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Hartford-based non-profit RE·Center Race & Equity In Education announced yesterday that it will shut down in the fall of 2025 after 33 years of service.

RE·Center was originally founded by Paul Newman as a camp for youth, but it was twisted into a social justice organization fighting for equity in education by the late 2010's.

Despite efforts to secure funding in what RE·Center calls "shifting philanthropic and political landscapes," the Board determined the organization "can no longer operate in alignment" with their "values or organizational vision."

RE·Center's values and vision included promoting anti-racism programming and "culturally responsive-sustaining practices" to educators, community members, and students using "transformative activities and dialogue."

These programs included things like "EDIfy Trainings" which taught educators how to "center the voices of those who have been marginalized in their school systems" and "Equity Teams for Positive School Change" which was a three-year process meant to completely transform the culture and climate of a school to ensure it was equitable.

RE·Center also conducted community outreach to promote anti-racism and equity outside of its traditional programs and partnerships; it offered professional development courses for educators about race, class, gender, and other identities; and it promoted workshops for students and the community in general all about equity and restorative justice.

Additionally, RE·Center pushed a host of racist and divisive "equity resources" such as:

• 4 I’s of Oppression and Change
• Functional Framework for HCIEG
• Equity in Practice Guidelines
• Action Planning Toolkit
• 5 Shifts to Co-Create Equity

RE·Center boasted about "Colleagues & Comrades" that joined its struggle for equity in education, including: VISIONS Inc., National Conference for Community and Justice, EdChange, Minority Inclusion Project, Center for Racial Justice in Education, AORTA – Anti Oppression Resources and Training Alliance, CO:LAB, VeoVeo Design and Visual Notetaking, Trudi Lebron, DEEP – Disruptive Equity Education Project, C4D – Connecticut Students for a Dream, Harvard RIDES – Reimagining Integration Diverse and Equitable Schools, Christian Activities Council, Silver Lake Conference Center, Connecticut Anti-Defamation League, Race Forward and True Colors.

Financial sponsors have included the National Education Association teachers union, Newman's Own Foundation, Hartford Foundation, Webster Bank, William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, J. Walton Bissell Foundation, and SBM Charitable Foundation.

Plus, the group received a $100k grant from the Biden Administration in 2022.

As part of its equity mission, RE·Center worked to replace traditional school climate surveys with the "Equity-Informed School Climate Assessment (E.I.S.C.A.)" which evaluates school systems through an equity lens.

RE·Center developed its first district-wide E.I.S.C.A. in collaboration with Manchester Public Schools for the 2017-2018 school year with support from EdChange and funding from the Willian Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. 

It certainly makes you wonder how many other school districts in Connecticut have conducted similar "equity-informed" school climate assessments, and subsequently acted upon the recommendations.

You can read the full statement from RE·Center about its closure below.

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