African Americans not happy with schools

Only 24 percent of black adults give their local public schools an A or B grade, compared to 44 percent of whites and 39 percent of Hispanics, according to a new national survey. The poll by Education Next magazine and Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance also found that the public overall, but especially blacks and Hispanics, had more confidence in their local police force than in their public schools.

The findings are just two of many in the annual survey, which polled 3,200 people nationwide, including 700 teachers. The margin of error is roughly 1 percentage point.

Among the other findings:

• Support for the federal No Child Left Behind Act continues to wane. Only 50 percent of the public supports renewing it as is or with minimal change, down from 57 percent last year.

• The public thinks Democrats are better for schools. Sixty-one percent said the Democrats have a better record on education, and 62 percent said Democrats are more likely to improve schools.

• More like the idea of single-sex schools. Thirty-seven percent support the idea of school districts offering parents that option, 25 percent do not and the rest are undecided. Meanwhile, 47 percent of teachers like the idea.

Comments

[l king]

i think some people are ignorant and it is very sad only god can judge us

[Eeinna]

WOW. Windows into the HEARTS and MINDS of the people of our great Nation.

I understand that this topic is old, but I have to comment because just as I came across this INSANE interaction between SAVAGES, and parents simply trying to get their voices heard...someone else may also do the same.

WOW...where do I start. For the mother of the 99% percentile little Black boy I completely understand what you are saying. I also understand that in this environment you cannot possibly get ALL of your thoughts out, therefore you have had to paraphrase. YOU ARE correct...in CERTAIN RACIST SCHOOLS there are teachers who..."No matter how well mannered, how much you are INVOLVED...etc..will still HARASS, IGNORE, OR DE-EDUCATE YOUR child SOLELY because of their racial issues.

Stay strong, and continue to focus on your son.YOU ARE NOT A RACIST...keep him informed of what and why you are fighting for him. SHOW HIM OUR NATIONS HISTORY JUST 50 short years ago. 40 years ago a Law had to be past Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964...why? Because the schools angry about the Brown Vs. Board of Education refused to treat Black children fairly. Some blatantly refusing to acknowledge them.

Imagine??? Little babies. Which leads me to the poster...who stated WHY MUST WE CONTINUE TO WORRY ABOUT Blacks being properly educated. WELL ...darling...for 400 years IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY...Blacks were KILLED or brutalized for reading a book. THEY WERE FORBIDDEN from being educated.

100 years ago...and there are plenty of people celebrating that 100th birthday in this GREAT COUNTRY...who can recall Blacks being denied access to an EQUAL EDUCATION...which means...IN THIS COUNTRY BIGOTRY has to be monitored in education...just as it does in Housing and Banking...etc.

Anyone who cannot understand THE IMPORTANCE of the desperation a Black parent may feel about ENSURING their child is BEING EDUCATED fairly, and equally has their own RACIST ISSUES.

PERIOD. All children..poor, Black, White..and otherwise deserve and have a right to an equal EDUCATION.

For those children who have disadvantaged home lives...we as a HUMAN RACE should empathize with them...should understand and show compassion...the viciousness of the posts here are not shocking considering just 40 years ago there were savage racist capable of lynching, burning, torturing, and beating small children...solely because they were BLACK.

So the savagery of the posts are not surprising. "YEAH LET ALL THE BLACK KIDS ROT IN THE HELL THIS NATION CREATED FOR THEM"...wealth is grown...and so is Knowledge.

WE THE PEOPLE must help the underdog no matter what color. BUT HELP WE MUST!

Have a challenge with the context of this post...email me at EduAdvocate247@yahoo.com

[Chris W]

How many of those black children y'all are jabbering about have two parents in the home versus one parent in the home? How many of them were born to fifteen-year old girls, and don't have a father around to help discipline and civilize them?

As for white teachers being afraid of black boys, just imagine this. You have a fourteen-year-old "gangsta" boy who's not shutting up in class, and a white teacher. If she sends him to the office, how long do you think it would be before someone started complaining that this white teacher did it "just because he's black" and got the *teacher* in trouble?

