July 25, 2008

Report Ranks States by How Well Black Males Fare in Their High Schools

A new report by the Schott Foundation for Public Education ranks the states on the graduation rates of black males in their high schools and calls for new efforts to close achievement gaps.

The report lists Michigan as the state with the lowest high-school graduation rate for black males. As of 2006, 33 percent of the black males in its high schools graduated on time, compared with 74 percent of the state’s non-Hispanic white male students. Also on the report’s list of the 10 states with the lowest high-school graduation rates for black males (in order of lowest to highest) were Wisconsin, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, and Wyoming.

“The worst problems are concentrated in a few large metropolitan areas,” the report says. “Specifically, New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Dade County [Miami] fail to graduate the great majority of their black male students with their peers.”

The report blames the performance gaps that it documents mainly on the poor quality of many of the schools where black students are concentrated, arguing that “black students in good schools do well.” In most of the country, it says, black males are a third as likely as white males to have highly effective teachers.

Among other recommendations, the report calls for efforts to monitor the distribution and use of education funds in states where less than half of black males graduate or where the graduation-rate gap between black and white males exceeds 15 percentage points. —Peter Schmidt

Comments

1. Interesting report, time to move to Vermont for my kids sake!

   — Kyle David    Jul 25, 03:20 PM    #

2. Damn! Damn! Damn!

   — Sargent    Jul 25, 03:32 PM    #

3. Wake up America! Do you see a pattern here? New Orleans hasn’t recovered yet, decaying urban schools and now this report. Now here’s a four letter word for you: “VOTE.”

   — Finbar    Jul 25, 03:37 PM    #

4. I’m not a social scientist. However, I consider myself perceptive enough to draw a sharp correlation between the lack of fundamental education and a whole plethora of social ills attributed to African American males in these major metropolitan areas. The responsibility for immediate intervention belongs to all us. If we don’t intervene in this tragedy we are all doomed to become potential victims of this uneducated mass of young African American males as in their minds they do “anything” to survive.

   — Dr. Raymond E. Janifer    Jul 25, 03:52 PM    #

5. While I have very little sentiment toward the Republican Party, I would question “Finbar” insinuation. I am very much in favor of everyone voting…that is not the question. I think it is unfair to blame decay of urban schools (along with urban decay in general) on the Republicans, since it has been going on for over 25 years (including the years with the Democrats in power) and I really think it is strange to blame the Republicans for Katrina. Not even the Democrats can control a hurricane. Granted, the total amount of damage is not equal, but if you compare the midwest’s response to the floods (let’s get out and fix things) to the New Orleans response to Katrina (the government owes us…somebody come fix this place…we live in an easily flooded place so you all need to fix it for us.) it seems like the mindset/work ethic of New Orleans has played a large part in their non-recovery.

   — Baldy    Jul 25, 03:59 PM    #

6. My wife is a Title I reading teacher at an “at risk” school in an upper-middle class small city. She is devoted to her work and spends a lot of time searching for ways to effectively teach kids how to read well. But it’s a darned difficult task when the kids she sees – mostly black – have never heard the word “fruit” – or dozens of similar common words – but who are permitted to watch anything and everything on their mother’s flat-screen TV but rarely helped with their reading assignments by mom. The male in the house who is, with high probability, not their father, is rarely of any help at all. The kids are usually fending for themselves at dinner time.

   In such a dysfunctional world – not in the midst of a ghetto, mind you, but in the midst of white, middle-class America, how, I ask, can “we” cause them to learn more?

   America doesn’t have an educational problem so much as a social problem. This problem has long roots, going back to a long period of blatant discrimination. But unless the behavioral patterns of lower-class black families change, I don’t know how our schools can be expected to improve the situation.

   That may seem a harsh statement, but evidence in its support is close at hand: The poor Spanish-speaking kids who form most of the remainder to my wife’s students have, by and large, orderly homes with two parents who reinforce at home what the teachers say at school. So the Hispanic kids, after two or three years in special reading classes, head back to the regular classrooms with the skills they need. What, exactly, can the schools do to change this picture? I confess, I have no clue.

