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A p ril 18. 2012
Denied a Fair and High Quality Eduction
Public schools
still unequal
and unjust
by M arian W right
E delman
M illions o f children in
America are denied the oppor
tunity to receive a fair and high
quality education. Last month, the
U.S. Department of Education re
leased new information showing that
children of color face harsher disci
pline, have less access to rigorous
course offerings, and are more often
taught by lower paid and less expe
rienced teachers.
Inequities in funding and educa
tional resources place poor children
in low-performing schools with in
adequate facilities and often inef
fective teachers. Practices such as
tracking, grade retention, out-of-
school suspensions, expulsions,
and one-size-fits-all zero tolerance
policies continue to contribute to
the discouragem ent, disengage
ment, and eventual dropout of
countless children in America to
their detriment and to all of us who
need a competitive future workforce.
Instead of serving as “the great
equalizer,” American public educa
tion is serving as a portal to the
cradle-to-prison pipeline for millions
of poor children of color, stunting
their lives by school dropouts, ar
rests, and incarceration.
The struggle to make sure a qual
ity education is available to every
child, and not just a privilege for a
few, is the unfinished
and critical business
before the nation for
it w ill d eterm ine
A m erica's future
place on the global
stage in a rapidly
changing competitive world.
The 2009-2010 Department of
Education Civil Rights Data Collec
tion survey, the most expansive of
its kind, covered 85 percent of the
nation’s students and was the first
release of this crucial federal data
since 2006, when it was suspended
by the Bush Administration.
The results from the schools
surveyed show public school sys
tems where black students repre
sented 18 percent of students, but
46 percent of those suspended more
than once, and 39 percent of those
expelled. One in five black boys and
more than one in 10 black girls re
ceived an out-of-school suspension
compared to nine percent of His
panic boys and four percent of His
panic girls and seven percent of
white boys and three percent of
white girls.
Disabled students were more than
twice as likely to receive one or more
out-of-school suspension. One in
eight students in the study reported
having a disability and 18 percent of
those students were black boys.
Black and Hispanic students repre
sented more than 70 percent of those
involved in school-related arrests
or referrals to law enforcement— an
astonishing number that requires
rigorous examination of the reasons
why and action to change unfair
racial practices in the application of
discipline.
Children of color were also at a
disadvantage in access to academic
opportunities. Fifty-five percent of
the low-minority high schools sur
veyed offer calculus but only 29
percent o f high-m inority high
schools do. Similarly, 82 percent of
low-minority schools offer Algebra
II compared to 65 percent of the
high-minority schools.
Black and Hispanic students rep
resented 44 percent of the students
surveyed but only 26 percent of
students in gifted and talented pro
grams and were overrepresented
when it came to repeating a grade.
Across all grades, black students
were nearly three times as likely, and
Hispanic students were twice as
likely, as white students to be re
tained. More than half of all fourth
graders retained in the reporting
districts were black, and although
black students were only 16 percent
of middle school students sur
veyed, they were 42 percent of those
whom repeated a grade.
Teacher experience and salaries
varied widely. In schools with the
highest black and Hispanic enroll
ment, 15 percent of teachers were in
their first or second year in the pro
fession compared with eight per
cent of teachers in schools with the
lowest minority enrollments. And
teachers in high-minority elemen
tary schools were paid on average
$2,251 less a year than their col
leagues in low-minority schools in
the same district.
The Department of Education,
and its Office for Civil Rights, is to
be applauded for reinstating this
crucial data collection survey and
creating an extensive data tracking
system. But that is just one crucial
step. It’s time for all of us to use
these numbers as a spring board for
robust examination of and discus
sion about school discipline poli
cies and practices and how they are
contributing to school dropouts and
the school to prison pipeline, and
systematic and sustained action
where required.
We all must support strong, con
sistent and fair discipline policies in
our schools and classrooms where
learning can occur for all children.
At the same time we must raise im
portant questions about how to
make those policies work for chil
dren of color and all children, rather
than against them.