[Enough!]

Who cares if the blacks are happy with the schools? Why can't the statistics point to ALL parents and what they think of the schools. I am so tired of people separating statiscs by race. If you don't think your child is getting a good education, take a look at how involved you are, and how much you're contributing to your child's education. I go to all of my kid's school functions and see the same kids with their parents. Very rarely are there any different parents that show up to those things. Open houses only average about 20% of parents that show up. I've gone every year and am amazed at the small number of parents that take out 30 minutes of their day to visit their child's school. As far as parent/teacher conferences, teachers actually THANK me for taking an interest in my kids by actually showing up. What is wrong with parents today? Take some interest in your kid and take the time to get involved in their lives and maybe the "disappointed" parents might be surprised as to how well their kid actually does with his/her academics. Wake up people. Stop blaming the school for your kid's lack of education and take some responsiblity for what you're lacking as a parent!!

[john]

Annie, maybe they had a drunken wannabe teacher who couldn't keep her pants up around the HS boys?

[Gloucesterman]

Here we go,I'll throw my self into the lions.I may not be a great speller in all linguages,and for such I( my blogs) get attaked by assumers of a greater IQ ,Whom do not compare apples for apples. I can throw a left upper-cut in this subject.I'm a firm believer of the old words of wisdum (UNITED WE STAND DIVITED WE FALL).30% of the people in this country have 70% of all the money.Thus making it the haves and the nots.But it is the avenots protecting the lifestyles and the verry lives of the haves.It is not a racial issue,it's like racing a VW with a Ferrari.It's all up to you .Do you whant a winner ? or do you want both to come in? Since one is brighter than the other (no offense meant, it's because one has more everything than the other)he the " haves" should invest in his owne future and help the "havenots".It will probably be generations before society comes to terms,or , I,m sure evolution will level the field. It's all about " THIRD EYE BLIND". thank you

[Dr_Dug]

Again.....the point of this article is.............?

[Dave]

Someone I know very well is a long time teacher at a South St. Pete school. She would never voice her true opinion, so I'm going to paraphrase her. The problem is that a majority of the parents seem to think that education starts and stops at the school. They seem to believe that their responsibility is to simply get the kid dressed and off to school. She says that it really is a cultural thing, and that she and the other teachers don't know what they can do to get the parents involved in the education of their children.

[JESSE "I'M A RACIST MAKING A LIVING" JACKSON]

THEY ARE BLACKS...!!!!!!!!

GET IT.....??

WE ARE WHITES.......(WHITEY TO THE BLACK RACISTS)

THEY ARE BLACKS....!!!!!!!!

WE ARE NOT "EUROPEAN AMERICANS"...

THEY ARE NOT "AFRICAN"....

UNLIKE HUSSEIN OBAMA, THEY WERE BORN IN THE USA......

GET OVER IT UNHURU CLONES........

AND START LIVING LIKE AN AMERICAN AND STOP THE BULLSH_T.......

So wait, does this mean that most or all private school teachers are black? Did I miss something?

To remain politically correct, there is no problem.

These comments are filled with hatred and racism. Beginning with "Annie's" false statistic that 95% of Af. Ams. are not hard working

[Not Surprise]

How wonderful that your son is now in a private school, "scared" white teachers everywhere must be rejoicing. What frightens me is the stupidity of people like you. I hope that he sees many, many people just like him. What happens if he goes to his job someday and does not see "someone like him." Will he quit because his bosses are "afraid" of him. If your child is limited in his abilities by the color of the skin of his instructors then you are doing a poor job of "raising" him. You are, however, doing a great job of reinforcing the stereotype of a minority blaming his or her problems on factors that have nothing to do with the real issue. I will keep my fingers crossed that your brilliant child is lucky enough to only be instructed by black teachers so he may someday raise bigoted children like his mother.

[elementary teacher]

6:51,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I GUARANTEE you I am NOT afraid of black male children in my school. As far as your child not having enough black teachers, ummm... why does it matter what color they are? Why are you being a racist?

