New Data from U.S. Department of Education Notes Racial Educational Inequities in Public Schools.

New data from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reveal an unsettling observation about the nature of the U.S. Public Education system. In summary, findings suggest that African American and Latino students across the nation are far more likely to be suspended than white students – as well as be more likely to have lower and limited access to rigorous college-prep courses.

The study, which was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a first-of-its kind and was designed to examine educational inequities around teacher experience, discipline and high school rigor. The data was collected from 72,000 schools serving 85 percent of the nation's students and revealed major disparities in the public school experiences of minority and white students.

For example, African-American students, particularly males, are far more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than their peers. Although African American students comprise just 18% of the sample, 35% of the students suspended once, and 39% of the students expelled were black. Findings also indicate that one in five African-American boys - and one in 10 African-American girls - was suspended from school during the study period, the 2009-10 school years. Meaning African-American students are 3-1/2 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. And 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement for disciplinary infractions are black or Latino.

The study also notes that nationally, students with disabilities are also more than twice as likely to be suspended as students without disabilities and that teachers in high-minority schools were paid $2,251 less per year than their colleagues in teaching in low-minority schools in the same district.

Academic opportunities also vary widely by race. Among high schools that serve predominately Latino and African-American students, just 29 percent offer a calculus class and only 40 percent offer physics. In some school districts, those numbers are even more glaring. In New York City, for instance, just 10 percent of the high schools with the highest black and Latino enrollment offer Algebra II.

The data breaks down the national data district by district and school by school. In addition, it examines racial disparities in r access to pre-kindergarten programs, success in Advanced Placement courses and the use of physical restraints on students with disabilities. One finding of note was that Just over a quarter of high-minority high schools offered Calculus, while over half of schools with the lowest black and Hispanic enrollment offered the course.

Supended sentence

African American males, from elementary school to high school, are struggling academically. This has been confirmed in a new report outlining suspension rates of African American males. According to a national study co-written by Daniel J. Losen, a senior associate at the Civil Rights Project at the University of California Los Angeles, and Indiana University Professor Russell Skiba, there is a growing disparity with respect to the treatment of white and nonwhite students in terms of suspension.

Using U.S. Department of Education data on suspensions, the findings support that black males in middle school are suspended at higher rates than white students. The study also reported that Palm Beach County ranked No. 1 among 18 large, urban school districts nationwide in terms of the frequency with which it suspended black male middle school students in 2006. Fifty-three percent have been suspended at least once. Milwaukee was second with 51 percent. Other cities, including Atlanta, reported suspending more than 35 percent of African American male middle school students during the same time period.

The national sample was comprised of more than 9,000 middle schools. The study also observed that 28.3 percent of black males, on average, were suspended at least once during a school year, This is a rate almost 3 times the 10 percent recorded for white males in middle school. African American females of the same age group were suspended more than four times as often as white females (18 percent vs. 4 percent).

The study suggests that as a result, many African American male students miss valuable class time during the middle school years, a critical period in their academic and social development. The report, titled “Suspended Education: Urban Middle Schools in Crisis,” found that 175 middle schools in these districts suspended more than one-third of their black male students. Eighty-four schools suspended more than half the black males enrolled.

The report confirms what many have suspected for years. In Nashville, Tenn., nine metro middle schools have suspended more than 50 percent of African American males, mainly ages 9 through 12, according to Vanderbilt University psychologist and human development specialist Maury Nation.

when a 70 is an F

There once was a time when education, regardless of gender, race or economic status was valued more so than anything else. It was seen as the great equalizer and the one intangible that was attainable by every one.

Today seems that the value for education has diminished greatly, and that the transformation of values as such has turned for the worse. I had conversation with my folk this morning about his. As usual we saw this from different angles. He suggested that the values have not changed; it was that people tended to finish college but would still have no job, so I was not as important as it used to be in past days. My position was not based on securing jobs, but rather the value of pedagogy in general.

Although I do not remember the time when my mom and her siblings went to school, I do remember seeing pictures. First it had to be hell and high water for them to miss a day in school and second they always had books in their hands.

