The FAIR Education Act: Extending FAIRness in Our Schools
The Printise J. Womack Lecture endowment, the Henry Madden Library, and the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature invite everyone to attend a panel discussion on the FAIR (Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, Respectful) Education Act. The discussion will be held on May 1st from 7 – 9 p.m. in the Henry Madden Library, Room 2206.
Signed into law on July 14, 2011, the FAIR Education Act requires schools in California to integrate information about social movements, current events, and contributions of people with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people into the K-12 social studies curriculum. Current curriculum addresses these issues for people of color, women, and other diverse and previously underrepresented groups. The new law updates and expands the groups to be included in its coverage.
A panel of guest lecturers will discuss the FAIR Education Act, presenting information about the law’s impact, curriculum development, and implementation in the schools.
Panelists include:
Lee Wind, M.Ed. Blogger, author and speaker, Wind holds a master’s degree in Education and Media from Harvard. One of four sites linked from the American Library Association’s Rainbow Project, his award-winning blog on LGBTQ Teen Literature and Culture, “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell do I Read?” gets over 200,000 page loads a year. The official blogger for the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, Wind’s articles and interviews have been published online and in print, including the 2011 and 2012 “Children’s Writers and Illustrator’s Market.” He speaks to thousands of students and educators a year, conducting Smashing Stereotypes workshops and presenting Safe Space: Ending Anti-Gay Bullying in our Culture… and at YOUR School programs. www.leewind.org
Robert McGarry, Ed.D. Director of Education for GLSEN—the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Dr. McGarry is a lifelong educator with a diverse K-12 background that includes over 10 years of guiding, developing, and assessing the implementation of curriculum on both the district and state levels in his home state of New Jersey. His professional and academic passions, exemplified by his doctoral thesis Troubling Teachable Moments: Initiating Teacher Discourse on Homophobic Speech brought him to GLSEN where he is now fully engaged in evidence-based efforts to provide educators with tools to teach young people the value of respecting that which makes us different. www.glsen.org
Shelbi Day. Staff Attorney in the Western Regional Office of Lambda Legal, Day has litigated a diverse range of civil rights cases. Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBT people and individuals with HIV. Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Day worked as a Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Florida, Southern Regional Office of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Southern Legal Counsel. She has a particular interest in issues concerning LGBT Youth, and over the last five years has successfully represented several LGBT and allied students whose rights were being violated by school districts. www.lambdalegal.org