Why are so many children be
ing suspended for offenses that
used to result in a trip to the
principal’s office? Do principals
and teachers have too much dis
cretion in deciding who should be
suspended or expelled? Is there a
need for rethinking and greater
clarity about the range o f nonvio
lent offenses that can result in
s u s p e n s io n s o r e x p u ls io n s ?
Should children be suspended for
nonviolent offenses like truancy
and tardiness?
I have never understood what
good it does to put a child out of
school for not coming to school.
Are our young inexperienced teach
ers getting enough training in class
room management? Are teachers
getting the cultural competence
training needed to understand and
address the behavior of all their
children? Do policies require that a
child’s parent or caregiver be noti
fied before a child is excluded from
school? Or is the child sent to the
streets without the parents’ knowl
edge?
As Education Secretary Arne
Duncan correctly said about his
department’s findings, “The power
of the data is not only in the num
bers themselves, but in the impact
it can have when married with the
courage and the will to change. The
undeniable truth is that the every
day educational experience for
many students of color violates the
principle of equity at the heart of the
American promise. It is our collec
tive duty to change that.”
Marian Wright Edelman is presi
dent o f the Children's Defense Fund.
Missing Dad and Remembering Why
Celebrating fathers who take parenting seriously
by M.
L inda J aramillo
It may seem a bit strange
to see this article on the
topic of fathers when spe
cial tributes to dad are
usually reserved on a day
once a year in June. I de
cided to break with tradi
tion, and in this case, I’m taking it
personally. I am writing on the 26th
anniversary of my dad’s death. I
miss him, and each year
at this time I remember
why.
My d a d ’s nam e,
Ezequiel Jaramillo, never
appeared in the head
lines. He was not a fa
mous author, poet, actor,
or politician. He never owned or
managed a company. He was not
somebody’s boss (except mine).
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However, he was a hardworking man
who faced the trials of systematic
oppression and marginalization.
Dad worked on the farm most of
his life, toiling on land that he could
never hope to own. He was paid a
menial weekly wage on which he
and mom raised a family of four
children. They were proud of their
Hispanic heritage, had strong spir
its, and deep faith while setting their
sights for a better tomorrow.
I wonder what daddy would be
saying now about the racial, social,
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My dad believed in democratic
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I principles, and he instilled that value
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I in his children. He engaged, some
I times with very vigorous convic
T elephone :
I tion, in the political dialogue and
I A ddress :
I debate. In those days, Election Day
was a holiday in Colorado, so my
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spent the day discussing
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friends and family before going to
the polls. Dad and mom did not
always agree, but both firmly be
lieved that the ballot box was pri
vate and that their vote counted. He
would be disturbed to hear that there
are places in this nation where votes
still get “lost.”
Dad and mom were leaders in
local organizing efforts for equal,
quality public education for all chil
dren, regardless of their racial, eth
nic, or econom ic background.
Maybe dad felt so strongly about it
because his own schooling was cut
short by the funding crisis during
the Great Depression that caused
his poor, rural school to close. (He
went back and graduated at the age
of 21). But I think the reason goes’
much deeper than that.
I believe my parents realized that
they would have to work twice as
hard to ensure that their own chil
dren, and all children, had equal
opportunities. I am convinced that
they would be distressed about the
dismantling of our public education
system in favor of privatized oppor
tunities reserved for those who can
afford it.
On days like today, I worry about
dads who do not or cannot know
their children for any variety of rea
sons. On days like today, I celebrate
dads who take their job of parenting
seriously. On days like today, I am
reminded about how important dads,
uncles, grandpas, step-dads are to
the various compositions of our
families. On days like today, I’m
grateful for father figures who have
taken on this role when there is a
void.
Ezequiel Jaramillo believed that
his voice and influence mattered,
and it did. He was a patriotic con
tributor to society, which is what
inspires me. He believed in the com
mon good, and so do 1.1 miss him
every day, and I remember why.
M. Linda Jaramillo serves in
Justice Ministries fo r the United
Church o f Christ.