Most everything I've been talking about comes down to the following:
Fewer than 18 percent of African-Americans and just 11 percent of Hispanics earn a bachelor’s degree, compared with almost a third of whites, ages 25 to 29, experts say. Of families making less than $25,000 a year, 19 percent complete an associate degree or higher, compared with 76 percent of families earning $76,000 per year or more.
from the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/education/17college.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
While the racial statistics should be horrifying, the class statistics tell perhaps the greater story. We are not giving an equal opportunity to students from low income households.
The question is what kind of change over time are we seeing in the numbers of those families making less than $25,000 and those families making over $76,000?
I could very well be wrong, and if anyone knows how to answer this question or where the information is, please post as such, but I would be willing to bet that the number of families making less than $25,000 is going up at a greater rate than the number of families making over $76,000. Given enough time with that trend not changing, the result will be less and less people going to college, less people with skills, less skilled jobs, less money to spend on goods, less economic strength, etc. etc.
What is going to change this pattern?
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3 comments:
I like the conscientization you're spreading around here. But, I have a question. What, in your opinion, are the initial steps that need to be taken to start reversing this trend?
well devin.....there are a number of options that i think are equally implausible/financially or politically impossible.
were i to pick one that stepped on people's liberties (human rights) the least, it would be the following.
The Cuban Dictator, once in power, sent representatives throughout the country teaching EVERYONE to read.
(note, i just now had the following idea)
perhaps the next president could create a contest amongst the states to see which state could achieve a marked change the soonest. i would say this should be a closing of the racial gap, but some states have that easier than others based on their racial make up. i bet the poverty stats are close to similar across states though.
ok, so what would it look like? i envision stopping the war in iraq and afghanistan and starting another war on poverty. this war would involve an active recruitment of NGO's including churches, mosques, charity groups (rotary, shriners), businesses, etc.
Combining their efforts, a corps of people would be put in the field for two years. It would work kind of like Americorps DEPENDING on the measurable progress. if you accomplished enough, then you got your loans canceled.
These people would go into lower income neighborhoods and become mini social workers but in non emergency situations. They would create a plan for academic (and hopefully personal) achievement with the family of the newborn. It would be a personal education plan. Then they would check in every couple of months to see if it was in action, starting in the CRADLE. Families that would be focused on would be those families that have not had someone graduate from college before and are below the poverty line.
These would be educational experts that focus on the first few years. They're the new Teach for America. Teach BABY America.
I like some aspects of your plan, but it strikes me as both dictatorial and imperialistic at points. But, I've come to expect that to a certain degree.
Why don't we focus on strengthening our schools by strengthening the teaching workforce. My first step would be to professionalize teaching so that it had a structured hierarchy with benefits to match. I imagine a school structured like a hospital. There are interns, residents, attendings, supervisors, and managers. Right now, our binary system of either "new" or "tenured" doesn't really get the point across that teachers should always be developing professionally.
What do you think about that Mr. Carlstone?
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