[Durham INC] Proposal for Black Academy in Durham NC
Pat Carstensen
pats1717 at hotmail.com
Mon Jun 24 08:05:24 EDT 2013
Why isn't one of those wonderful charter schools proposing to "create an opportunity" from serving the kids who would benefit from a different kind of educational setting? (-:
From: AllanLang at aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 17:01:16 -0400
To: inc-list at rtpnet.org
Subject: [Durham INC] Proposal for Black Academy in Durham NC
Carl Kenney's blog (http://www.blogger.com/profile/08726120253716456109 )
looked at this issue in a different way and below is Tim Tysons's reply.
The back and forth
bickering between members of Durham’s Board of Education could be the prelude to
impassioned racial division.
The board is split,
on racial lines, over a proposal to create an all-male academy to target black
and Hispanic students. White board members are expressing concerns that the
academy is too costly. Black board
members consider the approach essential given the current state of black and
Hispanic male students.
The board will vote
on June 27, and many feel the proposal will fail given the 4 to 3 white
majority.
The concerns of white
board members are perceived as further validation that they don’t care about
black students. It’s an old cry
that forged a wedge in Durham that landed the city the label black sheep of
North Carolina by the Greensboro News
& Record. It was an era of
extreme tension that resulted in people being arrested during school board
meetings for protesting against an assumed racist
agenda.
Things could get
worse if the current board refuses to see beyond counting the cost related to
the forming of an all-male school.
If white board members want to make this about cost, they will reap the
fury of a community disgusted with a lack of response to growing problems among
black and brown boys.
White board members
can’t hide behind the net of cost restraints. The perception of racial insensitivity
is the subject of a U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
investigation into whether Durham Public Schools disciplines black students and
students with disabilities more than others. The mounting of evidence suggest the
need for an alternative approach, and the failure to consider the all-mail
academy will send a message that will hamper the board’s ability to function
beyond the assumption of racism.
The lawsuit against
DPS was filed by the Advocates for Children’s Services, a project of Legal Aid
of North Carolina, and the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights
Project of UCLA. The lawsuit
alleges that DPS suspends black students at more than four times the rate of
white students. The complaint also
claims DPS suspended 17 percent of all students with disabilities, compared with
8.4 percent of students without disabilities.
The lawsuit addresses
a 15-year old eighth-grader who started failing classes after being suspended 24
days during the 2011-12 school year due to behavior linked to mental
issues.
"At no point did DPS
discuss or consider substantive ways to address his problem behaviors without
resorting to the punitive measure of out-of-school suspension. The school also
failed to provide (him) with any education services while he was suspended,
resulting in his falling even farther behind," the complaint
states.
An all-male academy
could be used to offset some of the concerns stated in the complaint.
“This is a very
resource-intensive endeavor that would require more money than what follows a
student,” Leigh Bordley, member of the school board, stated at a recent town
meeting to discuss the proposal. “To be true to the success of these types of
schools, we’ll need that additional funding.”
Bordley went on to
claim the R.N. Harris Integrated Arts/Core Knowledge Magnet School serves the
same purpose as the proposed all-male academy.
“We are doing it,”
Bordley argued. “We’re having success there and we’re not replicating it. I want
our resources to go to our neediest children. It takes more than the funds that
follow a student to make this successful.”
Bordley’s conjecture
is rooted in the type of hyperbole that leaves one wondering if she lives with
her head in the sand. Discussions
related to the education of black boys in Durham are held within a context that
assumes black boys are playing on an equal playing field. Something is wrong, and Bordley and her
cohorts are making things worse by making assumptions that make it seem
they have never taken a step into the world of black male
youth.
Eric Becoats, DPS
superintendent, stressed the importance of taking extra steps to assure black
and brown boys don’t fall through the cracks. Heidi Carter, board chair for DPS,
stated she needs more data before moving forward.
Excuse me. More data? Suspensions, dropouts and low
academic performance aren’t enough data to support pulling your head from the
sand to seek a way to rescue these boys.
The school board was
handed extensive data that proves the success of all-male schools across the
county. Carter asked for more. Why do black boys always need more to
get a chance to succeed?
Minnie Forte-Brown, the normally calm and
reconciliatory board vice chair, almost busted a fuse when begging board members
to think outside the box.
