..in the words of Marvin Gaye.. What's going on??
So, what is really going on in the public school system? How are African American students being mistreated? Public school students of color get more punishment and less access to veteran teachers than their white peers, according to surveys by the U.S. Education Department that includes data from every U.S. school district. (2014). According to Keeping Black Boys out of Special Education
by Jawanza Kunjufu, high poverty schools have a greater percentage of inexperienced and uncertified teachers. Unfortunately in predominantly Black schools, students are not offered the same opportunities as predominantly White schools. Also due to high level rates of suspensions, Black students are missing out on a lot of instruction and are four times more likely to be suspended than Whites according to federal data.
Racism can be a very uncomfortable topic to address. However, it's a major problem in the school system and if it's always avoided, it will remain a problem. Delpit writes about the importance of White teachers acknowledging the problem exists in order to fix the lingering issue. Although I do believe a problem exists within White teachers, statistics on Black students aren't this high due to White teachers alone. In the book, Keeping Black Boys out of Special Education
by Jawanza Kunjufu, he elaborates a little more on "middle class teachers" not just White teachers, who too do not understand that it's not the race or gender of the teacher, but their expectations that is important in educating children (pg 20).
Also, Having a lack of African American representation has an effect on this mistreatment as well.Researchers show White teachers make up over 80% in public schools and they are just not equipped with how to teach African American students. Teachers just aren't trying to connect with them. Yes, the culture is different, and it will take some extra work, but isn't that what an educator signed up for? Or do white teachers only want to teach students that look like them? Surely this isn't the case for all White teachers. However, it proves true for a vast amount of them. Lisa Delpit makes a great point when referencing connecting with the African American culture. She says "this does not mean turning every lesson into a rap but building on some of the deep cultural gifts that African American children bring to school."
Another problem is that Black students are not being challenged in the classroom. They are often overlooked and the expectations are being set very low. Teachers have stopped trying to teach them. They are resorting to worksheets and busy work just to keep them busy while giving preferential treatment to other students. This is more so directed to the African American male students in the classroom. They are being labeled, sometimes before they enter their classroom due to societal stereotypes. When evaluating the same Black student, White teachers expect significantly less academic success than do Black teachers, according to a study located in the Economics in Education Review
by Daniel Rees. These biases are shown to the students and affect their performances in school. By having teachers that show they do not care, they too, stop caring and began to feel insecure and ultimately under performs.
Black students are also suspended more than any other race in the public school system. These suspensions start as early as kindergarten for some, which presents a long term issue within the Black community. After these students are continuously suspended, they tend to drop out of school, which leads to an even bigger problem- incarceration. Black people are incarcerated at six times the rates of Whites. The "school to prison" pipeline is a disturbing trend that basically pushes underprivileged kids from the school to the prison.
Below, is a video of Jaden Smith, a young black male, speaking on the issues in the school system relating to the correlation to the prison system.