   — Neil T.    Jul 25, 04:27 PM    #

7. It would be interesting to learn the actual numbers (not percentages) of black and white male students who do not graduate from high school. I would venture to guess that there are as many or more white male students that do not graduate in the cities mentioned. All funds to ensure graduate rates should be expended on a colorblind basis. Additionally, these young men need to take some self-interest in their education.

   — BKD    Jul 25, 04:31 PM    #

8. In the sixties, it was a battle between Martin and Malcolm. Malcolm won. Now we’ve been seeing the results for forty years.

   — Red State University    Jul 25, 05:15 PM    #

9. Adolescence are influenced by their environment. These lare urban areas are proned to poverty which has a ripple effect of drugs, violence crime. Also, within these urban areas are single parents, most likely mothers and it is very challenging to parent a son. The ideal situation would be tomove the children out of the neighborhoods and put them into a more affliuent neighborhood. Then the question of jobs and housing arise. There will be no quick fix.

   — Jacinth Burnside    Jul 25, 05:29 PM    #

10. Neil T (#6) and others should understand that we only control what goes on in the classroom. It is our job as educators to teach students how to read and not throw up our hands and blame it on the parents. Perhaps we should examine what goes on inside the classroom that fosters education in some ethnic groups but not others.

    — jmg    Jul 25, 05:40 PM    #

11. Read Kozol’s “Savage Inequality” for a clear understanding of the realities faced in our country and in our public schools.

    — as    Jul 25, 07:52 PM    #

12. This issue has been examined and studied to death for years, no, for decades, now. A huge social science industry thrieves on it! If, with a snap of the fingers, illegitimate births could be totally eliminated in urban black families (yes, black families, not minorities), these problems would largely dissipate in a generation or so. I have become convinced of this after many years of observation and personal experience with these inner-city pathologies in Chicago.

    — jon    Jul 25, 07:56 PM    #

13. Two observations:
    First: the only positive comment deals with “black STUDENTS”, not just males. So, why do black females, attending the same poor schools and living in the same culture, seem to (by their absence above) outperform their male peers?
    Second: As far as drawing any conclusions, the report is worthless unless it compares the performance of OTHER minorities (black women, Bosnian Serbs, Russians, Cambodians, Laotians, Chinese, Korean, Jews, gays, latinos, ……..) at the very same “poor quality” schools “where blacks are concentrated”. If these minorities outperform black males, then the problem, as many of the above comments indicate, lies with the black males, not with the schools or ineffective teachers, as poor as they are.

    — richard    Jul 25, 08:10 PM    #

14. To #8, Red State University– I think you are mistaken. Neither Malcolm nor Martin won; Nixon won and that is a major contributor to the legacy we have inherited. You, along with Richard and Jon should read Sugrue’s The Origins of the Urban Crisis if you want more insight about how long we took to create this national tragedy. Nelson Rockefeller did not help much either with his drug laws in NY. Our society has throughout history viewed Black males as threatening and expendable. Study the history of lynching (which occurred in virtually every state of the Union well into the 20th century) and one thing becomes clear – Black males who dared to show personal and/or economic independence were frequent victims of lynch mobs. Other than Native Americans, I know of no other minority group in the history of the USA that has faced such oppression. This problem is deeply entrenched in our nation’s history.

    Our society is willing to spend more money to build prisons in which to incarcerate Black males than to build schools; to hire police to shoot them then to hire teachers to educate them; to blame them for not being able to overcome the intractable prejudices we have as a society then to correct our own attitudes. Of course, individuals have responsibility to choose how to respond to their life experiences, but let’s not ignore the fact that as a society we make life pretty difficult for Black males in particular. It takes two to tango.

