EdTrust 2024 Policy Priorities
Our 2024 policy priorities reflect our principles and ideas to improve our educational system for students, educators, and families.
EdTrust is a national nonprofit organization that is committed to advancing policies and practices to dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in the American education system. Through our research and advocacy, EdTrust improves equity in education from preschool through college, engages diverse communities dedicated to education equity and justice, and increases political and public support to build an education system where students will thrive.
Our 2024 policy priorities reflect our principles and ideas to improve our educational system for students, educators, and families.
Ensuring equitable, meaningful access to higher education
The federal government has a responsibility to protect students from unscrupulous practices and ensure policies that provide greater access are being implemented effectively and equitably. Furthermore, federal policymakers have an essential role in protecting and securing the civil rights of students, especially in light of attacks on policies that are designed to rectify historical discrimination and make campuses more welcoming to everyone. We support:
Reducing college costs and providing wraparound supports
The federal government also plays a crucial role in making college more affordable and preventing the accrual of student debt in the face of increasing costs and burdensome debt. As the purchasing power of the Pell Grant has declined over the years, student debt, especially for Black borrowers, has increased exponentially. We support:
Ensuring college and career readiness for students of color
Research has shown that when students are enrolled in advanced courses, they’re more engaged in school, boast higher grades, more likely to graduate, and have greater access to higher paying job opportunities. However, more needs to be done to provide advanced coursework opportunities to as many students as possible, especially students of color, who are disproportionately denied access nationwide. We support:
Expanding policies to increase educator and faculty diversity
All students benefit from a diverse teacher workforce. and it is especially important for students of color, who are less likely to be chronically absent or suspended from school and more likely to be recommended for gifted and talented programs, graduate high school, and consider college when they have had a teacher of the same race or ethnicity. There are currently massive disparities between the percentage of students of color versus relatively few teachers of color. Additionally, there is nationwide shortage of skilled educators, especially in districts that serve students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. We support:
Ensuring access to safe, equitable and positive learning environments and equitable school funding
All students deserve access to a physically safe, emotionally supportive, inclusive, diverse, and linguistically accessible school environment to boost their learning and mental health. They also deserve schools that are equitably funded to set them up for success. Both are needed to truly support and invest in all students’ social, emotional, and academic development with an equity lens. We support: