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Volume XVII, Number 38
July 29, 1987
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Professor Leads Drive 'To Save' Black Children
by Omari Kenyatta, J.D.
Howard University Professor Faustine Jones-Wilson is fired up.
"It's time for us to stop passing the buck. What can each of us do to
facilitate learning?"
She's referring to the education of black children, indicating that too
many are underachievers. "Our children are falling between the cracks.
They'ie not being properly educated for the 21st century," charges the
educator, who is black.
In what she calls a "self-help effort to save our children," Dr. Jones-
Wilson leads a national initiative spearheaded by Rep. Augustus Hawkins,
D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to get
more people involved in the process of educating black children, who gene-
Lovely H. Billups, director of field services for educational issues with
the American Federation of Teachers, points out that the blueprint will be
presented this summer at the AFT's national QuEST (Quality Educational
Standards in Teaching) Conference, where thousands of teachers, admini
strators and educational researchers are expected to gather. "I don't think
this is an initiative that will die . . . It has a solid research foundation and
knowledge base," she maintains.
The NCEBC initiative is being carried out by what Jones-Wilson calls a
predominantly black "loose-knit coalition of education advocates."
This band of education advocates, all volunteers, including Jones-
Wilson, is trying to get all segments of society involved in a coordinated
pressed concern over the underachievement of black children.
A few months later, last September, the first conference was held, and
a blueprint for action was drafted. A refined plan was presented at the
second National Conference on Educating Black Children in May.
One of researcher Ron Edmond's assumptions on which the plan is based
was that "all students ought to graduate from high school prepared to go
to college. I don't care whether they go to college or not, but they ought to
have the choice . . . "
Jones-Wilson basically agrees, and goes one step further, citing the
United Negro College Fund's motto: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
Koch Joins Walk to
Protest Street Prostitution
Commissioner Bob Koch joins members of the Piedmont Neighbor-
Association in a walk along Union Avenue to protest the continuing pro
blem of street prostitution in the area on Wednesday, July 29. The march
began at Northeast Union and Holman at 6:30 p.m.
"Street prostitution is a crime that deserves our attention," says Koch,
Photo by Richard J. B row n
H oward U niversity Professor Faustine Jones W ilson, e dito r o f The
Journal of Negro Education, is in the fo re fro n t o f a national in itia tive
rally lag behind their white counterparts in reading and math skills.
The professor of education, along with retired Los Angeles school dis
trict administrator Owen Knox, co-chairs the National Conference on Edu
cating Black Children (NCEBC), launched in 1986, which recently deve
loped a "blueprint for action" to ensure that black children achieve to their
maximum potential.
Stressing that a "comprehensive strategy" is needed, Jones-Wilson
explains in an interview, "W e must get this blueprint into classrooms,
homes and school-board rooms so that a massive all-encompassing pro
gram is implemented."
The blueprint offers a set of recommendations, or "action-oriented man
dates," specifically designed for students, teachers, administrators, parents
and policymakers, as well as communities.
Recommendations range from encouraging students to develop and
maintain a positive attitude about learning to urging policemakers to in
vestigate and replace institutionalized policies and practices that may be
obsolete. Tips are given on how to follow through on "action items.
The blueprint has its roots in the "effective-schools" research of late
Harvard University educator Ron Edmonds, who identified five character
istics that make up an effective school environment.
He found that strong administrative leadership, an orderly and safe cli
mate for learning, high expectations for students, instructional routines
and operational procedures geared toward learning, and continuous moni
toring all contribute to an effective school environment.
One of the blueprint's architects, Dr. Kenneth Tollett, distinguished pro
fessor of higher education at Howard, says the NCEBC initiative is based
on "a very ambitious blueprint for action that I think can be accomplished
because of the quality of people spearheading it, such as Congressman
Hawkins, Faustine Jones and Althea Simmons (director of the Washing
ton, D.C., bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People)."
Some 300 educators, social scientists, policymakers, parents, commu
nity and civil-rights leaders met near Baltimore in late May to move a nation
al education agenda from blueprint stage to action during the second Na
tional Conference on Educating Black Children.
Successful educational programs in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago,
and Los Angeles that bring the blueprint to life were highlighted at the con
ference.
The participants, many of whom represent national civil rights, educa
tion, fraternal, professional and social-service organizations, were urged to
take the blueprint for action back to their local communities and organiza
tions for introduction and implementation.
Although there's "no grand plan for implementation," there's evidence
that individuals are spreading the word of the plan through various net
works, says Jones-Wilson, who is editor of The Journal of Negro Educa
tion, a Howard University publication on education issues affecting blacks.
LaMar Haynes of the National Education Association says that several
NEA officials have been and still are involved in the planning, development
and implementation of the initiative. "As a follow-up to our efforts with
the NCEBC, the NEA will be sharing the blueprint with attendees at its an
nual Women and Minority Conference, which precedes the NEA annual
meeting.”
•’ ■ • ' "i
to educate black children. Says the educator, "O u r children are
fa llin g between the cra c k s ."
Photo by M arvin T. Jones
effort.
Jones-Wilson notes that regional NCEBC groups are beginning to
emerge now that the blueprint for action plan has been disseminated.
"If we can get this blueprint implemented in major cities in the country
where black students are concentrated, then we can begin to remedy, on a
large scale, their underachievement," she says.
"If we can get 50 percent or more of parents, teachers, principals, etc.,
to carry out these action items, it will have some effect."
Asked why she believes this ambitious initiative is going to work, Jones-
Wilson responds, "Black people are .greatly concerned that we are losing
our children. Historically, education has been the major means of our in
clusion into society and our upward mobility."
The professor recently introduced the blueprint for action to students,
parents and teachers at Eliot Junior High School in the nation s capital.
This is a school that is trying to get more parental involvement in the
education process. Last year, it launched a program called Parents As Tea
cher Helpers (PATH), supported by a federal grant.
"W e have to involve the home more," says Eliot principal Dr. Rosella
Bardley. "W e have to take the initiative to train young parents to they can
recognize their value to the schools."
What Bardley finds particularly beneficial in the blueprint for action is
the specific guidelines for both students and parents, as well as for teachers
and administrators, to follow.
When discussing the future of black children, the bespectacled Prof.
Jones-Wilson becomes emotionally charged. She points to the ever
growing competition for jobs, emphasizing that manual-labor jobs are vani
shing. "W ith the structure of society changing, how will our young people
be equipped to particpate fully in the present and emerging structure,
which is technological and high-level service?
"H ow are these black boys and girls going to be fully included in the
international society developing now for the next century? That's going to
be their world.
"If you can't think critically about the events in your world, about the
people who are in charge, then you can't participate fully in a democratic
social order," she emphasizes.
"A race is not judged on its W.E.B. DuBoises, or its Mary McLeod Be-
thunes, or its Martin Luther Kings. It's judged on the contributions of the
majority of its people on a day-to-day basis. And that s why we want to
educate these black children so they can contribute on a day-to-day
basis, and so that new leaders can emerge from their ranks.”
The professor is committed to the cause and is trying to fire up others as
well. "W e ’re trying to get enough black people dedicated to continuing
efforts to ensure that black youths learn.
"It's not enough for me to just stand in my classroom at Howard Univer
sity . . . I must be involved in this practical effort to get what we know im
plemented in schools and communities," she stresses.
"W e as professors are not merely Ivory Tower types confined to teaching
and theoretical research. We are expected to apply what we know to the
resolution of human problems. A major human problem now is the educa
tion of black children . . . "
Jones-Wilson became involved in the effort when she was contacted by
Rep. Hawkins in March 1986, she says, noting that the congressman ex
"because of the amount of street violence, drug abuse and loitering that it
causes in our neighborhoods."
Earlier this year, Koch sought a legal opinion on whether the city could
enact a law allowing for the seizure of vehicles owned by persons arrested
for soliciting prostitutes. The opinion stated that the law could best be en
acted by the state of Oregon.
Rep. John Minnis then introduced the bill in the last session, but the
legislature failed to act on the matter before the close of session.
Koch praised Piedmont neighborhood leaders for helping to try and
solve problems" occuring within their boundaries.
Portland will host the Northwest Regional Convention of the
National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, the oldest Black
women's organization in the nation. State District 18 Representa
tive. Margaret Carter, will be guest speaker Wednesday, July 29,
1987. See story on Page 6.
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