My grandma would always say she never went to school. She had to work and getting married at sixteen meant she placed her family first. But this was in the late 1930s – a few decades before Brown versus the Topeka Board of education.

Today, it seems to be just different. Told him that 70% of the young African American males that enter the 9th grade wont graduate or finish school with their peers. That means that only 3 out of ten graduate high school, at least on time. Because of this 70 percent, nearly 80 percent eventually drop out.

I consider this foul on two fronts. First is our disposition and concern of materialism in the form of objects versus what one produces with his mind. Add to that our inability to want to work hard and delay gratification for the attainment of easy money. The last front is governmental, being that more money is spent on subsidies for oil companies, big business and given to places like Israel and Pakistan than is spent on education with respect to our public schools and the pay of teachers and institutions of higher learning with the reduction of grants, student aid and loans for those interested in college.

Again, I’m just venting, and sad. I used to hate being one of the two or three African American male professors at Emory University. I felt like I had to represent all of the African American men in the world and could only kick it with the building and grounds crew outside of the two aforementioned professors. In my book, this 70 is not a C, but really an F.

i miss coaching little league

I just realized how much I miss coaching little league baseball. Yea, I played baseball my entire life, but I did not know how much I really missed coaching until this week. Over the weekend, I found out that a kid that played in my league, a fine young man that we played against was found murdered along with his cousin in Union City. When I heard the news for the first time, I over looked it namely because I could not fathom that I would know the individuals. I was however saddened that such reckless violence was taking place and that we lost two great futures in the progress.

They say little African American boys are not playing baseball anymore. I know the numbers are dwindling, but I want to disagree. We played baseball at old national and we won. We had several state champions since I was coaching there including my T-Ball team (40-2). I had my boys since they were four and they are 14 now. In addition, we had fun, sub states, districts and the whole nine. My best memory was my 9-10 team beating the best team in our league on a lasting double play hit to my son at second base and his shot to home when the bases were loaded. 5-4 was the final score and they had scored three runs in the last inning until we got the force out and ran off the field. That year we sent 4 teams to the state and 3 of ours to the sub-state.


But last night it really sank in, at the Braves game, sitting behind the dugout with my number one son and number one daughter. I love baseball. And what I liked most about coaching was that it taught young men: to depend on teammates and work with others (because you cannot bat every time nor can you play each position at the same time). But what I remember most, other than the dugout chatter “we got em scared now”, was what I always told them. “Anybody can be an athlete, but you all have to be scholars, gentleman and athletes in that order. Rest in peace Delarlonva Mattox.

Black, Brown, Beige and Undereducated.

Just as there is a change occurring with respect to the new image of Europe, a similar occurrence is going on here in the U.S. Europe by contrast, is becoming increasingly African and Arab. As such, the political reference point of the past – one of traditional unchallenged Anglo-Saxon province – no longer can exist. In The U.S. As the decades add up, we will be completely a country of darker shade peoples as well. However, unlike in Europe, where the Muslim, Arab and Africans merge their political interest under a well educated populous, they do and command the governments consider their views valid. We in the U.S just foggle away opportunity and disregard liberty. Shit, we probably don’t even understand the concept of Liberty.

The future seems even bleaker. I mean it is not like we should expect the government to do for us anyway. But rather it should be a view is that this is what we do for government and this is what we expect government performance to be based on that contribution. This will never happen because we aid in the degradation of our own community. If more than 50% of students drop out from high school generally, speaking, how many do you think will be coming from our schools in our neighborhoods? Take it a step farther, if 80 percent of high school drop outs end up in prison and 40 percent of all inmates are darker people, yet these people make only 13 percent of the population, what kind of educated populous will remain to do battle, represent and demand that what we put in we should get back?

I wonder how much money in our neighborhoods is loss as a result. How many more homes, books, cd’s, and service that we provide in dollar terms could we be making? We can see this yet we select to motion toward and support being other than educated.

We allow this to happen on our own and it’s a shame. Simply put until we are proactive in our thinking such that they reflect action, we will force all to value education regardless in the understanding that our kind were killed and maimed just for learning to read. We should value and internalize this image. We need a well-educated populous or else American in the future of us as the majority, will just be Black, Brown, Beige and under educated.