Giving Compass' Take:

• Here are five key ways that community members can increase and advance student access and make an impact in education. 

• How can donors help with some of these action items? Why are social capital and participation in school board issues critical for enhanced accessibility and mobility? 

• Learn about impact investing for educational equity.

As we read on responses to school closures and imperatives for schooling moving forward, there is continuous mention of student access. Many times, it’s in conjunction with equity, as phrases like “equity and access” are common in resources and professional development. What do we mean by access? Why do we need to mention access when the United States has a compulsory education structure? The presumption that students have access to learning is a nuanced reality, and there are specific social and educational structures that deny access points to students throughout our school systems.

So, knowing all the nuance and complications of access for students, what can one do about it? Well, a lot. Here are five key actions that impact the access of students in your community and beyond:

  1. Engage with and/or be part of your local School Board.  Be part of the board to advocate for student access or be an active constituent making sure your board advocates for student access.
  2. Leverage resources and network to invite and empower students into more expansive social capital. Be an active community member that notices the abundance of social capital and invites in peers and students to build a more robust community of opportunity and purpose.
  3. If you are a parent of a student in school, make sure you are not complicit in opportunity hoarding. Ensure your decision making for what’s best for your child considers needs and access of all students in the community.
  4. Be an active citizen influence on state and federal education policy and legislation. Pay attention to funding priorities, distribution of resources, boundary, and choice initiatives, and vote/advocate in the best interest for students having access and opportunity.
  5. Practice reciprocity. We are part of communities, and when all children in our community are “our” children, and when we all belong to each other, we care and grow into community members that value access for all of us.

Read the full article about student access by Kelly Niccolls at Getting Smart.