Racial Justice in Education: Intersection of Systems Involvement and Children with Disabilities Part 1: Privilege, Education Discrimination, Implicit Bias, and Trauma in Education

NACC Member Webinar

April 18, 11:00am – 1:30pm MT / 1:00pm – 3:30pm ET

In the first installment of this two-part series, attendees will learn and explore how privilege impacts education representation of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. They will also learn how Critical Race Theory concepts of whiteness as property and intersectionality help us understand how our current education system has always been intentionally designed to reinforce the existing privileges in our society. Attendees will learn the history of how our education system was formed, how discrimination based on race was manufactured through the law into our housing system, and how this explains why schools are still so highly segregated based on race. Inequitable school funding will also be explored. Attendees will also learn how implicit bias and trauma impact the education of systems–involved children. Attendees will explore, through audience interaction in the recreation of scientific studies, how implicit bias is a natural function of the brain. Attendees will also learn ways to identify and counter implicit bias in their representation of children and families. How implicit biases impact all our critical institutions will be explored including education, justice, health, and employment. Attendees will also learn about the latest research in trauma brain science, and how this significantly impacts the learning of systems–involved youth, children of color, and children with disabilities. Race–based trauma will also be examined.  

Presenters:

Alexus R. Ramsey holds a JD from Loyola Law School. Prior to law school, Alexus graduated from California State University Los Angeles, where she earned a BA in Political Science and minored in Philosophy. She is committed to advocating for minority communities as well as children impacted by the foster and juvenile criminal systems. During law school, she represented young clients in Loyola’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, which reinforced her interest in youth advocacy. Currently, Alexus is an education staff attorney at the Alliance for Children’s Rights. As an education attorney, she assists clients with getting access to comprehensive assessments and services they need to reach developmental milestones and excel in school.

Jill Rowland is an expert in every area of education impacting foster youth, including early intervention, special education, general education, school discipline, and interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Jill’s vision has grown the Alliance’s Education Program in response to the needs of our clients: from pioneering legal representation for early intervention services to addressing the unique trauma-related education needs of foster youth. Her collaborative approach led to the creation of the Foster Youth Education Toolkit and its Court Companion, the training of thousands of school district and foster/probation system personnel (including social workers, probation officers, attorneys, and judges), and improved foster youth policies put into practice in multiple school districts. Jill is passionate about providing foster and probation youth with an equitable education, so they can succeed in college, work, and life. She earned her JD at UCLA School of Law, specializing in Critical Race Studies. She majored in Communications and Sociology at UC Santa Barbara.

Elana Zada holds a JD from Southwestern Law School. As a law student, she interned at the Children’s Rights Clinic, providing representation to low-income children in the areas of school discipline, special education and other education-related issues. This internship solidified her decision to pursue a career in special education as an attorney representing the most vulnerable children. Prior to law school, she earned her BA in Political Science & Legal Studies and minor in Business Administration from California State University, Chico.

This webinar is FREE for NACC Members. Members, please log in with your member ID when you register for this event. This webinar is $45 for non-members.

This course is accredited by the Colorado Board of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education for a maximum of 3 units of credit (50–minute hour), including a maximum of 3 units of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity credit and 0 units of Legal Ethics credit.