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 one percent tested proficient
in math. In raw numbers, 3,804 Baltimore students took the state's math test,
and 14 tested proficient. 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.
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.
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?
