Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION NO. 20-138 IN SUPPORT OF BLACK EDUCATION MATTERS (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
This item is on the Agenda at the request of Mayor Albert Robles. Black Education Matters is an initiative to address systemic racism in public education, particularly at the elementary school and pre-K levels, by advocating for, among other things: (1) increased diversity of school faculty and high level administrators; (2) expansion of curriculum to increase focus on black and other minority American history and to de-center curriculum from its predominately euro-centric focus by means such as increased exposure to black and other minority American authors, artists, and protagonists; and (3) additional training for school faculty to help ensure proper implementation of the expanded and modified curriculum.
Black Education Matters seeks to pursue legislation to effectuate the foregoing changes via (without limitation) enactment of specific legal mandates affecting pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary school level public education, unlike the provisions of other, recently-adopted legislation on these issues, including AB 2016 (2016) and AB 1460 (2020), which are vague, watered-down, discretionary and do not apply until later stages of education.
Black Education Matters will be making a presentation to the Council at tonight’s meeting to highlight pertinent facts, data, and legislation/laws regarding systemic racism in the context of education in the United States, and to present ideas and solutions for how to address these issues.
The attached resolution (Exhibit No. 1) would express the City Council’s support of the Black Education Matters initiative and the causes for which it advocates, as described above.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. Consider Adopting Resolution No. 20-138, “A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON, CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF THE BLACK EDUCATION MATTERS INITIATIVE”
1.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
See Summary section, above.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 20-138
Prepared by: City Attorney's Office