An African American Perspective
By Johnette B. Miller
"...finding white students at the local public schools is like searching for needles in haystacks."
Though the racial makeup of urban schools should reflect the ethnicity of the areas they serve, many city public schools fall short of truly representing their communities. For example, I live in a racially diverse city area, but finding white students at the local public schools is like searching for needles in haystacks. Even in predominantly white areas of the city, some public schools can be predominantly black. This is most likely due to black parents utilizing the student transfer system in search of better and safer educational environments for their children.
I had always been embarrassed to reveal that my son attended the neighborhood school. However on the rare occasions I found myself discussing the topic, white parents I know looked at me with pity. “How is it?” one might inquire in a hushed tone. But they already knew the answer. They had read it in the paper. They had seen it while driving by.
These schools can be identified by their rowdy kids, their bullies and, of course, their low test scores. It is for these reasons that many of my white neighbors have not even once considered sending their children to these ailing city schools. They are avoiding them like the plague.
Fact is, many whites have been silently boycotting city public schools for years. This is a practice we are seeing more and more, especially in larger cities that are plagued with ills characteristic of big-city life. These are cities where poverty and crime run rampant through many neighborhoods.
For many years blacks have been talking about “white people’s schools”. And for years now we debated the “separate and unequal” educational issue via various media outlets. So why are predominantly white and predominantly black or minority schools separate and unequal? We’re talking a mega history lesson here, but I’ll give you some clues.
Many blacks are already born with an economic and educational disadvantage. We, traditionally have not been financially equipped to invest money into educating our children in light of dealing with more pressing and crucial issues, such as eating and paying the rent. Living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings also complicates the issue. Our families tend to have less educated parents, and as a result home education suffers because, as you know, parents are the first teachers. The latter is also a social issue. Uneducated or less intellectual parents who are economically and socially disadvantaged tend to produce children who are less educated about issues such as littering, profanity, good manners and the advantages of reading and other educational activities. So the majority of these disadvantaged, predominantly black and other minority kids end up where? You guessed it: city public schools.
As we all know, schools being comprised of disadvantaged populations are in trouble. Less educated parents mean less parents at Open School and Back to School nights and other programs dependent upon parent participation. It means less parental help for students in completing homework assignments. This could happen for many reasons linked to socio-economic condition. Parents may not have been taught by their own parents to make education a priority. An educational handicap may have left a parent ill-equipped to help complete homework assignments.
There are many other issues such as neglect and domestic problems. There’s also the predominance of single-parent households. The result is a weak parental community that produces a high percentage of low-scoring, unmotivated and underachieving students. And the scenario rarely changes. These are the students whose schools lack real playgrounds and libraries with current, relevant literature. They attend schools where many children haven’t had breakfast and many students are late. Sometimes there aren’t enough books or computers to go around, so the children have to pair up or even triple up.
Whites, who tend to be more affluent and more educated, tend to produce the higher scoring, more motivated, more educated, over-achieving students. They have always had and still have a financial, social and educational advantage. In turn they want their children in an atmosphere of student peers who are just as well-read and math savvy.
Here is the problem. Instead of flooding the city public schools to even out the percentages, whites leave or don’t enroll their kids at all. They leave behind a minority of educated and dedicated black parents who financially have their hands tied. Still bound by our own economic disadvantages, we struggle to find a brighter path for our own children who are worlds ahead of where we were at their age.
Some may say that religious-based schools, particularly parochial schools or charter schools, are more inexpensive alternatives. These are not options for parents who may feel uncomfortable with these settings for various reasons. And frankly, some of these parents are doubtful about whether many religious or charter schools can measure up to their academic standards. They're reluctant to sacrifice their education standards and simply focus on safety.
Financially speaking, fleeing to independent schools is not a practical answer for many educated black parents with children who are typically more well-read, more educated, more motivated and more likely to get higher grades. Many of us have taken on significant roles in our children’s schools in order to combat the disadvantages and negative school climates. We are turning to home-schooling to supplement our children's educational programs. We have found that a higher level of supplementation is needed if our children are not being formally educated in atmospheres that are conducive to optimum educational achievement.
Out of desperation, I turned to a local program for lack of ideas on how to creatively finance a private school education for our son without exhausting our funds. It was a scholars program designed to give the brightest and best students in urban public schools a chance to attend private schools with a financial-aid package tailored to match a family’s ability to pay. This package would vary based on affiliated schools to which a family applied. The program required candidates to take an entrance examination administered at a participating private school. On testing day, my husband, son and I were confronted with a jam-packed lobby of African American parents and students, as well as a few Asians, Hispanics and disadvantaged whites. Many had traveled miles on public transportation in the rain to be present. They too wanted the luxury of a private school, where their children would be amongst motivated and intelligent peers. Many were themselves minorities within a minority -- the ones left behind in the ailing city public schools the middle-class and affluent white populations have virtually abandoned. These families had high educational standards too; however, their incomes didn’t match these standards.
These issues spark familiar quandaries amongst white and black families. “Should I sacrifice my child’s education in what could be an unsuccessful effort to ‘take back’ the neighborhood school?” “Do I home-school my child or opt for a private school? Either could mean significant income sacrifice.” “I’d like my child to stay in public school, but how do I motivate and educate other families to gain their crucial participation in educating our children?” “How can I make sure my child is not shortchanged in the public school system?”
School choice advocates might say these issues show a need for educational options regardless of income. Public school system advocates may say that rallying around the system to force out the flaws is the answer. We are beyond the age of awareness; we know what the issues are. The age-old dilemma is how to bridge the gap between classes, between races, liberating the have-nots of education from their quarantine.
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