To our Schools That Can community:
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to ban affirmative action, ending race-conscious admissions, upending decades of precedent, and reinforcing profound structural and systemic barriers in access to higher education. Unquestionably, this decision increases racial and socioeconomic disparities, and has significant implications for young people’s futures. It disproportionately impacts young people of color who are affected by inequitable access to resources and investment, bias in admissions, and systemic racism embedded in educational and workforce systems.
Schools That Can is committed to ensuring young people have the skills, support, and access to opportunities needed to thrive during their K-12 education and beyond. In our career readiness programming, we work not just to support young people as they develop their skills, talents, and pathways. We also work to reduce systemic inequities that enable education, wage, and opportunity gaps.
We will continue to work to dismantle those barriers, center Black and Hispanic students and students experiencing poverty–who are systematically denied resources– in our efforts to sustain equity-focused, culturally-responsive programming, and challenge systems of power that reinforce equity gaps. Our mission is to ensure every young person has the skills and support needed to thrive, whatever their postsecondary pathway looks like, and our commitment is unwavering.
-The STC Team