Freeman Hrabowski sent the following open letter to Congressman Bobbie Scott the day after Bob Moses died.Hrabowski affirmed his commitment to the aims of the Alliance, which was organized by Moses et al. to press for the establishment of a federal right to education. That, in turn, would enable citizens to hold feds “accountable to achieve for equitable education what the Civil Rights Act of 1957 achieved for voting rights.” (Hrabowski’s invocation of the 1957 bill–a compromise brokered by LBJ to deal with Strom Thurmond’s filibuster–may seem odd, but that legislation began the process that would place the federal government on the side of Civil Rights Movement in the 60s.)
July 26, 2021
The Honorable Bobbie Scott
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Scott,
As the President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), I am delighted to express my support for the work of the late and legendary Bob Moses, President of the Algebra Project, as well as his partnerships with the Young People’s Project and the National Alliance, “We the People–Math Literacy for All.” This large network includes educators from all disciplines, students, parents, community agents and advocates, union members, school districts and other stakeholders from across the nation.
This Alliance evolved from a half-century of teams working together to solve political and educational problems through the direct participation of the people who had the problem. With voting rights, the demand was made by the people who were denied their right to vote. With education, the demand now is being made by the students, parents, and communities who have been denied the right for equitable access to opportunities for quality curriculum and instruction. This demand is grounded in the belief that the federal government must be held accountable to achieve for equitable education what the Civil Rights Act of 1957 achieved for voting rights.
Their message is simple: There is an urgent need to create equity in math classrooms across the country. Without equal access to high-quality instruction in mathematics, too many students, particularly students of color, will not have access to the burgeoning opportunities in STEM. Bob, until as late as Friday, two days before he died, and this Alliance had been working with sites across the nation, and the results confirm that the problem is not the willingness or the ability of students to succeed; rather, the problem is the systemic inequity that students and their teachers must face. With the ERRS funds and influx of funds to schools via COVID Relief, districts across our nation can be incentivized to reinvent the math classroom. This is an incredible opportunity we must seize upon. As I am certain you know all too well, schools with the most need are the most under-resourced when it comes to capacity to deliver teacher training, instruction, and necessary intervention when students have fallen behind through no fault of their own.
I, as well as this National Alliance that Bob created and stewarded, are aware of your stellar leadership as Chair of the Congressional Education & Labor Committee and your consistent battle for equitable opportunities for quality education for our disenfranchised students and communities. Thus, we are asking for a congressional hearing to shed light on how racial disparities in access to proven quality literacy curriculum and instruction are perpetuating inequities in lifetime opportunities for children of color. We believe these hearings would rivet the public in the same way that past historic hearings did for inequitable access to the ballot box and poverty.
Bob, up until the Friday before he passed, activists Danny Glover and Dave Dennis, as well as AFT President Randi Weingarten, Civil Rights Attorney Mark Rosenbaum, and Dan Gohl-Chief Academic Officer of Broward County Public Schools (the 6th largest district in the nation) were spearheading this outreach. In their recent conversations with your colleague, Congressman Jamie Raskin, the congressman expressed support for such hearings and advised that this group meet directly with you, Representative Scott, in hopes of gaining your support for such hearings in conjunction with the Oversight Committee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Committee, which Rep. Raskin chairs.
In light of Bob’s death, all of us are determined to keep faith with Bob’s vision to urge the nation to hold true to its ideals to “form a more perfect union.” I, and the thousands and thousands of people who have for generations worked mightily alongside Bob and the youth he inspired, fully support Bob Moses’ call on the nation to deliver equitable educational opportunities to all the students who historically have been denied quality education and 21st century mathematics.
Sincerely,
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III
President