Capitol Hill is abuzz with discussions, debates and arguments for and against the new education budget and plans for the future of education in our country. Some see federal involvement as a way to increase the education standards while others see it as interference with local systems. Some are happy to see opportunities for new money sources, while others say that there are too many strings attached.
• For many years, we have heard about the achievement gap, the great disparities between students of color and white students in academic achievement. We also know that low national graduation rates hurt students of color disproportionately. Reasons for this are numerous. African American and Hispanic students are much more likely to attend schools with high concentrations of poverty and inadequate resources. These students are vulnerable to poor educational outcomes. The following statistics from the Alliance for Excellent Education indicate the difficult reality many African American students face:In 2005, only 55 percent of all black students graduated from high school on time with a regular diploma, compared to 78 percent of whites.
• In 2005, the on-time graduation rate for black males was 48 percent nationally; for white males it was 74 percent.
• Nearly half of the nation’s African American students, but only 11 percent of white students, attend high schools in which graduation is not the norm.
• The twelfth-grade reading scores of African American males were significantly lower than those for men and women across every other racial and ethnic group.
Beyond the obvious losses being felt by this group of students, the poverty levels felt by the African American community and its students are keen and vital factors to the statistics above. The AEE continues their report with the following facts:
• More than 60 percent of black students attend schools where more than 50 percent of the school population is identified as living in poverty, compared to 18 percent of white students.
• A high-poverty, majority-minority high school is five times more likely to have weak promoting power (promoting 50 percent or fewer freshmen to senior status within four years) than a majority white school.
• In high schools where at least 75 percent of the students are low-income, there are three times as many uncertified or out-of-field teachers teaching both English and science than in schools with wealthier populations.
It is vital that we, as a national community, understand the importance of high school graduation and college education for our future generations. We have to stop the cycle of poverty and dropouts now and prepare our kids to be college and career ready.
Posted By: Paul Adams
Thursday, April 8th 2010 at 1:03PM
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