A new report
talks to us about the criminalization of African-American and Latino youth,
telling us that 26 percent of young people who are arrested are
African-American. But then it takes you through the process from arrest to
being remanded to adult prisons. Forty-four percent of African-American youth
who are arrested are detained; substantially fewer white youth are. Forty-six
percent of African-American juveniles go on to criminal court, while a majority
of white juveniles get deferred to either juvenile court or alternatives. And
58 percent of the youth in state adult prisons are African-American, more than
doubling the proportion of those who are arrested. That's the system that's
waiting for our young people if we don't get our acts together in public education. As schools need to be viewed in
the context of the criminal justice system, so too the urban economy needs to
viewed in the context of the suburban economy. There's a very important
document just released analyzing economic growth in central cities compared to
suburban development. For example: In Baltimore, between 2015 and 2018,
employment opportunities diminished by three-and-a-half percent, while the
surrounding suburbs increased by 10.1 percent; Philadelphia's employment
opportunities in that same time period went down 1.1 percent, the suburban
areas went up 5.1 percent; Denver's central city went up about 1.7 percent,
your suburbs went up 16.6 percent. In 2018, African-Americans who had dropped
out of school were twice as likely to be unemployed as whites who had dropped
out. Our country has fled from affirmative action. Just look at suspension and
expulsion rates: 25 percent of African-Americans will be suspended over the
course of their time in high school. Wealthier African-American students are twice
as likely to be suspended as the poorest white students. Race and class matter.
And the poorest Asian-Americans are seven times more likely to be suspended
than the wealthiest Asian-Americans.
talks to us about the criminalization of African-American and Latino youth,
telling us that 26 percent of young people who are arrested are
African-American. But then it takes you through the process from arrest to
being remanded to adult prisons. Forty-four percent of African-American youth
who are arrested are detained; substantially fewer white youth are. Forty-six
percent of African-American juveniles go on to criminal court, while a majority
of white juveniles get deferred to either juvenile court or alternatives. And
58 percent of the youth in state adult prisons are African-American, more than
doubling the proportion of those who are arrested. That's the system that's
waiting for our young people if we don't get our acts together in public education. As schools need to be viewed in
the context of the criminal justice system, so too the urban economy needs to
viewed in the context of the suburban economy. There's a very important
document just released analyzing economic growth in central cities compared to
suburban development. For example: In Baltimore, between 2015 and 2018,
employment opportunities diminished by three-and-a-half percent, while the
surrounding suburbs increased by 10.1 percent; Philadelphia's employment
opportunities in that same time period went down 1.1 percent, the suburban
areas went up 5.1 percent; Denver's central city went up about 1.7 percent,
your suburbs went up 16.6 percent. In 2018, African-Americans who had dropped
out of school were twice as likely to be unemployed as whites who had dropped
out. Our country has fled from affirmative action. Just look at suspension and
expulsion rates: 25 percent of African-Americans will be suspended over the
course of their time in high school. Wealthier African-American students are twice
as likely to be suspended as the poorest white students. Race and class matter.
And the poorest Asian-Americans are seven times more likely to be suspended
than the wealthiest Asian-Americans.
We must deal
with issues of tracking — which, I have to say I consider the structural
embodiment of racism and class discrimination; that's how racism and classism get
played out at a school. Across sites, we have finance and other inequities; and
terrible discrepancies in teacher qualification, certification within sites.
The atrocities of tracking cannot be ignored any longer. How many students are
here from high school? Do you remember in elementary school daffodils,
blueberries, daisies or some other versions, where they really thought they
fooled you about which ones were the good readers and which ones weren't?
Tracks speak louder than yelling at teachers to have high expectations.
Teachers and kids read those structures. Let me also say that a group of us
just completed an amazing study recently: we surveyed over 1,000 young people
in New York –- white, black, Latino and Asian –- about their experiences with
police, and teachers, and storekeepers, and restaurants. Needless to say, white
girls and black boys are growing up in very different cities. And, sorry to
say, kids in trouble report feeling as unlikely to turn to the their teachers
as they are to the cops. I worry that we're losing teachers. Teachers in
Massachusetts are leaving their districts because their students arrived 10
minutes ago from the Dominican Republic and they're being told that they must
teach them in English only. There are communities in New Jersey that can't find
fourth grade teachers because it's the first year of testing. And in Baltimore,
political leaders boast about raising the test scores of first graders. That's
what I call the politics of urgency.
with issues of tracking — which, I have to say I consider the structural
embodiment of racism and class discrimination; that's how racism and classism get
played out at a school. Across sites, we have finance and other inequities; and
terrible discrepancies in teacher qualification, certification within sites.
The atrocities of tracking cannot be ignored any longer. How many students are
here from high school? Do you remember in elementary school daffodils,
blueberries, daisies or some other versions, where they really thought they
fooled you about which ones were the good readers and which ones weren't?
