The
educational achievement of white youngsters is nothing to write home about, but
that achieved by blacks is nothing less than disgraceful. Let’s look at a
recent example of an educational outcome all too common. In 2016, in 13 of
Baltimore’s 39 high schools, not a single student scored proficient on the
state’s mathematics exam. In six other high schools, only 1 percent tested
proficient in math. In raw numbers, 3,804 Baltimore students took the state’s
math test, and 14 tested proficient (http://tinyurl.com/y7f56kg2).
Citywide, only 15 percent of Baltimore students passed the state’s English
test.
Last
spring, graduation exercises were held at one Baltimore high school, 90 percent
of whose students received the lowest possible math score. Just one student
came even close to being proficient. Parents and family members applauded the
conferring of diplomas. Some of the students won achievement awards and college
scholarships (http://tinyurl.com/ydb3v2ya). Baltimore is by
no means unique. It’s a small part of the ongoing education disaster for black
students across the nation. Baltimore schools are not underfunded. Of the
nation’s 100 largest school systems, Baltimore schools rank third in spending
per pupil (http://tinyurl.com/ybzglbyp).
Baltimore’s black students
receive diplomas that attest that they can function at a 12th-grade level when
in fact they may not be able to do so at a seventh- or eighth-grade level.
These students and their families have little reason to suspect that their
diplomas are fraudulent. Thus, if they cannot land a good job, cannot pass a
civil service exam, get poor grades in college and flunk out of college, they
will attribute their plight to racism. After all, they have a high school
diploma, just as a white person has a high school diploma. In their minds, the
only explanation for being treated differently is racism.
Let’s look at math. If one
graduates from high school without a minimum proficiency in algebra and
geometry, he is likely to find whole fields and professions hermetically sealed
off to him for life. In many fields and professions, a minimum level of math
proficiency is taken for granted.
Let’s look at just one
endeavor — being a fighter jet pilot. There are relatively few black fighter
jet pilots. There are stringent physical, character and mental requirements
that many blacks can meet. But fighter pilots must also have a strong knowledge
of air navigation, aircraft operating procedures, flight theory, fluid
mechanics and meteorology. The college majors that help prepare undergraduates
for a career as a fighter pilot include mathematics, physical science and
engineering.
What’s
the NAACP response to educational fraud? At a 2016 meeting, the NAACP’s board
of directors ratified a resolution that called for a moratorium on charter
schools. Among the NAACP’s reasons for this were that it wanted charter schools
to refrain from “expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate”
and “cease to perpetuate de facto segregation of the highest performing
children from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet
as obvious.” Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys is a charter school. In 2016,
9 percent of its students scored proficient on the state’s math test. This
year, over 14 percent did so. It’s in the interest of black people for more of
our youngsters to attend better schools. However, it’s in the interest of the
education establishment — and its handmaidens at the NAACP — to keep black
youngsters in failing public schools.
Few people bother to ask
whether there’s a connection between what goes on at predominantly black high
schools and observed outcomes. Violence at many predominantly black schools is
so routine that security guards are hired to patrol the hallways. The violence
includes assaults on teachers. Some have been knocked out, had their jaws
broken and required treatment by psychologists for post-traumatic stress
disorder. On top of the violence is gross disorder and disrespect for
authority.
The puzzling question for me
is: How long will black people accept the educational destruction of black
youngsters — something that only benefits the education establishment?
Walter
E. Williams is the John M. Olin distinguished professor of economics at George
Mason University, and a nationally syndicated columnist. To find out more about
Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and
cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page.
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