9486 in the collection
Report offers disturbing data on education
For every child to get the necessary educational tools to compete, we will have address the issue of a living wage and an improvement in our welfare system for children in desperate need.
By Tammerlin Drummond
OAKLAND MAKES a shocking cameo appearance in a new national study by the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
Forty-three percent of black boys who enrolled in Oakland public high schools in ninth grade actually managed to graduate their senior year in 2006.
Sad as it is, that was actually an improvement compared with 2003, when 26 percent of those who started out got their diplomas.
Or to view it in even starker terms, more than seven of 10 dropped out.
If an African-American boy moves from Oakland to, say, Walnut Creek, that just about doubles his chance of graduating from high school and astronomically boosts his chances of succeeding in life. That's because 80 percent of African-American boys graduate in Contra Costa County.
How can such a short trip through the Caldecott Tunnel make such a huge difference?
Because, instead of attending a predominantly black school — where there may not even be enough books to go around (forget about computers), classes bursting at the seams and stressed-out teachers — he will likely end up in a mostly white school that has the resources to help him, as well as any other student, realize his potential — if, of course, he is willing to study hard and do his part.
Michael Holzman, the author of the appropriately named study, Given Half a Chance: The Schott Report on Public Education and Black Males, says Oakland is just a
microcosm of what is going on all over the United States: Despite billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars being pumped into our nation's public education system, that same system has systematically and pervasively failed to educate black boys.
The Schott study doesn't address the role of poverty, a lack of parental involvement, or other socio-economic factors that can play a huge role in academic performance.
Instead, it places the blame squarely on the shoulders of a public education system that has abandoned its responsibility to make sure all students get a quality education.
Throughout California, and in most other states, black boys are far more likely to attend predominantly black, inferior schools with substandard resources. On top of that, they're far more likely than white boys to be suspended for disciplinary reasons, or get shipped off to special education classes.
An interesting thing the Schott study points out is that in four states — North Dakota, Vermont, Maine and Arizona — black boys actually graduated in greater percentages than their white counterparts. Part of the reason is that their numbers are so few.
But Holzman says it's more than that. Black kids in predominantly white areas tend to attend good schools and get the same education as everyone else. Whereas black kids, and white kids, who attend predominantly black schools, tend, though not always, to get the same shoddy education.
Holzman called school officials in Vermont to find out what they were doing to produce such great outcomes for black boys. The answer: "Do we have black kids in Vermont?"
Yet most black boys attend mostly black schools that leave much to be desired. Large numbers of them don't bother to stick around.
Those who drop out are far more likely to end up in prison. There are schools that are practically revolving doors to San Quentin.
Speaking of prisons, California spends more housing inmates and on new prison construction than any other state in the country. Yet we consistently rank in the bottom fifth when it comes to public education spending.
The question we ought to be asking is how can we as a nation expect to thrive when an entire segment of our population is chronically uneducated, unemployed and unable to contribute as productive citizens? How long will we tolerate the status quo?
Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama — one of whom will be our next president — is addressing this issue, which is not only of critical importance to black America, but to America as a whole.
If we want to get our economy back on track, doesn't it make sense to do everything possible to make sure every child gets the necessary educational tools to compete?
One can only hope that this latest study will be a wake-up call.
— Tammerlin Drummond
Oakland Tribune
2008-10-06
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