Jennifer Harrison Macon

Humanities Magnet Coordinator/Teacher; Equity and Justice Initiative Co-Founder; Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) Designee, Cleveland Charter High School (2023)

Los Angeles Unified School District

How do you define educational equity?

Commonly, educational equity is a noun defined as all students being given what they individually need to succeed as opposed to giving students the same things to succeed despite their needs.  To me, however, before educational equity can be a noun, it must first be a verb.  Educational equity, then, is the persistent act of creating conditions that support teachers in recognizing the needs of students (racially, economically, culturally, politically, and individually) empowering students to advocate for what they need, and making the necessary resources available for teachers, counselors, and other staff members to attend to those needs. Once these acts become the normalized, educational equity, the noun, is present.