Defending the Right to Public Education
Features on AFSC and Public Education
We've collected some of AFSC's historical documents and our current work on public education for the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.
Timeline of AFSC's work with Public Education
from the 1950s to the present
AFSC's Counter-Recruitment Work in the Public Schools
The Youth and Militarism program works to get the military out of our public schools. Find resources and learn about the issue on the program's web pages>
AFSC's Work in Prince Edward County, Virginia
In the Fall of 1959, the all-white Board of Supervisors of Prince
Edward County, Virginia closed all of their public schools in
an act of defiance of federal court orders to desegregate. In
response, the AFSC initiated the Emergency Student Placement
Program (ESPP), relocating students with families in communities
across the country where they could continue their education
while the public schools in Prince Edward County remained closed.
A Personal Reflection: Celeste Wiley
In the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) magazine, Celeste Wiley remembers, "Through the efforts of the American Friends Service Committee, an emergency program was planned and several black students were placed with host families in six states and 10 communities. Some of the students succeeded and some did not. Through it all, God blessed my family, and even though I never formally entered the third, fourth, or fifth grades, I was able to complete my primary and secondary education, ultimately achieving my goals of becoming a registered nurse and lawyer." Read more on the AARP's website>
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