PAGE 2 The News Argus May 1990
Public Education: My Views
By Laurence De Shields
One of the most serious
tragedies of life in black Amer
ica is the dismal record of per
formance of our children in the
public school system around
the country. Every year, pub
lished test scores inform us
with maddening regularity that
black children are falling fur
ther and further behind educa
tionally. This is at a time when
the demand for the skilled and
the educated continues un
abated.
Stories exist about the high
school graduates who are
being shoved out of the sys
tem barely able to read, write
and lacking any real compre
hension of what it takes to
function in today’s society. A
basic education is no longer an
option, it is a necessity. If the
present trend in education per
sists, implications for the fu-
Editor:
Joanie Tuttle
Entertainment Editor:
John Poindexter
Advertising Editors;
Patrice A. Gibson
Kimberly O. Copeland
Greek Editor:
Connie Malone
Photographers:
Chuck Hanes
Joanie Tuttle
Chairman:
Department of Mass ComiHiiicatioiis
Dr. Maurice S. Odine
Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Valerie Saddler
ture will be devastating. Thou
sands of young people will have
consigned themselves to the
backwaters of American life,
their futures foreclosed by a
system designed to liberate
them to a cycle of dependency,
but one which has failed them.
The search for the villains
in this scenario are endless.
There is blame enough for ev
eryone. Yet, it is our society
which must shoulder most of
the blame because of its insti
tutional racism which brands
blacks children interior from
birth. One of the first lessons
black children leam as they
seek an integrated quality edu
cation is that they are not
wanted.
This fact of life is rein
forced consciously and uncon
sciously by school teachers who
have low expectancy levels of
black and minority students.
Reporters;
Georgellen Brown
Natasha Carlton
Karen Reming
Chuck Hanes
Lene Hunter
Linda McKnight
Mattie Morrison
Emest Simpson
Laurence De Shields
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questions or [etters to
the editor, lurite to
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Teachers are encumbered by
unreasonable fears of their
pupils whom they label dis
ruptive and uneducable, thus
transferring the responsibility
of the students’ lack of accom
plishment from themselves to
the pupils.
Of course there are good
and bad teachers with that
great majority of average
teachers in between. I sus
pect that teachers have looked
upon their profession simply
for the security of it all and
the pupils are really secon
dary.
After years of being un
derpaid teachers have become
more organized, but their
hard-won gains seem to have
outstripped their concem for
their pupils. In a sense there
is a lack of accountabiUty with
the children who are not being
educated being the real losers.
Education has alwavs been
viewed as a way out. A good
Letter to
the Editor
It has come to our attention
that in the spring semester of
1990, articles that have been sub
mitted have not been published
in the Greek Comer. The most
recent article was submitted for
the March Issue.
In order to express concerns
about publication in the News
Argus, we would like to know
the guidelines by which articles
are chosen for publication.
We would like the article that
was submitted for the March Is
sue to be published in the April
Issue.
Thank you for your coopera
tion.
The Women of Gamma Lambda
Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Inc.
education is not an option, it
is absolutely necessary if one
is to achieve anything.
“School is a place to leam-not
simply to be taught.” It is not
enough for students to go to
school to be fed with knowl
edge.
The sad irony of our pres
ent situation is that for centu
ries it was a crime for blacks
to be able to read and write.
This was sanctioned by a soci
ety bent upon reducing us to
"nobodies". Today we seem
bent upon allowing ourselves
to be imposed with a substance
which our ancestors fought so
desperately to lift. The public
school system has failed us in
many palpable ways, but the
fact is that parents have pri
mary responsibility for seeing
that their children are taught.
Education is the key. But
it is not the system that will
free us, it will have to be our
selves.
Best Wishes
Ciass
of 1990 !