    Every time I think about all that I had to do to support, protect and inspire my very dark-skinned youngest son, I understand why so many Black males succumb to the lure of the streets. While my son did graduate from high school and eventually from college, he faced barriers and prejudices his light skinned brother did not.

    Outside of my family experience, about 6 years ago I took a group of young Black men from my college to a conference on student success in New Jersey that was specifically for young Black and Hispanic males. I drove the van the entire 8 hours going and then coming home, but not because I was the College official and a recognized adult. I am light skinned enough that few persons recognize I am Hispanic, so I knew we would not face a traffic stop for DWB (Driving while Black.) But at the hotel where we stayed, I was immediately confronted by two security officers in the parking lot who saw the group of 10 young Black men step out of the vehicle and assumed that they were “trouble.” They stated it clearly and directly to me in the presence of the young men. Those young men had only stepped out of the van, nothing else, they had not said a word nor was there music blasting from the van. Of course, they were not “trouble” then or later. But they understood that they were assumed to be “trouble.”

    This problem is complex and there are many persons and groups that share responsibility for it. We will solve this problem when we all take responsibility for changing our behaviors as well as our attitudes. Yes, Black males have to shoulder their fair share of responsibility but so do white people who bear a share of responsibility for this failure. Because Black people did not create this problem all by themselves they cannot solve it by themselves.

    When we commit to not only building schools that are physically up to standard and staffing them with highly qualified and motivated teachers we will take an important step toward solving this problem.

    No matter how I look at it, whether in statistics like those reported above or in my family life or in my professional work, I see the barriers up close and personal. And I have come to understand something about the complex relationship between personal behaviors, personal choices and societal influences and expectations. Let’s make sure we are challenging ourselves and our society to do better by Black males and not just expecting them to overcome our shortcomings at the same time they have to overcome their own shortcomings.

    — Urban Dweller    Jul 25, 08:38 PM    #

15. Re post #6 – I, too, have noticed the same harsh reality you describe in comparing black with Hispanic students. I was a teacher in “at risk” schools and the blacks were, by far, always worse off than Hispanic students in terms of family life (not having both parents at home, etc.).

    The black communities, black churches and black leaders need to focus more on helping black males marry, and become part of family life to their children — which is something I rarely, if ever, saw as a teacher of black males.

    It is just beyond belief how likely it is that a poor, at risk, black male student will grow up never knowing his father at all. There is a void lacking in these kids’ lives that can’t be filled by high quality teachers in the classroom, no matter how high quality.

    — fl teacher    Jul 25, 09:20 PM    #

16. Re post #6 – I, too, have noticed the same harsh reality you describe in comparing black with Hispanic students. I was a teacher in “at risk” schools and the blacks were, by far, always worse off than Hispanic students in terms of family life (not having both parents at home, etc.).

    The black communities, black churches and black leaders need to focus more on helping black males marry, and become part of family life to their children — which is something I rarely, if ever, saw as a teacher of black males.

    It is just beyond belief how likely it is that a poor, at risk, black male student will grow up never knowing his father at all. There is a void in these kids’ lives that can’t be filled by high quality teachers in the classroom, no matter how high quality.

    — fl teacher    Jul 25, 09:21 PM    #

17. Since I happen to be an African American in academe and have African American friends who teach in Title I schools, I can say that it is way too stereotypically easy for some of you posters to blame the problems on the parents. I have found by volunteering in some classes and helping some of these black males learn to read is that they can learn and be inspired to graduate. As more black professionals go back into their commnities and help, this will become a reality. Someone in here made a comment about black churches. We are helping. Many of us have tutoring programs, even going into the homes to help. But if you run into racism in the classroom (i.e. white teachers poor use of class discipline, over punishment of black males etc) these young men may see that the system works against them not for them. Even my white colleagues seem more ameniable to working with Hispanics and Asians than Black males. I think it is the white fear factor which is still a big problem. I don’t even see how any one could say Malcolm won…Malcolm was for black men becoming strong, resilient, leaders of their home, providers for their children and educated. King wanted the same thing. Whoever the writer of that comment was obviously did not know about Malcolm. How many of you watch CNN’s Black in America? Many of the points you raised here were addressed in that 4 hour documentary. Please watch it and then maybe you will understand how hard it is for a black man to survive in this country.

