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NEWS/^l^e Charlotte $60t
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Poll: Black, Hispanic students see
school as tougher, more dangerous
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704.376.0496
By Ben Fuller
7HE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Black and Hispanic stu
dents see school as a more
rowdy disrespectful and dan
gerous place than their white
classmates do, a poll sa}^.
The findings suggest that
many minority kids are
struggling in the equivalent
of a hostile work environ
ment, according to Public
Agenda, a nonpartisan opin
ion research group that
tracks education trends.
Mnority children in pubhc
middle and high schools are
more likely than white chil
dren to describe profanity
truancy fighting, weapons
and drug abuse as ‘Very seri
ous” problems.
TTie black and Hispanic
children — under pressure to
close their test-score gaps
with whites — also see more
pervasive academic woes,
such as lower standards,
bigber dropout rates and kids
who advance even if they
don’t learn.
“There is so much discus
sion about ,the achievement
gap, and we talk about teach
ers and curriculum and test
ing and money” said Jean
Johnson, Public Agenda’s
executive vice president and
an author of the report.
“We need to add something
to that list - school climate.
For these kids, it has become
such a distracting atmos
phere,”
Thirty percent of black stu
dents - three in every 10 -
said teachers spend more
time ti-ying to keep order in
class than teaching; 14 per
cent of white students said
file same.
More than half of black stu
dents said kids who lack
respect for teachers and use
bad language is a very seri
ous problem, compared to
less than one-third of white
students.
Hispanic students also
reported worse social and
academic conditions in school
than white children,
although the gaps were not
as large as they were
between blacks and whites.
On the plus side, the poU
found positive results tliat
cut across race and ethnicity
Majorities of children said
they are learning a lot in
reading, writing and math
classes. Most students said at
least one teacher who has
gotten them interested in a
subject they usually hate.
The students agreed on
matters of work ethic, too.
About eight in 10 said it is
good for school districts to
require higher standards,
even if that means kids must
go to summer school. Almost
60 percent of black students
acknowledged they could try
a htfie harder, compared to
53 percent of Hispanics and
46 percent of whites.
In perspective, most stu
dents said schools were meet
ing expectations on most
measures. Yet the minority
children were more hkely to
see students struggling to get
by in class, to see unfair
enforcement of discipline
lules, to say schools aren’t
getting enough money
“Students of color are cor
rect in their understanding
that thdr schools get less in
the way of resources and offer
less in the way of high stan
dards,” said Ross Wiener, pol
icy director of The Education
Tkust, an advocacy group fca:
poor and minority children.
“It is a shame that a country
dedicated to equal opportuni
ty tolerates these inequities.”
Among students in piibhc
schools, 59 percent are white,
NAACP fund honors advocacy
Some of North Carolina’s most prominent
advocates of equality and community will be
honored by the state NAACP Legal Defense
Fund.
Joe Martin, Carlenia Ivory Jim Johnson and
Armeies Ortega-Moore will be honored by the
LDF Saturday at its fimdraising banquet at
the Marriott, 5700 West Park Drive. Tickets
are $75. Call Franklin McCain at (704) 598-
7737 or Anna Hood at (704) 333-4685.
• A retired Bank of America executive,
Martin is an advocate of improving race rela
tions, Martin has worked with the Urban
League of Central CaroMnas and promoted the
. idea of “Race Day” to encourage cross-cultural
understanding.
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19 percent are Hispanic and
17 percent are black, accord
ing to Education Department
numbers fixim .the 2003-04
school year.
In the poU, students in
wealthier schools reported
fewer serious problems than
students in poor schools, but
results were not available for
racial groups of different
income levels.
NEnority parents were
more hkdy to see problems in
schools, just as their kids did.
Black and Hispanic parents
were more than twice as like
ly as white parents to call
weapons and fighting a very
serious problem. They report
ed bigger concerns about
crowded classes and low stan
dards.
Meet teachers, meanwhile,
said academic expectations
for students were high
regardless of the racial make
up of the school. Ifeachers in.
mostly minority schools
reported less parental
involvement, lower support
firom their superintendent
and poorer grammar among
their students.
• Ivory, supervisor of the Double Oaks
Community Resource Center, is an advocate
for low-income famUies and acquiring
resources to improve their lives.
• Johnson, director of the Urban Investment
Strategies Center at UNC-Chapel Hfil,
laTondied the Durham Scholars program, an
afterschool coU^e preparatory academy where
low-income students can improve their acade
mic and social skills.
• Ortega-Moore, executive director of the
Latin Am^can Coalition, is one of the leading
advocates of equal access for Latinos in
Charlotte.
Herbert L. White
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