US Education Crisis for Black Males - Report
19 August 2010 at 12:16 pm
Philanthropic communities and advocacy groups in the US have been urged to help facilitate change after an alarming report on the state of education for Black males across all 50 states.
The Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education reveals that the overall 2007/8 graduation rate for Black males in the U.S. was only 47 percent. Half of the States have graduation rates for Black male students below the national average.
The report highlights concerns that New York's diploma graduation rate is only 25 percent for Black male students. New York City, the district with the nation's highest enrolment of Black students, only graduates 28 percent of its Black male students with Regents diplomas on time.
The study says overall, each year over 100,000 Black male students in New York City alone do not graduate from high school with their entering cohort.
Dr John Jackson, the CEO and President of the Schott Foundation for Public Education says these statistics and the other alarming data in this fourth biennial report point to a national education and economic crisis.
Dr Jackson says that without targeted investments to provide the core, research-proven resources to help Black male students succeed in public education, they are being set up to fail.
The report highlights the success of New Jersey’s Abbott Plan, which demonstrates that when equitable resources are available to all students, systemic change at the state level can yield significant results. New Jersey is now the only state with a significant Black population with a greater than 65 percent high school graduation rate for Black male students.
Dr Jackson says by providing the public with this data, the Foundation hopes to continue to spark action from advocacy and philanthropic communities to hold policymakers and school districts accountable for facilitating changes needed to provide Black male students the opportunity to learn and succeed.
The full report can be downloaded at www.blackboysreport.org/bbreport.pdf
