“Our biggest problem is us. We must own this issue,” asserted Daryl Cobb, partner and vice president of the Charter School Growth Fund as he challenged an audience of Black men and women to make a rock-solid commitment to fix America’s schools. He was one of five leading education reform advocates and experts on a panel I moderated at the 100 Black Men of America, Inc Conference in San Francisco this past weekend. All agreed thousands of urban public schools across the nation continue to fail millions of African American youth. Too many of these institutions churn out barely functional graduates or become dropout factories in which 60% or more of the freshman class don’t make it through four years to obtain a diploma.
Our nation has been wrestling with the deterioration of public education since I was a high school student some 30 years ago. In the late 1970s, the common refrain was “Johnny can’t read.” We now gave large numbers of Jeromes, Tykishas and Juans who not only can’t read and calculate but won’t be employable for the 21st Century workplace.
Allan C. Golston, president, U.S. Program, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, confirmed that fact. After praising the 100 for creating a platform to tackle this massive problem, he then rattled off some rather alarming stats: Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found that Black and Latino students are roughly two to three years of learning behind White students and 48% of Black and 43% of Latino fourth- and eighth-graders score below the basic level in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress versus 17% of Whites. Although American students of all races and both genders have underperformed when compared to their counterparts across the globe–15-year-olds rank 25th out of 30 developed nations in math and 24th out of 30 in science–the overall graduation rate for Black males stands at 47%. If national leaders had worked to close the racial gap among U.S. students during the 1980s and 1990s, Golston maintains, the nation’s GDP would have increased by as much as $525 billion. To buttress his point, President Obama has placed education reform through this administration’s “Race To The Top” program at the top of his agenda in bolstering the future competitiveness of American businesses.
Fixing our schools, however, has come with its share of controversy. The most newsworthy issues have been related to teachers’ union mandates in which tenured educators–even the most unproductive–cannot be readily dismissed by school districts as well as whether traditional schools or charter schools offer the most
efficient and effective means of educating our children. Take the response to recent action of the NAACP and United Federation of Teachers Union after the organizations filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court to stop the closure of 22 New York City public schools and block 20 charter schools from opening. As a result, hundreds of parents stormed the state office building in Harlem to demand the nation’s oldest civil rights group withdraw from the suit.Golston says it will require “the best ideas, best energy and best investment” to reverse the trend. My panel proposed the following steps:
- Identify the right solution.
Nia Phillips, chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Education”s Office of Innovation and Improvement, says her department fully evaluates the condition of schools. Under DOE”s School Improvement Grants programs, districts seeking federal funds to revive an institution must choose four options: 1) closing a school while ensuring students can attend a better one nearby; 2) restarting an institution that’s usually taken over by a charter operator; 3) promoting a turnaround by replacing a principal and significant portion of the staff; and 4) undergoing a transformation in which a new principal is installed and major reforms are implemented. Parents and community groups should scrutinize their schools in similar fashion to determine the best course of action..
- Develop your own school.
To close the academic achievement gap for black children, Peter Groff, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, advocates development of more high-performing institutions. In some cases, this move can be led by non-profit and religious organizations. To launch such schools, individuals need to become familiar with state laws and policies, identify a core funding source and work with a charter school management organization to gain authorization. Groff and Cobb serve as great resources for such efforts. For instance, Cobb manages two statewide funds with $45 million for charter school development and served as former CEOÂ and co-founder of Chicago’s Urban Prep Academies–a model institution with a 70% graduation rate and 100% college acceptance rate of its graduates. Phillips says individuals can access the federal Charter School Grant Program.
- Promote school choice.
Ebony Lee, senior program officer for the Gates Foundation, says parents and students need “multiple models, ” including innovative charter schools and top-performing magnet schools. Panelists also promoted homeschooling in which students are taught by parents or tutors as another viable option.
- Develop top teachers and administrators.
One key to quality education is attracting high-caliber talent. In fact, the Gates Foundation recently provided a $7.6 million grant to
Education Pioneers, a national non-profit group, to recruit and train more than 500 professionals and graduate students for leadership positions outside the classroom, positioning them in school districts, public charter organizations and state departments of education. Even though unions have largely been resistant to teacher tenure reform, Lee says some local branches of the National Education Association have been receptive to “merit pay” models and programs that stress “educational effectiveness versus teacher longevity.”- Let your voice be heard.
Kevin Chavous, chairman of the Black Alliance for Education Options, says community members “must show the courage to take a stand for the kids” whether it means becoming more politically involved, engaging in protests or connecting with influential supporters. That’s how Chavous, in part, was effective in pushing the charter school movement and funding the first federal scholarship program to allow 2,000 low-income children to attend private schools in the nation’s capital. Daryl Cobb warns such activism will likely ruffle government officials, school administrators and educators so “be willing to lose friends. We have to remember that this fight is not about adult agendas but the education of our kids.”