16th
SCHOOL MATTERS: Educational Equity Feeds Economic Growth
New America Media, Commentary, Michael Wotorson
A momentous election and a huge stimulus check for school improvement must mean that things are looking pretty good for high school students of color these days.
With Pres. Barack Obama in place as role-model-in-chief, African-American parents now have another shining example to which they can point when they tell their children about the possibilities this nation has to offer. And Congress has made billions available for states to address the distribution of effective teachers, educational data systems, and other sorely needed reforms.
It is tempting to take these promising signs to mean that solving the problem of educational inequities is a fait accompli. Yet regardless of Pres. Obama’s achievements and the investment of stimulus funds, the fact remains that, like their peers across the nation, nearly half of African-American students in the state the president represented in Congress will not graduate from high school. On average, African-American 17-year-olds read at the same level as white 13-year-olds. And African-American students are more likely than whites to attend dropout factories—high schools where no more than 60 percent of the entering first year class makes it to their senior year.
