In an up-close-and-personal tour of the workings of the Biden Administration and its commitment to addressing the most pressing issues facing Black youth – Derek Chauvin[ism] aside – the Michigan Chronicle participated in an in-depth conversation with top White House adviser Cedric Richmond, on the Biden administration’s agenda for COVID recovery.
In an exclusive discussion with Black Press journalists, Richmond, director of the Office of Public Engagement, stressed the current administration’s commitment to cultivating a nurturing and productive in-person learning experience for K-12 students in every corner of the country as we begin to emerge from the pandemic lockdown and learning lockout.
“In terms of the African American community … the president wants to almost triple the funding to Title I schools so that schools in poor communities and communities that disproportionately house African American students that their resources are not one third of what communities in more affluent neighborhoods have,” explained Richmond.
Educators, students, and families have done an incredible job in difficult circumstances during this pandemic. Everyone wants schools to fully reopen for in-person instruction. Creating the conditions to make it happen should be a top national priority.
“For K-12 that’s why we triple Title I funding that will be a key component to not only leveling the [educational] playing field but also creating equity in that space and making sure the communities that need the money the most get the most.”
“Look, we have to get children back in the classroom, continued Richmond. “Parents can’t go to work if they have to do virtual schooling. That’s why we have a $130 billion dollars we have in the plan to get to get students back in the classroom in a safe manner and we protect the teachers and their families that they go home to.
These are things we are going to have to do in terms of testing, smaller classroom sizes and better ventilation and the infrastructure of partitions.”
In an online statement from President Biden, the commander-in-chief had this to say “… if we do this wrong, we will put lives at risk and set our economy and our country back.”
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