[Topper]

They can always go to oprah's school in africa

[Schools]

And we are not happy with blacks either!

I am sick of hearing it. Blacks keep voting 90%+ for Democrats and get exactly what they vote for. Wise up folks. The teachers union controlled Democratic Party is not doing your kids any more good than you are now is it.

A return to families where Mom AND Dad are both in the home serving to raise and discipline their children would be a good first step, does not take an act of Congress and no one can keep you from doing it because they discriminate.

I am very disappointed in the public school system in Hillsborough County. I have a black male son that is in the gifted program after testing in the 99th percentile and he also received a perfect score on his FCAT in the 3rd grade. I am concerned that my son never sees anyone that looks like him in the classroom (as a teacher). The majority of his teachers are white females that a afraid of black male children...even in elementary school. It doesn't matter how intelligent, disciplined or well-mannered your child may be. The teachers still believe the sterotype. Also, my biggest disappoint in public schools is thse same teachers are unwilling to do anything outside of their job description to help a child. This includes offering something as simple as moral support or encouragement to a child to develop their talents. Fortunately, I have been blessed to be placed in a position where I can now afford to send my child to a private school. That is where he will remain.

[ted]

Stop acting like thugs and people will want to teach you.

[Don]

Everyone has an equal opportunity at an education. Who cares if the blacks and hispanics do not like our schools. Each individual is responsible for their own "piece of the pie". There are a lot of blacks and hispanics that have made their piece of the pie and a solid place in their community.

6:06-

Sorry to break this to you but the graduation rates for Western Kentucky are over 75%

It is a race issue- caused by the culture adopted by the race in general.

It's not race it's economics and family unity. You go to a poor "white" school in western Kentucky, or a poor "black" school im south St. Pete and you'll find the same things.

Hundreds of parents who want to complain, but couldn't tell you the name of their kid's English teacher, or the child's score on their last math test.

And thousands of kids who went to school hungry this morning, and came home this afternoon to an empty house or worse.

In each scenario there are exceptions, and those are incredible success stories. The rest represent a failure of the family unit.

Vote Democrat or live in the streets!

[Mork]

Jay, who cares? Yes, blacks do poorly in school. Why? I have no idea and honestly I don't care either. Less people to compete with for the good jobs. Call me what ever you will, reality is reality.

[Susan]

Parents often complain about their childs school and/or lack of education, however, how many of these parents are involved in the PTSA or anything else to do with their childs education. Parents NEED to be involved, because if they were, perhaps their children would not be failing!

Jay-

By all measures, blacks are a failure of a race.

Schools do not make good baby sitters, that's where the unhappiness comes from.

[Jay]

Annie - guess what? You ARE a racist. Make all the hyperbolic statements you want about color, but the fact is, your very first sentence judged an entire race of people, drew an absurd conclusion, and compounded it with a veiled insult. But hey, you back peddled by then narrowing the scope of your insult to not include "hard working Black students" (why is it capitalized?), so I guess that makes it ok. You're only talking about the lazy kids who feel entitled, right? And let me guess, you're the one who makes that determination of who is worthwhile and who isn't? And to close the racist trifecta off, you play the victim of the politically correct by declaring that as a white person, you're subject to unfair scrutiny for your opinion. Awww, poor you.

I'm sure it's been a while since you were in school, attended or even taught at one. Because you strike me as someone who really has their pulse on the nature of the educational system and where it's shortcomings and strengths are. But the great news is, as a semi-anonymous blog contributor, you can really share some of that insight with the rest of us by addressing some of the problems with a calm, intellectually honest approach.

Or you can just make generalizations and be an idiot.

[Gen X]

Why doesn't the "Greatest Generation" and the "Silent Generation" get together and fix this? I know "Generation X" has had enough.

[Holly]

As I see it, we as parents, as educators, and as a nation, have failed our children. Our "expectations" to do better in everything, is at an all time low. Shameful!

