The Core Collaborative’s commitment to the notion of education as a public good obliges us to speak up at our nation’s moment of national pain and upheaval. The racial traumas of American history endure, and the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, and countless others are but the latest in a series of outrageous violence, oppression, and discrimination towards the Black community that must stop. We add our voice in solidarity with the Black community, communities of color, and other marginalized communities demanding to be treated with the full liberty the Constitution declares and the Dignity that is innate in all of humanity. We pledge to them that we will live up to our values and our stated principles of justice and inclusion and we will strive to do better to ensure all students, especially our most vulnerable, experience the sense of belonging, agency, and liberty they deserve.

The real pandemic is systemic racism.

Our collective goal is to end racism and hate through the partnerships we have created with schools and systems nationally. In addition, we will aspire to make our services to schools more humane, compassionate, and safe to foster crucial conversations about how to end systemic-racism. We will also strive for continued collaboration with thought leaders and educators of color and we will devote our energies to recovery and healing.

We are temporarily suspending our online programming for a period of reflection and mourning and will post and share anti-racist articles on our social media channels to honor George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery and the countless others that have been suffering.