The Community Times Dispatch

So much has been said and written about the problems within the educational structure, while too often the proposed solutions have only been piece meal prescriptions that only attached band-aids to gaping wounds. The time has come for an honest, frank, and transparent exploration of the issues and potential solutions to the numerous examples of a malfunctioning system. The topics to be explored must include but not be limited to: the role of parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and elected officials, the expectation of student performance, the gender and equity gaps, graduation rates, global competition etc.

In this article the discussion is focused upon the recent report published by the Schott foundation (for public education) entitled “Given Half of a Chance” which highlights the current status of the graduation rate of Black males in America. While the overall rating is depressing, the statistics for South Carolina are outright criminal.

“Over the last 25 years, the social, educational and economic outcomes for Black males have been more systematically devastating than the outcomes for any other racial or ethnic group or gender. Black males have consistently low educational attainment levels, are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups. On average Black males are more likely to attend the most segregated and least resourced public schools…”

The graduation rate for Black males in South Carolina for 2005/06 was 38%, while for white males it was 59%. Although the white male rate is nothing to brag about, it is still 20% higher than that of the Back male. This disparity is even more alarming when it is examine in the broader scope of the report as it examines the schism that exists in the area of Reading at Grade 4- 66% below Basic for Black males – 32% for white males, grade 8- 56% below Basic for Black males versus 24% for white males … in the area of Math the results were equally depressing grade 4- below Basic 39% for Black males -9% below Basic for White males, Grade 8 -below Basic 47% for Black Males, and 18% below Basic for White males. If these young men are allowed to continue performing so poorly on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) it should be obvious that their individual future and our collective future are rather bleak.

When we take a closer look at the report there appears to be an even more intriguing finding that is the Discipline, Special Education, and Advance Placement inequity… three times as many Black males were suspended as were white males, 4.76% of Black males were identified as Gifted and Talented and 4.62% were labeled special ed, their white counter parts were identified at 16.58% as Gifted and Talented and only 1.57% special ed. Therefore is it any wonder that white males were 5 times more likely to be allowed to take Advanced Placement than Black males.

The fundamental issues that must be broached are axiomatically obvious…. How are these facts acceptable to any member of this society? Can we not see that cataclysmic potential if this situation is allowed to continue unabated?

“… the crisis of the education of Black males sits squarely in the middle of the crisis America faces as we work to create a world -class public education system that will support and maintain the values of a fair and equitable democratic society”

The rate at which Black males are dropping out and being placed in special education far exceeds the rate the rate at which the are graduating and reaching high levels of academic achievement. A deliberate, intense focus is needed to disrupt and redirect the current educational trajectory for Black males. Therefore it is imperative that we begin a dialogue with the intended outcome a plan that will be implemented to arrest these distressing figures and activate a systematic approach to building a series of actions that will transform the options available to the young men of this state that embrace education as a passport to a quality of life that reinforces the tenets of the American dream. Should they be exposed to any less?

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FRANKLIN CLEVELAND