“We know that we have
children who are drowning. But what are we going to do to help them?”
Forte-Brown said. “I want you to think and stop being scared. You’ve got to step
out on faith. We’ve had kitchen table conversations, but we’ve never had the
community that’s before you today.”
Amen!
Forte-Brown asked the
board to do something. “If it works, it works. If it fails, it fails. But to not
do it is unconscionable.”
Board member Omega
Curtis Parker asked members not to discount the plan based on
cost.
“We can’t stop living
or educating these children because times are hard,” she said. “It’s our
responsibility to do what we can for our constituency. It’s been presented to us
and funds have been identified. But there is a particular segment of our
community that needs to be serves, who tend to be minority. Why are we so much
against what’s good for our children?”
Becoats continues to
emphasize the money is there to support the all-male academy, and that money
will not be pulled from existing schools.
He says the school will mirror the Durham School of the Arts and City
Medicine Academy in offering small classes with themed
instruction.
It hasn’t been enough
to sway white board members to consider what the black community has been
feeling for years. From Bill Bell,
the mayor, to countless black community leaders – something has to be done
before it is too late.
It may not be racist
for the white board members to vote against this proposal, but, if they do, it
will be virtually impossible for the black community to ever support their right
to speak on the behalf of black children.
Look for the turning
back of the clock. Carl
Kenney
This is Tim Tyson's reply to
Carl Kenney blog on Proposed Black Academy
"Forty years of scholarly research since the 1966 Coleman Report, most
education scholars agree, has at least one clear and central finding, which is
that mixed schools serve our children best, according to more than fifty years
of scholarly research since the Coleman Report. Schools with a middle-class
majority set a stronger tone of achievement. At a certain tipping point of
impoverished children, who already shoulder too many burdens, schools sink into
misery and failure. Every single one of the failing schools in NC reflect the
ravages of re-segregation by race and socioeconomic class.
The arguments
Rev. Kenney makes here do not refer to any sifting of evidence. Red-hot rhetoric
is not enough: "It may not be racist" to disagree with him; "Why are we so much
against what is good for our children?" and "Why do black boys always need more
to get a chance to succeed?"
Is the school board majority opposed to the
well-being of black boys? Is it true that the race and gender of these children
causes board members not to care what happens to them? Stomping your foot and
implying that somebody is an enemy because they disagree with you is not
persuasive.
The "extensive data" that Kenney refers to goes unexplained.
This assertion certainly does not represent any consensus of the scholarly
literature. People of good intentions can differ. But to pretend that the
research shows a deafening roar in favor of academies segregated by race and
gender are unjustified. To insist that anyone who disagrees with you doesn't
care about African American boys tells us nothing. If this reflected careful
sifting of the facts, there could be no objection. Even though I support Brown
v. Board, I understand that its implementation was tragically flawed. But my own
moral beliefs and the NAACP's position aside, I would fight for any policy if I
thought it would help close the chasms of race and class.
Attacking the
intentions of board members without any acknowledgement of the complexities here
is not thoughtful; to do so without evidence borders on demagoguery. In my
assessment of the scholarship, the case for mixed schools is clear. At the very
least, that case should be carefully considered. Those who accept it, which
includes not just Durham's evil school board majority but the NAACP and most
education scholars, should not be hooted down as a sign of malevolence.
To advocate such schools without reference to the damage of
re-segregation in our public schools is an odd position. If you think the
downside is outweighed by the upside, okay, make your case. You can't just
pretend you are not abandoning Brown v. Board or ignoring the vast scholarship
that shows re-segregation wrecks school systems.
Re-segregation also
wrecks local economies. According to a 2007 Brookings study of 300 American
cities, re-segregation is the single most common cause of economic blight in
America. It is not a coincidence that the twenty most economically depressed
cities in America are also the twenty most segregated by class and race. The
best places to live and raise a family in this country are headed in the other
direction. Durham's future and our children's best interests do not seem
well-served by schools segregated by race and gender. That this assessment of
the evidence means that I don't care about the well-being of African American
boys is certainly an odd conclusion"
Tim Tyson
State Education Chair,
North Carolina NAACP
Allan Lang
_______________________________________________
Durham INC Mailing List
list at durham-inc.org
http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20130624/b3783309/attachment.html>
More information about the INC-list
mailing list