The nation’s schools are failing to educate Black males, according to a report, and Illinois schools are among the culprits.
The nation’s schools are failing to educate Black males, according to a report, and Illinois schools are among the culprits. The report, “Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education,” concluded that public school districts across the country, including the Chicago Public Schools, are failing to educate Black males causing many of them to drop out once they reach high school. The report was prepared by the Schott Foundation for Public Education in Cambridge, Mass., and provides state-by-state data and information on some of the best and worst school districts for Black males. In part, the report states that, “The American educational system is systematically failing Black males.” Illinois’ Black male graduation rate in 2007 was 47 percent, the same as the national average for Black males, the report revealed. However, for white males the 2007 graduation rate was 83 percent and nationally it was 78 percent. But the graduation rate in 2007 for Black males attending the city’s public schools was 44 percent, according to the report. CPS is the nation’s third largest school district. Phillip Jackson, founder and executive director of The Black Star Project, a local non-profit community organization, said the Schott Foundation produces a report every two years on Black males and in 2008 the graduation rate for CPS Black males was 37 percent and in 2006 it was 35 percent. “This report is alarming. I was alarmed six years ago and I am alarmed today,” Jackson said. “I am amazed that CPS does not have a program dedicated to address this problem.” Michael Holzman, a research consultant for the Schott Foundation, said CPS has its work cut out if it plans to lower the Black male dropout rate. “CPS can start by sending teachers back to school so they are up to date on the material they teach students,” he told the Defender. However, the school district rebuffs Holzman. CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond said the district’s graduation rate for Black males has slightly increased over the past three years. “Any incremental gain is important, but not good enough for our standards. The district is looking at ways to engage our students more and offering them the resources they need outside of school that will transcend inside the school,” Bond said. “Attendance is important … before our students can achieve, they need to be in school learning.” One public high school Holzman pointed to with a good track record for helping Black males is Urban Prep Academy for Young Men, which has two campuses on the South Side and one on the West Side. Earlier this year Urban Prep received national recognition after it announced that its entire (106) senior class was accepted into four-year colleges and universities. Tim King, co-founder of Urban Prep, said among the things the school uses to help students is creating a school culture that promotes education from day one. “We have our young men meet with college counselors from ninth grade to twelfth grade. It is automatically assumed that every student plans to go to college,” King told the Defender. “We also have an elite group of Black men who make up over 50 percent of our staff and it is important for young, Black boys to see Black men working at schools especially in a classroom or administrative capacity. I didn’t have a Black male teacher until I went to college so I know how strong of an influence Black male teachers have on boys, especially for those without a father at home or in their lives.” Additionally, King said it is also important to make students feel safe while at school and once school ends. “This is why we train our teachers to do conflict resolutions. We want to resolve any issues students may have with each other before school lets out,” explained King. “Extending the school day is another method we use to better educate our students. Our students are in school for eight hours a day compared to students at other CPS high schools who attend school about six hours a day.” Despite the report, there are bright spots for some Black male students. Many suburban high schools with a predominately Black student population had graduation rates at 79 percent or higher for Black males, according to the 2009 Illinois School Report Card. Proviso East in west suburban Maywood had a Black male graduation rate of 91.4 percent, and Proviso West in Hillside had 100 percent. In the south suburbs, graduation is an option for an appreciable percentage of Black males attending public high schools: Thornton Township in Harvey with 79.5 percent; Thornridge in Dolton with 95.5 percent; Rich Central in Olympia Fields with 93.4 percent; Rich South in Richton Park with 91.9; and Homewood-Flossmoor with 91.4 percent. Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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