FORUM
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High-performing schools are
the best gateway to success
Brian
Pauling
Guest
Columnist
w
As the
school year
winds down,
one can't help
but think of
graduations
and where .
and how stu
dents will
embark upon
tne next pnase or tneir lives.
Unfortunately, the opportunities for far
too many will be limited because of dis
parities in graduation rates and in opportu
nities for students at high-performing
schools compared with their counterparts
at low-performing schools.
Although U.S. high school graduation
rates have - significantly improved, U.S.
Department of Education statistics show
that African-American and
Hispanic/Latino students are still graduat
ing 5 to 10 points behind the national aver
age.
Further, students from low-income
families are graduating at a rate that's 14.4
percentage points below that of their peers
from wealthier backgrounds.
For students to be competitive in post
secondary education and career, they have
to be properly prepared. Whether compet
ing for admission to college or entering a
career, the student graduating from the
high-performing school invariably has the
advantage over the one from the low-per
forming school.
And although each may have a diplo
ma in hand, the student from a low-per
forming school will more times than not
require remedial courses and start behind
the curve when trying to achieve long-term
success. ,
100 Black Men of America Inc. strong- ,
ly believes the remedy to this situation is (
advocating for and demanding high-per- ,
forming schools for all students and partic- (
ularly African-American and poor stu- ,
dents. I
We feel that high-performing public
schools, whether traditional or charter, are
the best gateway to higher education.
Coupled with strong parental involvement,
quality education options that ensure every
child has access to the high-performing
school best suited for him or her will help
them achieve long-term career success.
Sadly, many of the nation's low-per
forming schools are in minority and low
income neighborhoods.
Far too many of these public schools
have inadequate resources and their class
rooms are overcrowded. They often lack
the things higher-performing schools take
fof granted, experienced teachers, coun
selors, special education services, current
edition textbooks, and access to technolo
gy, to name a few and their students suffer.
When those conditions are allowed to con
tinue, students, paths can deviate from
higher education and career to paths of
overwhelming struggle, economic chal
lenge and potentially prison.
This is why we must implore our
school administrators on the neighbor
hood, district,city, state and national levels
to do their level best to make public educa
tion more equitable in every school. In a
Washington Post article, former Education
Secretary Arne Duncan called on cities and
states to rethink their current incarceration
practices and proposed funineling an esti
mated $15 billion in savings from incar
cerations to substantially raise teacher pay
in high-poverty schools. He reasoned that
higher salaries could attract better teachers
to low-performing schools where the help
is most needed.
With a move like this, we would not
just make a bet on education over incarcer
ation, we would signal the beginning of a
long-range effort to pay our nation's teach
ers what they are worth, Duncan said. That
sort of investment wouldn't just make
teachers and struggling communities feel
more valued. It would have ripple effects it
on our economy and on our civic life.
He gets it. We want to make sure
everybody else gets it as well. High-per
forming schools are the best gateway to
success. When our children have access to
high-performing schools, it exponentially
increases their chances to achieve their full
potential.
Brian L. Pauling is president and CEO
of 100 Black Men of America, Inc., a glob
al nonprofit mentoring organization with
more than 100 chapters reaching 125,000
youth in the United States, the United
Kingdom and the Caribbean. Learn more
at IOOblackmenx)rg.
Sneaker give-away was
well-intentioned but short-sighted
Sam
Davis
Guest
Columnist
What a wonderful gesture
by the Chris Paul Family
Foundation to supply more
than 200 pairs of shoes to the
students at Cook Elementary.
That shows there are people
in the community who care
about the future of our inner
city youth. Great job by
Kerry Wiggins and the sup
port team at Cook to collaborate with a non-profit organi
zation to bring change to the lowest performing school in
the state of North Carolina.
However, there are bigger issues that must be
addressed if we expect Cook to succeed in its new literacy
model. While the intent of everyone involved was well
intentioned, it might prove to be short-sighted. In fact, it
might prove to be counterproductive because it might send
the wrong message (of entitlement) to both students and
parents. Parents of students and other stakeholders of the
school must play a bigger role in the success of their chil
dren if they want to change the direction in which the
school is headed.
The same could also be applicable to scnoois in iow
income communities throughout this county and nation.
, This is not a personal attack, but people whom the com
*
munity produce (i.e. professional athletes, with multi-mil
lion dollar contracts) should be held accountable to the
people that helped catapult them to their platform of star
dom. . ?
As the old proverb suggests, "Give a man a fish and he
eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he eats for a life
time." That's the strategy that needs to be in place for
long-term change in many of our struggling schools.
While it is good public relations and a good "feel good"
story for superstars to give back to the community with
free Nike shoes or other giveaways, the long-term impli
cations of that action is concerning. That's the saipe strat
egy that has been used to pacify African-Americans and
other minorities for years.
That is also part of the sense of entitlement that many
of the youth in inner-city communities have come to
embrace. For one, it helps to promote material possessions
over substance. Many of our inner-city youth view having
the latest sneakers (CP3's, Air Jordan's, KD's, Labron's)
as the model of success. Far too many don't value the
work ethic that produces academic success in die class
room and beyond (such as that Chris Paul has managed to
accomplish). That is one of the biggest hurdles that those
who work in schools in low-income areas must deal with
on a day-to-day basis. ^
Rather than promoting entitlement-producing give
aways, we need to work to promote policies and programs
that will benefit the aforementioned individuals long term.
We need programs that teach the core principles of hard
work and the resulting academic success that come with it.
We need to have more team-building programs in our
schools (where successful members of the community
work with families) and more volunteerism. We need to
promote core values and work hard to make sure that stu
dents and parents understand them.
We need to build our own brands, rather than promot
ing brands that fail to measure up to the under-represented
in our communities. We need to model our own success
rather than waiting on outsiders to build it for us. It is time
for us to form collaborations with people who look like us
and/or those who have our own best, long-term, interests
at heart.
The fact that the Chris Paul Family Foundation was
willing to step up to try to solve the problems plaguing
Cook is definitely a sign of better days ahead. But let us
work together to form more meaningful, long-term, solu
tions. ?
Sam Davis of Winston-Salem has been a coach of stu
dents for mOre than 35 years. He also is an ordained min
ister.
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