[Mencken Jr]

Kenneth:

Very true, but nobody likes taking responsibility for their own failings. I bet you could go into the black community and find students who excel, and you could go into their homes and find parents who won't stand for them not doing their homework and who keep the TV and Xbox off until that homework is done.

[Jenny]

I am not African American but I do have mixed children. They are black, hispanic and white. I chose to send my son to a magnet school in a predominately black neighborhood and with mostly blacks at the school. Never in my life have I been so unhappy with a school. They treated my son and other children, white and black, like they were "lost causes." My son was only in 1st grade and would come home feeling like he was the worst kid in school. He would be kicked out of class for any little thing he did wrong. He would get in trouble for walking to slow in the back of the line to the cafe. I took him to the pediatrician and after hours of testing he was diagnosed with ADHD. I put him on a mild medication and then was told to put him on more because he didn't stand in line perfectly in the cafe, as if any 6 year old does. I changed schools the next year, kept him on the same dosage of meds and have not had the problems again. He has the same behavior but at a school that is not mostly all black they seem to want to work with each child and realize every child learns differently. His teacher in 2nd grade could not believe he was kicked out of class when he was on meds. I have the feeling that some educators think because the school is in an area of lower income and broken homes that these kids can't do right and don't want to help them. If I would have kept my son in this school I can only imagine how he would be performing. I went to ALL parent/teacher conferences requested and even requested my own to work with them. I was not the only parent having the same issue. Due to my experience at a mostly black school I can understand why black parents feel the way they do. If their kids are treated the way my son was, I would feel the same about public schools. Once you have a child coming home feeling like he is awful and will never be able to be good because of how he is treated at school, you will understand. Luckily, he has a mother that made sure he still learned at home, since he wasn't being taught at school and a mom that fought for him to be treated properly. It wasn't until I left the school that I talked to other parents of both black and white kids that went to the school that I found out I was not the only parent that went thru this. Unfortunately, other parents didn't know the chain of command to get results. It makes a difference when you let the superintendent of schools know what is going on.

[Kenneth]

It all starts in the home, and ends in the home. A school is only as good as the community that supports it. If a school rests in a community that places little value on education, than that school will naturally fail to perform. Unfortunately this is disproportionately the case in low income communities.

[LDH]

Just African Americans? I think everyone is disenchanted with the school system.

Annie has a good point as well.

[Shawn]

At what point does this stop! Look at Pinellas who changed the setup of schools to accommodate African Americans to get a better education. African Americans complained that they couldn't get a good education at schools near their neighborhood so Pinellas did this schools choice flop that allowed anyone to go to another school for a better education. Take my son who went to middle school this year and when the results came out from FCATS the only ones who past the most was whites. I have no answer but they (African Americans & Hispanics) went to the same class and got the same education opportunities as my son. Why does this always have to be a race issues why can it not just be parents are not happy with the current education system (Not teacher, just people like Clayton (I’ll screw over Pinellas County Schools) Wilcox’s). When can we one day live a day of one. It might help if people like the Florida government would stop having to say sorry for slavery 100’s of years later. Please let Racism Die

[Joey G.]

I have always been very suspicious of the sort of statistical-sampling-based-conclusion as summarized in this poorly conceived and written article.

Here is something that I have wanted to say for a long time: "The St Pete Times should give up its emulation (fantasy) of the Washington Post."

Here in my urban-based mixed-race office environment, the overwhelming opinion of the entire staff is that public schools can and should do a whole lot better job than they are doing now. Additionally, this same office does not agree that the police force is doing a better job than the public school system.

Hmmm…what is the opposite of a Pulitzer prize?

[Annie]

Of course they don't! You have to study and learn a little something to go to the next grade level. Truthfully, that statement is not fair to the truly hardworking Black students. Unfortunately, it's the other 95% that pulls the good ones down. But as a white person, I'm considered a racist for saying these things. Personally, I don't care if you're purple with orange and green polka dots, you get what you earn. You want to get somewhere in life, then study, work hard, and do not let that other 95% drag you down.