CDF Freedom Schools^® in 108 Cities and 29 States

When was the last time you heard someone tell nearly 1,500 college students that their job is to get in trouble? Well that’s what happened on the first day of June when we were hosting nearly 2,000 college students, CDF Freedom Schools site coordinators and certified teachers at our annual Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute at CDF Haley Farm and the Knoxville Convention Center in Tennessee. The theme for the week was “Freedom Summer to Freedom Schools: Changing the Odds for Children” for this 50^th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project. That first night, the young leaders were inspired by civil rights icons Marian Wright Edelman, Congressman John Lewis and former Ambassador Andrew Young along with some of the original Freedom Singers. Congressman Lewis told them, “I got in trouble. I got in good trouble, necessary trouble.” Take the time to watch these legends share their stories and you might be inspired to make some trouble too.

Civil Rights warrior, Congressman John Lewis.		Civil Rights groundbreaker, fmr Ambassador Andrew Young.

Later in the week, the participants were fortunate to hear from the co-architects of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, Bob Moses and Dave Dennis, both now fighting for the right to a quality education for all. After a week of long days filled with intensive trainings the college students were ready to return home and deliver the wonderful CDF Freedom Schools curriculum to more than 12,600 preK through 12^th grade children in 29 states and 108 cities with energy and enthusiasm, and a determination to make learning fun. This video captures some of that magic. Watch it, it just might make you happy.

CDF Joins White House Summit

Executive Director of CDF-Minnesota Peggy Flanagan and her 17-month old daughter represented CDF at the White House Summit on Working Families on June 23, 2014. As a member of the Native American tribe, White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Peggy is actively working with other CDF staff to organize on behalf of children and their working families who are struggling to get the supports they need. CDF-Minnesota is a co-chair of the Raise the Wage Coalition, a group of 70 faith, labor and other non-profit organizations that earlier this year helped raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016 and index it to inflation.  As a result 375,000 working Americans and 137,000 children will experience greater economic security. In Washington, she joined representatives from business, labor, Congress and state legislatures, and other advocates from local communities to discuss policy solutions to assist working families and our nation’s future global competitiveness.  She was invited to join Valerie Jarrett and others on a Huffington Post Live panel during the Summit .

Advancing Success for Black Men in College

CDF and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) co-sponsored an engaging and informative symposium at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. focused on college success for Black men on June 23rd. The day brought to light critical issues impeding success for young Black men and highlighted important examples of overcoming those barriers. An extraordinary panel of young men in college set the stage, including a CDF Beat the Odds^® scholarship awardee, a former CDF Freedom Schools student, a former CDF intern, and a former foster youth, a colleague of CDF’s Child Welfare team. Watch their stories, learn about the challenges they overcame and why the packed house of distinguished educators, policymakers and advocates at the symposium gave them a standing ovation.

The good news is that the number of Black men enrolled in college has increased, but there is still much more to be done in ensuring enrollment translates into graduation and future success. Some of the distinguished speakers included:

Darren Walker, the Ford Foundation	Ted Shaw, a leading scholar on Affirmative Action	Heather McGhee, Demos
MaryBeth Gasman, University of Pennsylvania	Shaun Harper, University of Pennsylvania	David Johns,  White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Standing Our Ground: Register Today

Make plans today, if you have not done so already, to come to the Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry, Standing Our Ground:  Justice and Equity for All God’s Children, which will be held this July 14-18 at the beautiful and tranquil CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee.  Morning Devotions preached by the incomparable Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., and Dr. Otis Moss III will be followed by morning break-out sessions to give you the chance to learn more about urgent children’s concerns such as early childhood development, health care, and gun violence, as well as strategies for dismantling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline™ and organizing in communities, and so much more. You will not want to miss this year’s Great Preachers and Teachers including the Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes, Bishop Minerva Carcaño, Ched Myers, and the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. Please join us and register now for the 20^th annual Proctor Institute.

School Superintendents Survey on School Discipline

CDF and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, have been partnering to promote school discipline reform to reduce exclusionary discipline and address racial disparities. As part of that work, we surveyed 1,500 school superintendents and received responses from 500 districts across the nation. In the survey, half of superintendents reported that reducing out-of-school suspensions and expulsions is important or very important to their leadership agenda, 92 percent believe there are negative consequences to using out-of-school suspension and 23 percent believe students are suspended too often. See the full survey report here.  

4 More Years — Extend Funding for CHIP NOW!

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has been a lifeline for millions of children in working families since its bipartisan beginning in 1997. However, unless Congress takes action, there will be no new funding for this highly successful program after September 30, 2015, which would result in millions of children losing coverage or paying substantially more for less comprehensive coverage. With states already planning annual budgets for 2015, we must work together to ensure funding for CHIP is renewed this year for four more years. We cannot move backward in our progress to give children a healthy start. More than 8 million children currently benefit from CHIP. Contact your member of Congress and ask them to support CHIP funding NOW for four more years.

Mississippi Freedom Summer Tour

Marian Wright Edelman wrote about her trip last week in her Child Watch column, here is an excerpt: I traveled to Mississippi this week along with Bob Moses, Dave Dennis, and hundreds of others including young leaders from around the country to celebrate the anniversary of Freedom Summer. Many of us retraced the tragic last trip James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner took to Neshoba County and visited their killing site where the violent racial hatred of the Ku Klux Klan ended their lives but ignited the movement towards a more just Mississippi and America. As much progress as has been made in Mississippi over the last half century, so much remains to be done. Mississippi ranks 50^th, the worst, among all states in the percentage of children who are poor (34.7%); 49^th in the percentage of households that lack access to adequate food; and 49^th in the percentage of children who graduate high school on time.