This grant will support the reconvening of a group of education scholars, research organization leaders, free expression experts, and civil rights experts to coordinate a collective strategy to protect the freedom and right to learn in U.S. public schools. Building off an initial convening in 2022, the 1.5-day meeting will take place in New York City in September 2025 and will be preceded by a full-group online meeting and several 1-on-1 planning conversations. Participants will: 1) share updates and takeaways from their organizations’ most promising research, legal, and advocacy efforts to combat anti-DEI policies; 2) pinpoint next steps for researchers to document harms of restriction efforts, synthesize preexisting research, and identify successful approaches to protecting learning rights; and 3) develop a collective public messaging campaign to galvanize support for the freedom to learn in public schools. The agenda will be informed by learnings from the Foundation-sponsored synthesis project by Amy Wells and Janelle Scott on public learning in a multiracial democracy. Activities will include: 1) a co-written post for the Foundation’s blog sharing key takeaways from the convening and calling education researchers to action; and 2) a series of sample public messages to use in a cross-organization campaign to inform and encourage public audiences to join efforts to protect public education.
This grant will support the reconvening of a group of education scholars, research organization leaders, free expression experts, and civil rights experts to coordinate a collective strategy to protect the freedom and right to learn in U.S. public schools.
