Testimony in Support of An Act to Ensure Equitable Access to Education, Including Special Education Services, for All Students in Massachusetts - H 565 (Rep. Decker)

MAC Young Adult Leader Fellow Jevon Okundaye presented the below testimony on July 6, 2021 before the Joint Committee on Education. Click here for a recording of his testimony (begins at 2:00:00)

MAC Young Adult Leader Fellow Jevon Okundaye presents at the Joint Committee on Education’s virtual hearing via Microsoft Teams. Click here for a recording of his testimony (begins at 2:00:00)

My name is Jevon Okundaye, and I am the Young Adult Leaders Fellow at Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). I am a Black autistic young man who graduated from Boston Public Schools. I am testifying in favor of House Bill 565, An Act to Ensure Equitable Access to Education, Including Special Education Services, for All Students in Massachusetts.

I think that it is important for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to report data in a “cross-tabulated” manner because race and disability are intersectional identities that are not mutually exclusive. For example, as a student of color with a disability, I faced simultaneous challenges due to my race and my disability. One challenge I faced during my education was nearly being held back a year in kindergarten despite meeting all of the academic requirements for promotion to the first grade.

Cross-tabulating data about Black students and data about students with disabilities will create data about Black students with disabilities. The public needs to know this more specific information in order to better support these underserved groups of students, which can in turn help narrow the Academic Achievement Gap and dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline. Furthermore, if House Bill 565 is passed, the public will get access to information about the disparities between Black students with disabilities and White students with disabilities and between Black students with and without disabilities.