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Conference Program and Presentations
Following are the program and presentations from the March 29, 2004 Brown v. Board of Education: The Unfinished Agenda Conference.

Welcome by V. Elaine Gross, Director, ERASE Racism
Ms. Gross brings to ERASE Racism over 20 years experience in program development and evaluation at public and private agencies in the U.S. Throughout her career, Ms. Gross has focused on exploring the systemic causes of social, political and economic inequalities and finding ways to counteract those trends. Ms. Gross was hired by the Long Island Community Foundation to launch the ERASE Racism Initiative in June 2001. As Director, she has brought together a cross section of leaders throughout Long Island, from various issue areas to discuss and formulate remedies to address institutional racism on Long Island. Throughout her career, her work has also included serving on numerous boards of non-profit organizations and she has written various publications, conducted training and made conference presentations.
Download: Speaker Comments PDF

Remarks by Suzy Sonenberg, Executive Director, Long Island Community Foundation
Suzy Dalton Sonenberg has served as Executive Director of the Long Island Community Foundation since March 1988. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Sonenberg was Program Officer at the New York Foundation, a mid-sized private foundation that makes grants in New York City to its most disadvantaged neighborhoods. After receiving a master's degree in Social Work from Adelphi University in 1976, Ms. Sonenberg spent 8 years as a nonprofit administrator in Manhattan before joining the funding community in 1984. She has taught social policy on both the graduate and undergraduate levels at the Adelphi University School of Social Work, and often appears as a guest lecturer on 'fundraising from foundations' at various institutions of higher learning in the New York Metropolitan area. Ms. Sonenberg is the founder of LITAC Nonprofit Solutions, a founder of the Long Island Fund for Women & Girls, and a founding board member of Sustainable Long Island. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Adelphi University School of Social Work, the Advisory Committee of the Nassau Partnership for After School Education, the Executive Board of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island and the Board of Long Island's United Way. Together with Elaine Gross, she is also a co-founder of ERASE Racism.
Download: Speaker Comments PDF

Panel 1
Historical Overview and Analysis of Brown Decision
Moderator
Howard Glickstein, Dean, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
As a Staff Attorney with the Department of Justice, Dean Glickstein helped to draft the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was General Counsel of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and later Staff Director.

Presenters
Theodore M. Shaw, Esq.
Effective May 1, 2004 Theodore M. Shaw will become the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation's oldest legal organization fighting for equal rights under the law. He has litigated civil rights cases throughout the country at the trial and appellate levels, and in the U.S. Supreme Court.

As Associate Director-Counsel of LDF, Mr. Shaw was lead counsel, representing African-American and Latino student-intervenors in the University of Michigan undergraduate school affirmative action case, in which the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 in favor of the compelling state interest of diversity. Mr. Shaw has testified before Congress and before state legislatures on numerous occasions. He has been a frequent guest on national and local television and on radio programs. He has published numerous newspaper, magazine and law review articles. He also has traveled and lectured extensively on civil rights and human rights.

William Taylor, Esq.
William Taylor is a lawyer, teacher and writer in the fields of civil rights and education. He practices law in Washington, D.C., specializing in litigation and other forms of advocacy on behalf of low income and minority children.

Mr. Taylor, a graduate of Brooklyn College and the Yale Law School, began his legal career in 1954 as an attorney on the staff of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. In the 1960s he served as General Counsel and later as staff director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights where he directed major investigations and research studies that contributed to the civil rights laws enacted in the 60's. Among the studies was Racial Isolation in the Public Schools, the first major interdisciplinary study in northern public schools.

On the legislative front, Mr. Taylor has long been a leader of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and currently serves as Vice Chairman. Accomplishments at the Leadership Conference include: legislative strategist leading to the extension and strengthening of the Voting rights Act of 1965 and more recently helping to enact the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. As founder and now Chair of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights he monitors federal civil rights policies and enforcement efforts, documenting failures of civil rights enforcement and making recommendations for change.
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Panel 2

Segregation and Inequalities in Long Island Schools Today: The Realities and The Possible Remedies
Moderator
Marsha J. Tyson Darling, PhD, Professor, History & Interdisciplinary Studies and Director, African American & Ethnic Studies Program, Adelphi University. In August 2001, Professor Darling was a speaker and a panelist at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa.