Tracks speak louder than yelling at teachers to have high expectations.
Teachers and kids read those structures. Let me also say that a group of us
just completed an amazing study recently: we surveyed over 1,000 young people
in New York –- white, black, Latino and Asian –- about their experiences with
police, and teachers, and storekeepers, and restaurants. Needless to say, white
girls and black boys are growing up in very different cities. And, sorry to
say, kids in trouble report feeling as unlikely to turn to the their teachers
as they are to the cops. I worry that we're losing teachers. Teachers in
Massachusetts are leaving their districts because their students arrived 10
minutes ago from the Dominican Republic and they're being told that they must
teach them in English only. There are communities in New Jersey that can't find
fourth grade teachers because it's the first year of testing. And in Baltimore,
political leaders boast about raising the test scores of first graders. That's
what I call the politics of urgency.
Despite or
because of our best effort, systemic reform is taking place. It's just not the
systemic reform that we had hoped for. We witness today a systematic
realignment of public dollars and public interests with the needs of
corporations and elites –- a gentrification of the public sphere. I think we
know what to do in urban America. I feel like I've been saying this for 100
years: Small schools are really better than large schools for most students,
for the poorest students, in particular. No matter what the indicator, students
in small schools outperform students in large schools. You can find some
exceptions, if you've already preselected by class, by the cultural capital of
the kids, by the qualifications of the teachers, and by the per capita that the
schools get. But there's a new study where we looked at small schools'
performance in Chicago. We looked at thousands and thousands of kids in the
Chicago public schools. And no matter what indicator you look at, with the
slight exception sometimes of those stubborn standardized test scores, students
in small schools have higher attendance, lower violence, higher grade-point
averages; they are much, much less likely to drop out, are much more likely to
go to college, and have a sense of a soul. What I mean by that is when kids in
big schools see a fight, they say, "I cheer it on or I walk away."
When kids in small schools see a fight, they say, "I break it up or I get
a teacher." Teachers
in small schools are more satisfied,
more engaged, less likely to be absent, and feel more accountable. Teachers in
small schools also express a much more fundamental sense of disappointment when
they can't satisfy the needs of young people because they know them so well. If
it took just one adult, most kids would be just fine. Most kids have somebody
who adores them, somebody who takes good care of them –- poor kids, and rich
kids and middle-class kids. Sometimes it's a nanny, sometimes it's a mother,
and sometimes it's a grandmother, or father or uncle. Most kids have somebody
who adores them. They need schools that know them and teach them. Let me just
say one more thing about small schools. Rich people figured out the power of
"small" a long time ago? The average prep school high school. Any
guess on its size? 298. How many of you have a school in your city that's
bigger than 1,500 kids? 2,000? Keep your hands up. 3,000? Has it got fancy rich
kids in it?
because of our best effort, systemic reform is taking place. It's just not the
systemic reform that we had hoped for. We witness today a systematic
realignment of public dollars and public interests with the needs of
corporations and elites –- a gentrification of the public sphere. I think we
know what to do in urban America. I feel like I've been saying this for 100
years: Small schools are really better than large schools for most students,
for the poorest students, in particular. No matter what the indicator, students
in small schools outperform students in large schools. You can find some
exceptions, if you've already preselected by class, by the cultural capital of
the kids, by the qualifications of the teachers, and by the per capita that the
schools get. But there's a new study where we looked at small schools'
performance in Chicago. We looked at thousands and thousands of kids in the
Chicago public schools. And no matter what indicator you look at, with the
slight exception sometimes of those stubborn standardized test scores, students
in small schools have higher attendance, lower violence, higher grade-point
averages; they are much, much less likely to drop out, are much more likely to
go to college, and have a sense of a soul. What I mean by that is when kids in
big schools see a fight, they say, "I cheer it on or I walk away."
When kids in small schools see a fight, they say, "I break it up or I get
a teacher." Teachers
in small schools are more satisfied,
more engaged, less likely to be absent, and feel more accountable. Teachers in
small schools also express a much more fundamental sense of disappointment when
they can't satisfy the needs of young people because they know them so well. If
it took just one adult, most kids would be just fine. Most kids have somebody
who adores them, somebody who takes good care of them –- poor kids, and rich
kids and middle-class kids. Sometimes it's a nanny, sometimes it's a mother,
and sometimes it's a grandmother, or father or uncle. Most kids have somebody
who adores them. They need schools that know them and teach them. Let me just
say one more thing about small schools. Rich people figured out the power of
"small" a long time ago? The average prep school high school. Any
guess on its size? 298. How many of you have a school in your city that's
bigger than 1,500 kids? 2,000? Keep your hands up. 3,000? Has it got fancy rich
kids in it?
