Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Resources from Fred Jones of the Southern Education Foundation

For those of you on the frontlines of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) battle in the Texas State Legislature right now, feel free to avail yourselves of these resources provided below by Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy Fred Jones of the Southern Education Foundation (SEF).

As you can see from the materials provided below, the Biden Administration is most certainly weighing in.

It is a total myth that DEI is solely about race or ethnicity. It's also about "sex, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, religion or disability, first-generation professionals or first-generation college students, persons who live in rural areas, and veterans and military spouses." 

Materials consist of federal resources, the Business Case for DEI, and a Students' Right to Learn Fact sheet.  In deep appreciation.

-Angela Valenzuela

SouthernEducation.org

Federal Resources 

• President Biden's Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government - This is a link to President Biden’s executive order to advance racial equity by supporting federal policies that fight systemic racism in policies in programs. This includes the implementation of a comprehensive equity strategy for each agency to use its policies, budget, and programmatic capabilities to support underserved communities. The Biden Administration also submitted an executive order 2021 that provides gives a definition of underserved communities that includes individuals who belong to communities that face discrimination based on sex, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, religion or disability, first-generation professionals or first-generation college students, persons who live in rural areas, and veterans and military spouses.  
• Fact Sheet: Diversity & Inclusion Activities Under Title VI  - This Fact Sheet from the U.S. Department of Education reiterates that most DEI efforts in schools are not in violation of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings in K-12 schools and in higher education institutions in most factual circumstances are consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI does not categorically prohibit “instruction in or training on the impact of racism or systemic racism.” 

The Business Case for DEI  

• Improving Workplace Culture Through Evidence-Based Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices - This report presents DEI as a business imperative and shows evidence-based arguments for particular practices and their business and social outcomes.  
• Moving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Opinion to Evidence - This medical journal article provides scientific positive measurement and reporting of entities who have consciously implemented DEI strategies.  
• Making the Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion: Short Case Studies and Research Papers That Demonstrate Best Practice in HR - This research paper argues that successful DEI programs create a competitive advantage and presents examples of what they look like in practice. 
• The Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion - This research lists specific business-focused arguments for diversity and inclusion, including increasing revenue, preventing cost and loss, augmenting adaptability, and securing diverse talent. 
• Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off - Book (preview only) that overviews the ROI of diversity and inclusion through the lens of an investment in human capital that produces dividends. 
• https://www.research.va.gov/programs/dei/default.cfm - Task forces like this one might be great to contact to ask if they have research to support the importance of these initiatives at the higher education level to benefit veterans. And just like that, do a search for similar efforts by task forces supporting other groups that might lose privileges if these programs go away. 

SEF Resource

• SEF’s Students Right to Learn fact sheet – This one-pager outlines the benefits of students receiving an honest education.  

Very important report by the Southern Education Foundation regarding "a nation in decline."  This should move us to action. -Angela

A New Majority Research Bulletin: Low Income Students Now a Majority in the Nation's Public Schools 

2015-Low income students are now a majority of the schoolchildren attending the nation’s public schools, according to this research bulletin. The latest data collected from the states by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), show that 51 percent of the students across the nation’s public schools were low income in 2013.

In 40 of the 50 states, low income students comprised no less than 40 percent of all public schoolchildren. In 21 states, children eligible for free or reduced-price lunches were a majority of the students in 2013.
Most of the states with a majority of low income students are found in the South and the West. Thirteen of the 21 states with a majority of low income students in 2013 were located in the South, and six of the other 21 states were in the West.
Mississippi led the nation with the highest rate: ­71 percent, almost three out of every four public school children in Mississippi, were low-income. The nation’s second highest rate was found in New Mexico, where 68 percent of all public school students were low income in 2013.
This defining moment in America’s public education has been developing over several decades, and SEF has documented the trends and implications in two prior reports. In its 2013 report, SEF Vice President Steve Suitts wrote:  “No longer can we consider the problems and needs of low income students simply a matter of fairness…  Their success or failure in the public schools will determine the entire body of human capital and educational potential that the nation will possess in the future. Without improving the educational support that the nation provides its low income students – students with the largest needs and usually with the least support -- the trends of the last decade will be prologue for a nation not at risk, but a nation in decline…"    
Download the research bulletin and map.