Proverty is one of the key reasons that many minority children struggle in school. Likewise, educators' creating a false picture of academic progress is another reason. With hurdles such as these, what role does education really play in our children's future? Whitney Houston sings a song entitled: "The Greatest Love of All." In this song she sings about the children being our future. Likewise, she sings about how we should teach them and let them lead the way; but how can one see all the beauty that they possess inside, when false pictures of academic progress and poverty surround them? According to the Census Bureau:
"In 2000, the African American poverty rate hit an all-time low of 22.5 percent, but falling incomes and higher unemployment contributed to a 12.7 percent rise in the poverty rate by 2004. As a result, in 2004 the poverty rate was 24.7 percent, with 9 million African Americans in poverty. The African American child poverty rate was even higher, 33.6 percent or 3.8 million children."
I am quite sure that Whiney Houston was not alone when she was singing about the children being our future. Sure we say that we believe that the children are our future. However, we are failing to teach them well enough to allow them to lead the way. For instance, black students in Fairfax County are consistently scoring lower on state standardized tests than African American children in Richmond, Norfolk and other comparatively poor Virginia districts.
"Black third-graders in Fairfax ranked 91 st among more than 125 Virginia districts in reading and 69 th in math in tests taken last year. Furthermore, fifth-graders ranked 40 th in reading and 71 st in math."
Clearly, these scores are a big indication that something is wrong when children in the nation's wealthiest school systems acknowledge shortcomings. By no means am I saying that Fairfax does not have any poverty-stricken areas, because it is a fact that poverty is a challenge in Fairfax. However, it is an even greater problem for the city of Richmond. Nevertheless, children within Richmond are fairing much better in education than in Fairfax. Due to Richmond's success, Fairfax educators are asking Richmond educators what strategies they are using to accomplish major academic turnarounds.
One reason for Richmond's academic turnaround was in response to the No Child Left Behind Act that was signed into law in 2002. In order for Richmond not to be labeled as a failing district they had to make big changes. Beyond the testing and tutoring, they demanded it from all students. Harvard University researcher Ronald F. Ferguson, who surveyed students from 95 schools and 10 states, asked why they worked hard in school. Students of all races said college was a motivator, but more blacks and Hispanics, compared with whites, checked "My teachers encourage me to work hard."
This is a clear indication of what an unknown author once said: "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Obviously, Richmond educators were showing their students just how much beauty they possess inside. Therefore, students had a sense of pride in him or her self and also in their work. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for students within the state of Tennessee. According to an Associated Press computer analysis nearly 2 million children test scores aren't counted when it comes to meeting the law's requirement that schools track how students of different races perform on standardized tests. For example:
"State educators decide when a group is too small to count. And they've been asking the government for exemptions to exclude larger numbers of students in racial categories. Nearly two-dozen states have successfully petitioned the government for such changes in the past two years. As a result, schools can now ignore racial breakdowns even when they have 30, 40 or even 50 students of a given race in the testing population."
In conclusion, I feel that the following three points should not be forgotten when considering the future of our children. First, I sincerely believe that no child should be left behind, because every child has the potential to learn. However, children may need that extra push to do better. Second, the contributions made by black churches to the educational development of African Americans are equally important. Education became the dominant cultural mechanism for uplift and provided the cultural lens through which civic life was engaged. Third, governments must be held accountable to their citizens through a variety of means. Because government as well as its citizens have a responsibility to fight for more than rebuilding economically distressed neighborhoods, and deciding on which war to engage in. There also needs to be a fight for redeeming the educational prospects of the inner-city youth and the overall academic progress of every child. When we have done all of these things, then I sincerely believe that the role that education plays in our children's future will let them lead the way. |