    — Liz C    Jul 25, 10:37 PM    #

18. Liz, as a black male, while I do not disagree with you, I do think the black community has to take the majority of the blame as we have ignored education as a means to success – when we have had ample opportunities. Right or wrong, as a black male with a JD and a PhD, I have been able to write my own ticket anytime I want – faculty or student affairs. Let’s stop blaming others and start getting our black men in the classroom, for the sky is the limit.

    And no, I did not have both parents, I was raised by my Grandmother in Mobile, AL.

    — kyle David    Jul 25, 11:16 PM    #

19. The answer to black males’ poor academic performance is two-fold: both blacks themselves and systemic racism are at the heart of the problem—plan and simple! I intend to explore my argument in detail in a forthcoming book.

    — Donald Ray Jenkins    Jul 26, 12:16 AM    #

20. Once again, all one has to do is “follow the money.” Paulo Freire’s concept of “social capital” and “banking” learning puts a clear perspective on the issues at hand.

    — Dr. Bill    Jul 26, 09:27 AM    #

21. We shall all suffer if Black Males do not achieve. The R’s and D’s can argue all they want, but each of these biased groups is guilty:
    (1) The Democrats for support ineffectual teachers who themselves feel victims of racial prejudice and, through empathy, are allowed to operate with poor skills and
    (2) Republicans who abandon the social “common arenas” in absurd argument that all property is personal.

    Both are wrong, and the problem is thus dual and intractable to political repair.

    “Vote!” indeed, and vote to change this ineffective symbiosis of failure.

    — William L. Graham    Jul 26, 09:47 AM    #

22. Reply to #14, urban dweller: you should read Steve Puleo’s the Boston Italians (as should several other commenters). The ethnic group who are in second place for lynching in America after blacks are Italians historical (not a widely known or publized historical fact). Your descriptions of your experiences, you will find, come right out of Puleo’s book. You will be surprised by the similarities of the personal descriptions. These points go to #13 key point of comparisons meaning nothing unless all minorities (ethical groups; i.e., [logical] data comparisons) are included, which will show a somewhat different picture than that presented by those with agenda, ideology, and doctrinaire thinking. Next key point; black male high school non-completers are very successful at all sorts of things …some may not to ‘appropriate’ or ‘legal’ ….but they are successes and achievements of no ordinary kind (and similar to the male street business entrepreneurs in Brazil and elsewhere) and this fact says many different things rather loudly ranging from why these observable and clear talents are not harnessed and channeled more appropriately (and whose [financial] ox would gored, very much like the mafia, to why the curriculum and staff in these urban schools are so out of sych and estranged from the [black male] students. I’ve had such students demonstrate a greater understanding of basic science and scientific principles (for example) educating me about their ‘piece’ than AP students[but in language and with concepts unconnected to the formal discipline]; of course ‘piece physics’ (pun intended) wasn’t on the state exam (separate issue) and who has really mastered the cell phone (watch The Wire on HBO) and entrepreneurial economics. These non-completing black male students have all kinds of achievement and high achievements and how did that happen??? Given a variety of the ‘factors” cited in these commentaries??? Not exactly the view or the image of these students you get in this report and a lot of these comments. Many of these “non-completers’ are very from from being “non-completers” or as implied “low achievers” and are in fact fairly quick, facile and adaptable learners, particularly if they can ditch the fatalism and macho creed and can be a little bit more engaging and pleasant to people including each other. You’ll enjoy the Puleo book.

