Southern Burlington County NAACP To Host Education Forum on May 18
By Clyde Hughes | AC JosepH Media
PALMYRA — The Southern Burlington County NAACP will sponsor the Burlington County Education Forum to address data from the New Jersey Department of Education on the high suspension rates of Black students at county schools and other related issues at the Palmyra Community Center, 30 West Broad Street, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 18.
Statistics from the state’s education department and the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection showed that in many Burlington County schools, Blacks faced a higher suspension rate than their population at the campus.
“This data is alarming,” said the Diversity Equal Opportunity Network last week in a posting of the study’s results on Facebook. “Hold Burlington County School District schools accountable. Hold the New Jersey’s Department of Education accountable.”
The study was backed by DEON with support from the Southern Burlington County NAACP, Black Lives Matter New Jersey and Imperfect Village.
“With the false narratives about critical race theory and the bigoted fear-mongering about implementing DEI in schools, we are seeing racism in education unlike any other time since the times of the Little Rock 9,” Tyrus Ballard, president of the SBC NAACP, said in a statement to Front Runner New Jersey. “People often try to dismiss racism by talking about it as if it is just an ancient problem but as many folks on social media often point out, Ruby Bridges is only in her 60s.
“A prime example of how the ugliest eras of racism weren’t that long ago and reinforces the need to address the problem especially with the book bans happening throughout the nation, and the rise of scholastic zealots, such as, Moms For Liberty and Southlake Families PAC. The inequality Brown v. Board of Education fought against still remains, and this report and forum is our contribution to that fight.”
William Weston, president of the Willingboro & Vicinity NAACP, said it will be involved in Thursday’s hearing to point out issues of inequality in education that is a part of holding school districts accountable to remove all discrimination.
“Once these issues are identified, we can address and remove all vestiges of this lingering evil,” Weston told FRNJ. “We have addressed reports of over-discipline of Black students in school districts in our jurisdiction. We are excited to partner with other organizations fighting for students to receive full equality during their educational experience.”
Find the results from the report here.
For more information about the forum and to register, contact sbcnaacpsecretary@gmail.com or tinyurl.com/registeredforum.
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