← B.E. 40th ANNIVERSARY COVER GALLERY

nd-1978-SEPTEMBER

By Alfred Edmond, Jr. | Published August 8, 2010 | Full size is 500 × 320 pixels

For years, BLACK ENTERPRISE has devoted the month of September to tackling education issues. In September 1978, public education was in a state of crisis – and African American children in urban hubs suffered the worst – sounds familiar? As show in the cover illustration, urban school systems were plagued by a multitude of ills: budget cuts, lack of accountability, teacher apathy and alarming dropout rates. That issue’s Publisher’s Page proved prophetic: “Thousands of young people have cosigned themselves to the backwaters of American life, their futures foreclosed by a system designed ostensibly to liberate them from a cycle of dependency but which has failed them.”

For years, BLACK ENTERPRISE has devoted the month of September to tackling education issues.…