How to best support education in a time with so many coexisting and often overlapping issues?
That was the recurring concern at a Youth Perspectives Forum broadcast over Facebook live with Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson Sept. 24. Moderated by Oregon House Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence, the discussion covered topics including racial inequality, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vega Pederson began the forum by acknowledging the burden of many of the recent sociopolitical issues on the community and emphasized the importance of youth voices in conversations about change.
Throughout, Vega Pederson fielded questions including navigating an activist role in government and ways she and her fellow commissioners have continued to fight for change.
“All of these issues are so interconnected and we have been using education as a power tool to keep some people moving forward and other people left behind,” she said. “We see this in how schools are funded and we see this in opportunities people have.”
She says the best way to support youth in education is to make education more accessible for all, including preschool.
“At a time when people are asking for systemic change and do more for Brown and Black communities… this is something you can do that can give opportunity to children and opportunity to families.”
Vega Pederson was joined by Multnomah Youth Commission member, Alana Nayak, and Political Coordinator, Lamar Wise. Both Wise and Nayak also advocated for structural and systemic changes in schools to make them more accessible and equitable for all students.
“It’s about reimagining what we think of as education especially in this time with COVID-19,” Nayak said.
Nayak urged for a ban on Student Resource Officers in schools which she says “perpetuates the school to prison pipeline” and disproportionately affects BIPOC communities.
“SRO’s are a further barrier for them when it comes to entering school, curriculums are inherently racist and perpetuate White supremacy, and then they come in and there’s an officer who is harassing them for not going to class quickly enough,” she said. “That’s not a way to help our students.”
Wise praised the Oregon Department of Education for their recent ban on hate symbols in public schools. But, he, also called for more proactive education bills that promote intercultural understanding and “reset the culture we live in.”
“Education is foundational to everybody,” he said. “This is an entry point where a lot of different content can be introduced.”
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wise advised an increase in investment towards the public schools system so educators can ensure students most at risk receive the individual attention they deserve.
“We’re still trying to hold onto a system that is clearly broken. While folks may see this as a time to retreat and pull back resources, this is actually a time to lean in, which is super scary. But it’s what is necessary to get us through this hard time,” he said.