Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 16

Our panel of ACSA
superintendents discuss
best practices for
transforming education
so that all students can
lay claim to the education
that is rightfully theirs.

O

ne highlight of ACSA’s 2013
Leadership Summit was a
panel discussion led by a diverse group of superintendents that focused on transforming the
educational experiences of our underrepresented students and school leaders. Panelists
at the keynote luncheon, hosted by ACSA’s
Equity, Achievement and Diversity for Success Committee, shared best practices for
bringing about effective change, and addressed how to have “courageous conversations” about equity.
In the following Q &A, we bring together
superintendent panelists Ramona Bishop,
Will Ector, Debbra Lindo, Ralph Porras and
Patrick Sweeney to further that discussion.

Q

UESTION: What is educational equity
to you?

n  Ramona Bishop: Leaders who are committed to educational equity have a proven
and documented track record of educating
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Leadership

all students, regardless of zip code and circumstance.
n  Will Ector: I’ve always viewed educational equity as everyone in the educational
system having the opportunity to have their
needs met within the system. Educational
equity does not mean everyone getting the
same, but it does allow everyone to have
equal access to the curriculum and opportunities provided within the educational
system.
n  Debbra Lindo: Educational equity is
the absence of bigotry, subtle discrimination and the setting of low expectations for
certain sub-groups of students, primarily
low-income African American and Latino.
All students achieve at higher levels when we
believe they can.
I would posit that the positive changes
needed around equity will continue to
be low unless some brutal facts are faced
around how beliefs and values affect local