Advancing Equity in Nebraska
The Urban League's United Front for Equity in Public Education
Working Across the Aisle to Advance Equity in Nebraska
by Michael Tomlin-Crutchfield
Like many other major American metropolitan areas, Omaha, Nebraska, has a long history of unequal investments in communities of color. Unfortunately, over the last three years, the inequities facing Omaha's public school system have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
In 2022, over 1,600 white students left the school district, placing the remaining students, who are overwhelmingly low-income and students of color, at risk of decreased funding in a system with a long history of racial segregation.
Under the leadership of Wayne Brown, the Urban League of Nebraska focused its efforts on making the changing political landscape in the state work for Omaha's students.
"Before the pandemic, we were able to focus on bringing families into our schools and the equity conversation with an investment from Hewlett Foundation and the National Urban League," said Brown. "We were able to partner with Omaha Public Schools as a funder and focus in on Monroe Middle School and a high school across the street from our office, where we funded parent meeting nights, incentive nights for students with 95% attendance and academic achievement to increase overall engagement from the community."
Brown also highlighted the affiliate's work with the Omaha Empowerment Network, a collective of city support services including police officers, the fire department, local nonprofits, and local politicians to figure out how to get parents involved in schools.
"Together, we host weekly meetings, the most recent one focused on what's happening in the state of education. The funding we received helped make our ability to engage not only families but other local partners more robust and changed our position with the school system," said Brown. "That change in position also changed how state leadership began to look at the Urban League, and we were invited to the table to help write our state's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) education plan and be at the front of the table when it came to implementation, as well as, accountability."
Brown currently sits on the state of Nebraska's accountability board, which dictates how well the state implements ESSA recommendations, including a diversified principal pipeline, accountability, and student outcomes.
"They value this relationship so much that the Urban League has become a key education partner at every level from Omaha Public Schools to the state school board," said Brown.
That progress and partnership came under threat in recent years, as the response to advocacy for racial justice across the country has received backlash from right-wing groups and legislators.
"We're up against a number of unique challenges that we see heading over the next few years," said Brown. "We had a partner that advocated for Omaha's needs, specifically North Omaha, which is overwhelmingly Black, who was pushed out of office in the last few months. "And after the protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd, there has been, like in many areas across the country, a backlash targeting our school systems with anti-CRT rhetoric and some of these vocal opponents being elected to the school board."
To prepare for the state's change in leadership with its newly sworn-in Governor, Jim Pillen, the Urban League began meeting with the new administration over the fall.
“We were able to meet with the governor before he was elected to talk through the next few years of our work. The bright spot is that we had some American Rescue Plans dollars allocated to us, thanks to two African American state senators, that will allocate $300 million to the North Omaha Black community. Between that investment and a potential match from a donor, we gained some leverage in our conversations with the new governor and have built a committee to talk through how those dollars are spent," said Brown.
In addition to the support of state senators and donors, the Urban League will continue to build public will through its coalition, the Empowerment Network, and partners across the state.
"We are also planning to meet with other coalition members, including a set of diverse school leaders from across the state, in December to discuss how to move forward. We have a long way to go, but there is a bright spot," said Brown.
As the political landscape across our nation continues to evolve state-by-state, the Urban League of Nebraska is a model for leveraging community investments, partnerships with state leadership, and coalition can continue to advance this important work in the face of adversity.