmony Belle Devoe of Warren is a ninth-grader at Harwood Union High School and was recently named Vermont's Youth Poet Laureate. She is mixed Filipino, white and Indigenous Nipmuc, and is a member of multiple clubs and organizations striving to achieve equity, including Vermont’s inaugural State Youth Council. 

Fairfax resident Pat LaClair is a program director at UP for Learning, a Vermont-based nonprofit focused on empowering youth and adults to reimagine and transform education together.