    — vinnie    Jul 26, 11:18 AM    #

23. Kyle,

    I wholeheartedly agree with the black community gettingmore involved in getting the young black males in the classrooms. There are programs being initiated all over the US by blacks to do just that. What bugs me is that whites continue to tell us what we aren’t doing and when it is done, no one hesrs about it. You can say the sky is the limiti to the kids by the way, but if they look up and see no one in the sky who looks like them, it is a very limited skyline. I applaud you on your success and beating the streotypes outlined in this blog. No doubt there are thousands of you out there. Let’s create thousands more. Peace.

    — Liz C    Jul 26, 06:31 PM    #

24. Three more observations:

    Those who think that income levels determine academic achievement, please read:
    “According to statistics supplied to JBHE by The College Board, college-bound white students from families with low incomes score considerably higher than college-bound blacks from families with low incomes. For example, for white students from families with incomes below $10,000, the median SAT score in 2006 was 488 on the critical reading portion of the test and 505 on the math portion. For blacks from families with incomes below $10,000, the median SAT score was 398 on the verbal portion and 395 on the math. A similar 90 to 110 point gap occurs at other low-income levels such as those for families with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000 and for families with incomes ranging from $20,000 to $30,000. In fact, the SAT score gap between blacks and whites in the lower-income brackets mirrors the gap for the test-taking population as a whole.”
    (http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/56_income-based_action.html)
    What is the JBHE? The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

    As for the Asian student, whose parents immigrated:

    “The rising concentration of Asian Americans at T.J. mirrors demographic trends in other elite math and science magnet schools. In New York, the selective and specialized Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School have Asian American majorities, although about 10 percent of the metropolitan population is of Asian descent. In San Francisco, Asian Americans make up more than 60 percent of the students at selective Lowell High School and about a third of the city’s population.

    The success of Asian American students reflects the educational commitment found in many immigrant communities, particularly for second-generation students fluent in English and encouraged by upwardly mobile parents who came to the United States for higher education or professional positions……

    Admissions offices at top private colleges are becoming the front line for debates about equal access as the supply of high-caliber Asian American applicants swells and colleges try to maintain student diversity. Some Asian Americans contend that they face informal quotas and are forced to meet higher standards, similar to hurdles that Jewish Americans faced in the first part of the 20th century.

    The Fairfax School Board has adjusted the T.J. admissions policy over time to reflect legal decisions and changing politics. An affirmative action policy that allowed racial and ethnic variations in academic benchmarks was abandoned in the late 1990s. Afterward, admissions of black and Hispanic students plummeted. In 2001, nine black or Hispanic students were admitted, down from nearly 50 in 1994, according to the board’s Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee.

    http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2008/07/at_magnet_schoo.php

    And finally, as far as “oppression”:
    “The city of San Francisco created a special school open to only Chinese children, while some public schools denied admission to Chinese children, according to reports on www.ourdocuments.gov….
    In 1862, the Anti-Coolie Tax was passed to ensure that any Chinese person working as a laborer would be taxed as well as severely punished if any laws were broken….The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, designed to reduce Chinese immigration, stated that Chinese laborers were no longer allowed entry to the United States. This was the first time the American government suspended immigration of a specific ethnic group, ….

    And “Even such a person as Justice John Marshall Harlan, who in the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 was the sole dissenting voice against the segregation of Black Americans and who took what was then an eminently enlightened position on the issue, wrote the following:

    In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. (…) [But] there is a race so different from our own that we do not permit those belonging to it to become citizens of the United States. Persons belonging to it are, with few exceptions, absolutely excluded from our country. I allude to the Chinese race….. Wikipedia: Sinophobia)

    — richard    Jul 26, 06:45 PM    #

25. There are many mediocre schools, colleges and universities where African American males congregate. These students are admitted to higher education institutions without meeting the most minimum standards. Instructors are asked to pass these students. Black colleges are notorious in enrolling and passing these students without knowledge or skills. Whom do you blame?

