Do we, as a society, truly think that every child can succeed in school? Nicole Baker Fulgham, president and founder of The Expectations Project, talks with Amy Julia about the societal expectations for children in schools, the inequity within public education, and how to mobilize the church to work towards education reform.

TRANSCRIPT

SHOW NOTES:

Nicole Baker Fulgham (PhD, UCLA) is the president and founder of The Expectations Project and author of Educating All God’s Children and Schools in Crisis. 

Follow Nicole:

• Twitter: @nicolebfulgham

Connect with The Expectations Project: 

• Website: expectations.org
• Resources for advocacy and service
• Facebook: @TheExpectationsProject
• Instagram: @hopeforstudents
• Twitter: @expectproject

“My faith pushes me on the issues of justice and equity and serving those who have the least.”

“I believe as a Christian that God doesn’t differentiate academic potential between black and brown and white and Asian and rich and poor kids…Being in the classroom didn’t take away my firm belief in that. I just had to figure out: how do we collectively get there?”

“How do we fix the system so that we can support teachers differently, support schools and families differently, so that we can unleash that God-given potential in every kid?”

“Do we, as a society, truly think that every child can achieve? And when I say every I mean every. The child whose parents are incarcerated. The child who is homeless. The child who just immigrated here and is six years old and has to learn English first. The child whose family is struggling economically…I’m not sure that we deep down believe that about everybody….If we did, we would be investing in kids differently in our country.”

“We always want to support individuals, but we also have to look at not just the educational system that’s impacting them—institutional racism, all those things—but also those other systems outside of school.”

On the Podcast:

• The Expectations Project 
• Teach for America
• Penny’s diagnosis of Down syndrome

Thank you to Breaking Ground, the co-host for this podcast.

White Picket Fences, Season 3 of Love is Stronger Than Fear, is based on my book White Picket Fences, and today we are talking about chapter 11. Check out free RESOURCES—action guide, discussion guides—that are designed to help you respond. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

To learn more with Amy Julia in thinking about the church and public education reform:

• Love is Stronger Than Fear | Season 3—White Picket Fences
• S3 E8 | Equality, Equity, and Education with Subira Gordon
• Rectifying Educational Injustice: My Bumbling Journey

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