Reparation Sundays with Memorial Episcopal & Fareeha Waheed on Education & Justice
Reparations have become a popular topic of discussion in America, and Baltimore seems to be at the forefront of many of these discussions. This past Sunday at Memorial, Fareehah Waheed, Vice president of the Baltimore Teachers Union, and educator at Eutaw Marshburn Elementary, gave a presentation on the socio-economic needs, disparities, and injustices that plague many Baltimore City schools. She told compelling stories of her students in need, and her experiences as she is faced with the daunting task of educating her students while working in a school system that has suffered from major systemic Injustices… During her presentation, she expressed the importance of legislation like the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.
While Fareehah spoke of the Blueprint being a win in general she also describes the Blueprint as "the floor". Unfortunately, the time allotted for speaking did not allow Fareehah as much time as she would've liked to elaborate on that statement. However, she did take the time to elaborate via email after her presentation. Here's what she wrote:
"While the bill is truly remarkable, and I'm so thankful our students, teachers, and community will benefit, I am still concerned about some of the finer details in the bill and its implementation. Governor Hogan kept delaying the implementation of the Accountability and Implementation Board for the bill and even tried to question the members chosen to derail the whole process. The bill is going to help fix Baltimore city's funding formula after the outdated Thornton funding formula, but I referenced it as "the floor not the ceiling" because there is still a lot more work to be done beyond the initial bill getting passed. I've written one piece about the work that still needs to be done, which is here:
https://www.baltimoreteachers.org/the-blueprint-for-marylands-future/. I know we have really strong champions behind this bill like David Hornbeck and Memorial Episcopal so I am confident that we will be able to keep up the joint advocacy for more fair funding until we fully get the state to raise the revenue needed for this bill. I look forward to continuing to collaborate and learn more from each other."
I believe this expresses the need for accountability committees and implementation teams. The Blueprint becoming Maryland Law is a giant step towards equity in school systems, but this also brings home the true reality of the amount of work that still needs to be done. What is law, if there is no accountability? What is true power and equality, while systemic racism still exists? The general consensus is the sky's the limit, and there is certainly more work to be done. David Hornbeck gave some insight on the topic as well and stated that "passing a law with good policy and money is one thing. Faithful implementation is another. What is needed is monitoring implementation at the local and state levels." This statement, I believe, “hit the nail on the head”. Fareehah and David have both been at the forefront of moving this potentially life-changing legislation into place.
Fareehah’s presentation helped to shed some much needed light on Baltimore's unjust school system. Including the fact that 3.2 billion dollars have somehow missed Baltimore school systems over the past 20 years. The reparations committee at Memorial is committed to working on helping to diminish educational disparities and create solutions as we move forward. Fareehahs insight and knowledge will certainly be strongly appreciated as we work to obtain equal opportunity education in Baltimore.
If you are interested in getting involved or simply have some Insight or questions.. please email Anthony at justice@memorialepiscopal.org.
-Anthony Francis