    — kvc    Jul 27, 01:16 AM    #

26. The US educational system is in shambles- lots and lots of students of every hue are underperforming. The issue affects black folks the most not because thay are any less interested in educational success. Neither do the usual suspects- broken homes, deficient culture, fatherless homes, etc- tell the whole story. It is much easier for those who have never had to worry about their place under the sun, to pass judgement on those whose existence, from the very beginning, has always been tenuous. The shame is on all of us, not least the politicos in Washington, the states, and other places. The reality is that nobody cares: they are not our children; worse, they don’t look like our children. The amnesia is astounding, so is the inability to deal with the underlying syndrome of “‘unforgivable blackness’. In every sphere of social existence, the blacks in our midst suffer the worst forms of privation, indignities, and the like. Yes, those of us who pulled ourselves by our bootstraps must self-congratulate but I fear that we miss the point.
    By the way, grade inflation and/or social promotion are the stock-in-trade at many (white-black) institutions of education: I am aware of people who cannot read but they soldier on, in the vain hope that some miracle will cover up for some skipped basics.
    As long as the institutional neglect persists, no amount of imagining will make ‘them’ disappear; we created the problem, and it is up to us to unmake it.

    — jason pawuma    Jul 27, 04:03 AM    #

27. To Post #22, Vinnie – I was not aware, and am sorry to learn, that Italians, were victimized at such a level as to rank #2 on lynching. I will look for Puleo’s book. Please note: it was not my intention, despite how I wrote my comment, to engage in a comparison of who suffered more in the history of the USA, I was simply trying to be very clear that an incredible amount of prejudice over an equally incredible amount of time has been directed at Black males in our society. That does not mean that others (Native American, Asian-American, Italian, Irish, etc.) have not faced intense prejudice as well. However, other than Native Americans, again based on what I know at this time, none of the other groups have had such long-standing oppression directed at them (if you start with 1619 when the first Africans came as indentured servants to eventually be converted to slaves for life, we are talking about almost 400 years.)

    Your point about the intelligence and ability of Black males is one with which I am in full agreement; the fact that this intelligence may be directed towards illegal activity is a shame (again, from personal experience, I know too many who have given up on legitimate means for success given their encounters with prejudice.) Your point about the relevance/irrelevance of our current educational offerings is also one with which I find reason to agree. However, I would be cautious in this regard because there are subjects which must be mastered (math or quant skills in particular) if a person expects to be functional in the 21st century economy.

    There are things that we know as a society, can help address this problem. Some have to do with curriculum (interesting/big questions that spark curiosity and willingness to investigate; longer time spent on task as in longer school days and school years for example) and social (appropriate psychological support rather than routine suspension from schools – never understood why removal from school without any real plan for addressing the issue was a good idea for a problem child, Black, White or any other.)

    I have no illusions in this matter. I am well into my 50’s, having been born in NYC, lived in Philly and Boston as well as several other locales. We took a long time to create this problem, it will take us a while to resolve it. We just can’t resolve it if we don’t face it squarely. And that means don’t just blame the victim, even though the victim shoulders some responsibility. Our society has a lot of work to do, and if we do it, everyone will benefit.

    Thanks for your comments and suggested reading.

    — What's the surprise    Jul 27, 07:48 PM    #

28. I stand by my original post with elaboration. Malcolm X (from the “you owe us special privileges group”) cowed white liberals into so much guilt, that they gave the store away in order to assuage it (hello Great Society.) Meanwhile, American black culture swallowed social and political liberalism (or progressivism, if you like) hook, line and sinker; thereby leading to the malignant culture it has become today with its tendencies to lead in all categories of social ills.

    I would suggest that the reason some blacks are still monitored more closely these days is not because of skin color, but because of the prevailing malignant black culture (people think there’s more chance of trouble occuring.) I’m not saying it’s right, I’m suggesting this may be the real reason. The cultural line overlaps the racial line so closely, that it’s hard to discern the difference.

    What American black culture needs today is a dose of good ‘ole fashioned conservative family values (which is not inherently racist, for those of you who under this laughable illusion.) After a couple generations of this, you will see test scores rivaling those of the average white student. But, since this will never happen, the problem, I’m afraid will remain, so there you have it.

