Black girls’ education is fundamentally inequitable in Pennsylvania, a new study says. Here are eight fixes.

Black girls are too often subjected to discriminatory dress and grooming codes in Pennsylvania schools. They often endure racial or sexist slurs and curricula that are not responsive to their life experiences. And though they sometimes struggle socially and emotionally because of these conditions, adequate supports are not always available.

“Inequities pervade every aspect of Black girls’ education in Pennsylvania — where they go to school, what resources their schools have, what the environment is like in their schools, and what opportunities they can access,” a new report released Thursday concludes. “Due to the intersection of systemic anti-Black racism, sexism, and other forces of oppression, Black girls are subjected to especially daunting educational barriers.”

The report, based on focus groups and feedback sessions with more than 20 Philadelphia-area Black students, some of whom have lived in other parts of Pennsylvania and attended schools there, and prepared by the nonprofit Education Law Center-PA, said schools must change to become places where Black girls have ample opportunities to learn and succeed.

Why focus on Black girls? Research and investments pertaining to them are scarce, the report’s authors said, and “as an organization of civil rights attorneys, ELC recognizes that it is necessary to center the experience and expertise of those who are closest to systemic harm.”

The authors recommended eight fixes for schools to meet their legal and moral obligations to root out and eliminate racist and sexist practices.

One student told ELC staff that she knew her school “was not built” for her because it had few Black teachers. “Several student groups mentioned that a lack of Black teachers spoke volumes about the school’s climate,” the report states.

The dearth of Black teachers is well-documented — nearly half of all schools in Pennsylvania employ zero teachers of color — and the benefits of Black teachers for all students have been proven by researchers. But the young women who spoke with ELC reported not just too few Black teachers, but unjust treatment of Black staff by schools, as well.

“Students also reported that Black teachers were treated more harshly, were given less latitude around what was taught in their classrooms, and were afforded less discretion on creating positive climates in their classrooms, as compared to white teachers,” the report said.

“The students to whom we spoke mentioned the negative impact of school personnel who belittle students and challenge their worth. All of the groups of Black girls reported experiences of seeking support and being denied it when they needed it most,” the authors found.

Some educators and other school staff have flat-out told them they can’t succeed at school and won’t succeed later in life, the Black girls interviewed by authors said.

There are sometimes glaring omissions in schools’ curriculum and too little inclusion of the ways in which Black people have contributed to the world, in all subject areas, the report said.

Black girls described “deep pain” resulting from seeing their racial identity reflected only in discussions of American slavery, especially when teachers are not prepared to teach it or respond to students’ questions.

To address this and other issues, responsive curriculum is not up for debate, “especially in light of the recent upswing in attacks on schools’ ability to teach truths, like the irrefutable ways that racism and its intersections with other forms of oppression have shaped and continue to impact all aspects of society,” the report said. “Schools must afford students access to accurate scholarship that is reflective of their identities and experiences.”

The students ELC spoke with said dress code enforcement often sexualized and vilified Black girls’ bodies and the way they dress, often suggesting Black girls are less innocent, more adult-like, and more responsible for misbehavior than their peers.

“I am made to feel sexualized and feel grown when I am just being myself,” one student told the authors.

The students also said their hair was stigmatized, particularly when they wore it in such styles as Afros, braids or puffs. One student said Black girls at her school challenged an anti-Black grooming code, appealing to the principal after students were “disciplined and shamed for wearing bonnets” over their hair styles.

Schools should adopt practices and policies that guarantee students’ rights to cultural expression in hair and dress, the report said, a recommendation that matches regulations passed by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in 2022.

Schools don’t have enough counselors, and the ones they do have generally focus on academics and college, the students interviewed said. Limited mental health resources are made available only when students are in crisis.

One student told the authors that she can’t engage in school without such supports. “Mental health doesn’t just start when a student has a crisis,” the student said. “They should have helped beforehand.”

The authors said police in schools made Black girls feel unsafe, targeted and criminalized for minor behavioral infractions “despite a wealth of evidence showing that Black girls follow school rules at the same rates as other demographic groups of students.”

Instead, systems should address the root cause of violence — poverty, inadequate housing, mental health, and more, the authors say.

Most Black girls in Pennsylvania attend underfunded schools, and the gaps between Black and white students are higher in the state than they are nearly anywhere else in the U.S.

“The students identified large classes sizes, limited course offerings, and too few guidance counselors as common barriers impacting their overall experience at school,” the authors said.

As a Commonwealth Court judge did in a landmark decision handed down in February, the report’s authors called for the state to reform the way it funds public schools.

Though students are back to learning in person, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools still linger, and hit Black girls and other marginalized students hard, with barriers figuring out academic supports, technology and other issues.

“Schools must invest sufficient resources to remedy COVID-19-related disruptions, which continue to disproportionately impact students of color,” the report said. “Investments should be focused on ensuring that students of color have the supports necessary to enable them to continue to make academic progress, develop needed skills, and graduate on time.”