A new report from the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, finds that in 2010 only 9 percent of African American males who were scheduled to graduate were rated as “college ready.” The report will serve as a benchmark for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Expanded Success Initiative, which is investing $250,000 over 30 months in 40 different New York City high schools in an effort to address the poor academic performance of Black and Latino males.
The schools plan to implement or expand programs relating to academics, youth development, and school culture. These efforts are designed to increase college and career readiness for minority males. Among the other initiatives will be programs to increase attention to male students in ninth grade to make sure they stay on track to completing high school. Also mentoring and advising programs will be initiated and school faculty staff members will be instructed on how to implement culturally responsive education to make the school experience relevant for minority youths.
As a product of NYC schools I am not surprised. Mayor Bloomberg in my opinion has done the best job of any NY mayor before him. I hate to see him go. But money is not going to fix the problem. First Blacks and Latinos have to change their mindset about school and education. Secondly the education system needs to change in the US. Throwing money at a bad system is not a good idea.
As great as this may sound when you break the numbers down and if the funds are distributed equally between all 40 schools, then each school would only receive $6,250 each for this initiative. I fully understand that every little bit helps, however there are other numbers that should be taken into consideration prior to considering this to be a great civil investment. Some of these questions are: How are the funds earmarked to be used? How many children are in need of assistance (Latino and Black)? (How are Latino and Black being defined regarding who received assistance?) How many other children from different cultural backgrounds need assistance and why are they being omitted? In other words we have poor Whites, Jews, Italians, Jamaicans, etc. who may also be in need of assistance. If we are going to educate our children, lets make sure that our investments into their future and the future of America expand beyond pens, paper and pencils. We need to dig deeper, work harder, and commit 100% to our children’s education! Remember China’s goal is to educate all of their children….. should our commitment be any less?