Topics and Presenters
Dismantling Racial Isolation in Public School Education
john powell, Director, Race and Ethnicity Institute, Ohio State University, and the author of "Racism and Opportunity Divide on Long Island." Prior to relocating to Ohio State University, where he also holds the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Moritz College of Law, john powell was the founder of the Institute of Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. He has long explored the difficult intersections of race and poverty, race and housing policy, and the use of racial categories.

Using the Assets of Communities of Color to Educate Students in De Facto Segregated Schools
Rev. Reginald Tuggle, Pastor, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Roosevelt, NY. Having moved to Long Island after finishing his M.Div. in 1972 from New York's Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Tuggle has devoted his pastoral life to being a tireless advocate for human and civil rights, speaking out against racism and political and social exclusion. For these and other efforts, he was recognized as "Pastor of the Year" by the Nassau County African-American Historical Society.

Compensating for the Inequalities Inherent in Racially and Economically Segregated Schools
Wendy Lecker, Counsel, Campaign for Fiscal Equity.
Download: Speaker Comments PDF

Measuring the Effectiveness of Federal and State Policies, Mandates and Standards
Marc Bernstein, PhD, Superintendent, Valley Stream Central High School District. In addition to his extraordinary wealth of practical experience from having been Superintendent of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District (1986-2000) and Deputy Superintendent of Business & Operations for the Roslyn Schools (1977-86), Dr. Bernstein is also a past president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents (1994-95).
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Examining the Impact of Special Education, Tracking and Discipline Policies on Students of Color
Jonathan Becker, JD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies, School of Education, Hofstra University. Professor Becker's research expertise resides at the intersection of educational politics, policy and law, with a special interest in using data modeling techniques to estimate the equity effects of school reform.
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Closing the Gaps for Students of Color in accessing Technology, College and Future Employment
Alvin Thornton, PhD, Associate Provost of Howard University. Dr. Thornton has oversight responsibility for the Schools of Education, Business and Communications, and the College of Arts and Sciences. In December of 1999, Dr. Thornton became Chairman of Maryland's Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence (known as the Thornton Commission), which was charged with restructuring the way public education is financed and equity and excellence are assured. The Commission was appointed by the Governor and Maryland General Assembly, and its final report and recommendations were adopted during the 2002 General Assembly session, bringing millions of dollars of additional funds to the children of Maryland. The Commission's education funding design is now recognized as a model for the nation.

Addressing the Challenges for Hispanic Students, where Ethnicity, Language and Residency Status Complicate the Education Process
Deborah Carr Saldana, EdD, Associate Professor, School of Education, St John's University. Most recently, Prof. Saldana's field research examined the relationships between high school students' aspirations (educational & career), their math achievement levels, and their ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status vis-à-vis their parents' occupations and education.
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Remarks by Robert Scott, President, Adelphi University
Dr. Robert A. Scott was appointed by the University's Board of Trustees as the school's ninth president and professor of anthropology and sociology in July 2000. He has built on Adelphi's rich traditions in undergraduate and graduate education and continues to link the liberal arts and sciences with professional programs. Dr. Scott has been the driving force behind the success Adelphi University has achieved in the past three years. Enrollment has increased by 34 percent since September 2000. To support our increase in students, 100 new faculty have been hired over the past three years and 34 in fall 2003 alone. The University recently completed its first new residence hall in 36 years to accommodate growing student demand. Alumni giving has risen by nearly 400 percent, and the University received its largest one-time gift from a living individual and named the School of Business Building, Hagedorn Hall.
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Closing Remarks

Education
Contact:
Elaine
Phone:
(516) 921-4863 x 12



Facts...
Did you know?

(1) Racially integrated schools provide significant benefits to students and communities

(2) Racially isolated schools have harmful educational implication for students, and

(3) Race-conscious policies are necessary to maintain racial integration in schools.” Amicus Br. of 553 Social Scientists as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.1, U.S. Nos. 05-908 & 05-915 (2006).

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