    — Red State University    Jul 27, 08:57 PM    #

29. Red State University – sorry, but I don’t think you understand what Malcolm X ultimately stood for. Read his autobiography, especially the last chapters in which he discusses what needs to be done to correct the racial problems in America. He is a clear advocate for self-responsibility, he calls for Blacks to address internal issues and for whites to do the same. That is not “you owe us special privileges” as you claim.

    I do not think you will find a more traditional, even conservative family values oriented institution than the Black church. Again, the call for personal responsibility is quite clear.

    I still say Nixon and his phony law & order coterie won the 60’s. (Their phoniness was glaringly apparent as Watergate unraveled – I witnessed it.) Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” exploited the prejudice and fear of many whites about Blacks. He was a more sophisticated version of George Wallace. That poisoned the well far more than anything Malcolm X said or did in his short life-time.

    — Urban Dweller    Jul 27, 09:59 PM    #

30. Regarding comment #28,
    Is leaving your wife for another woman considered to be a good old fashioned conservative family value?

    — Ve    Jul 28, 08:30 AM    #

31. #26, there are tens of thousands of public school educators who sacrifice heroically for the benefit of their black students (myself included). To say that “nobody cares” is simply wrong. The school I teach at is staffed with 180 teachers and administrators who go above and beyond to help (after school tutoring programs, conflict resolution classes, in-school day care for all the black babies), and guess what? Our black graduation rates are still utterly dismal. The black students continue to get into fights. The black students continue to have babies in 9th grade. And the black students continue to unleash profanity at their peers and teachers. No amount of caring or taxpayer dollars will solve these problems because they begin and are enforced in the HOME. This is a social, cultural problem, and the mythical “institutional neglect” is a non-factor. The truth is that modern black culture is the institution in shambles.

    — dream    Jul 28, 08:40 AM    #

32. To#31, You can only speak for yourself and perhaps some of the other teachers you know. You cannot speak for tens of thousands of teachers. When I taught school, I saw at least some teachers who didn’t care. I saw them verbally ridicule Black and Latino students who were polite. I have witnessed teachers verbally abusing parents. I wouldn’t say that “nobody cares,” but I wouldn’t pin the “hero” badge on every teacher either. Are you trying to tell me that every Black student in your school gets in a fight??? If you don’t think you’re having an impact as a teacher because of problems in the home, leave the profession.

    — Ve    Jul 28, 09:09 AM    #

33. Re: comment #30,
    Not at all. That’s why statistically, non-conservatives are much more likely to do it. The same with commiting adultery and almost any other societal ill you can think of.

    Urban Dweller, I don’t know why you are so fixated on Richard Nixon while ignoring the elephant in the room. The Great Society DESTROYED the American black family. Black families were doing better, statistically, BEFORE the Great Society than after it. If mid-19th century southern plantation owners wanted to permanently enslave blacks, they could not come up with a better plan than the Great Society. The “beauty” of the plan (for lack of a better term) is that blacks don’t even realize they’re enslaved!

    Make no mistake, political and social ideology got the black family into the mess they’re in now. It will take the complete repudiation of that ideology to get them out. Certain individuals are escaping (Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice, Colin Powell) and Bill Cosby is doing yeoman’s work to sound the alarm.

    The black community needs to listen to Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D. more than to Julian Bond.

    — Red State University    Jul 28, 09:14 AM    #

34. To#33, Condi Rice was born into a middle class family and even she had to escape being blown to bits, like her friend was in church. (Bomb planted by racists.) In fact, Rice, while wearing the proper identification, was shoved by a secret service agent while performing her job duties for G.W. Bush the elder. So, perhaps she didn’t completely “escape” either.

    The Black family may have more single parent families, but on several other indicators, home ownership, family income, etc. we’re doing better. We’re even doing better on test scores and high school graduation rates, (from the past) but the achievement gap still exists.

    What Bill Cosby said is nothing new in the Black community. It’s just “news” to White people that we make statements like that.

    It’s been a long time since I read Malcolm X’s autobiography, but I don’t remember his saying what you attributed to him. I don’t remember that as being his philosophy. I think you just used a name that you knew to make a point, not caring that your statement was false.

    — Ve    Jul 28, 09:57 AM    #

35. Hey, let’s step back from the details for a minute. It’s been 44 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Countless trillions spent trying to “cure” the problem of poorly performing negro, black, african-american, disadvantaged, and whatever the next politically correct term is going to be.
    Well here we are, still discussing the same problems educating minority students from 50 years ago.
    I teach these type of kids. Many, just don’t have it. And another trillion dollars of aid is not going to change a damn thing about that. The minority students that do have something on the ball will succeed with or without government intervention or preferential treatment.

    What other government program would we fund with such poor results?

    — Reality Check    Jul 28, 01:04 PM    #

36. To some extent, all students in the public schools suffer from institutional neglect. Public Schools don’t exist for the individual, they exist for the public. Bright, well-adjusted students of all races do well in school despite this neglect. (Or maybe even because of it. Students with the talent and abilities to succeed do so because they have to, not simply because they can.)

    Certainly racism makes things worse for black students than for others. Despite the fact that my “place in the sun” was never guaranteed, even as a white male, I understand that it is probably easier to be me than it would to be a black male.

    One thing that some black families may be able to do is pull their children out of these institutions altogether. Homeschool them, if necessary and able. There’s no trick to teaching your own kids to read, but there is a great deal of difficulty in teaching a room full of kids to read, and I commend any school teacher who is able to do it.

    I know, I know. In single parent households, homeschooling is not an option. Someone has to go out during the day and make a living. Leaving the kids (black or white) unattended at home is an invitation to all sorts of trouble. But for those families—though they may be few—who can work out the details, pulling the kids out of the schools and teaching them at home may offer benefits and audacious hope that schools could never even dream of. Many black families who choose to homeschool would probably soon see positive results for their kids, and the families as a whole would be surprised with their own abilities and strengths.

    One thing’s for sure, the answers to the problems faced by black males don’t lie in the schools, they never have, and they never will. Reading the comments by even the most hopeful educators on those blogs makes that point very clear.

    — Tracy G.    Jul 28, 01:06 PM    #

37. #36, I think home schooling is a great idea, but one reason why so many black students perform poorly is that their parents have low academic abilities themselves. It is not likely that such parents would have the ability to home school. A sobering, but very true, fact.

    — dream    Jul 28, 01:29 PM    #

38. I stand corrected about Malcolm X. Both he and Martin Luther King Jr. advocated self-reliance in the black community only King was an integrationist while Malcolm X was a social, governmental and economic separatist – still not a good philosophy for the black community to follow.

    — Red State University    Jul 28, 03:58 PM    #

39. Hi again Red State. Actually, I am not obsessed with Nixon, et. al. At least no more than you might be obsessed with Malcolm X or the Great Society. :)

    Seriously, I stand by my statement that this problem is more complex than any one factor or person and that it is especially inappropriate to argue that it is primarily a problem that individuals can solve just by demonstrating greater personal responsibility. Acting with greater personal responsibility without concomitant changes in the school systems will negate the value of personal responsibility. That may be one reason Malcolm X argued for separation.

    If we want to improve the academic achievement of Black males, we have to make a more systematic effort to improve our schools. And if we do that we will actually benefit students from all groups, which would be a good thing for the nation, and we will create an environment in which the benefits of personal responsibility will be supported.

    As I stated in a previous post, we know about some effective curricular and social interventions that can improve schools. Let’s get on with that and we will likely find that the issue of Black vs. white will become less important.

    — Urban Dweller    Jul 28, 07:36 PM    #

40. No meaningful improvement of the public education system will occur until the NEA is abolished.

    — Red State University    Jul 28, 08:38 PM    #

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