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[CCBC-Net] A Crisis None of Us Can Ignore
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From: Bookmarch at aol.com <Bookmarch>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:01:38 EST
Friends:
The topic before us is social justice and books for younger people. I learned something this week that shocked me so terribly I felt I had to use this oppportunity to tell all of you. Bill Gates gave a speech to Black Engineers in which he stated -- using his vaunted care with numbers -- that if you track the kids who enter ninth grade nationally, just 50% of the black students will graduate high school. HIgh School!
I could not believe my eyes. One half of the incoming generation of African-Americans is consigned to poverty, ill-health, declining opportunities for the rest of their lives while they are in our hands, under our watch. That is not merely a tragedy, it is a national crisis. I cannot see how we as responsible adults can stand ourselves if we do not turn heaven and earth to fixing this. As you all know, young people now need a professional degree, not merely college, to have a secure future. And for one half of our African-American students, they will not even pass the lowest of the lowest hurdles. That must not be!
For those of you who would like do dig deeper,
_http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf_
(http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf) is one useful place to start. And yes there are debates on the numbers, which this PBS report helps you to understand,
_http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june06/dropout_06-27.html_
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june06/dropout_06-27.html) . But Gates was smart, he phrased the issue in terms of tracking 9th graders, which avoids some of the dueling stats.
What Is To Be Done? I don't know the answer to that. But, as we did in the 60s, we first must raise consciousness. So I begin here. I think every newspaper in this country should have a meter, a clock, of graduation rates, so we see it every day. And until that 50% is 90%, none of us can rest.
Marc Aronson
WWW.Marcaronson.com
**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)
Received on Wed 21 Nov 2007 06:01:38 AM CST
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:01:38 EST
Friends:
The topic before us is social justice and books for younger people. I learned something this week that shocked me so terribly I felt I had to use this oppportunity to tell all of you. Bill Gates gave a speech to Black Engineers in which he stated -- using his vaunted care with numbers -- that if you track the kids who enter ninth grade nationally, just 50% of the black students will graduate high school. HIgh School!
I could not believe my eyes. One half of the incoming generation of African-Americans is consigned to poverty, ill-health, declining opportunities for the rest of their lives while they are in our hands, under our watch. That is not merely a tragedy, it is a national crisis. I cannot see how we as responsible adults can stand ourselves if we do not turn heaven and earth to fixing this. As you all know, young people now need a professional degree, not merely college, to have a secure future. And for one half of our African-American students, they will not even pass the lowest of the lowest hurdles. That must not be!
For those of you who would like do dig deeper,
_http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf_
(http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf) is one useful place to start. And yes there are debates on the numbers, which this PBS report helps you to understand,
_http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june06/dropout_06-27.html_
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june06/dropout_06-27.html) . But Gates was smart, he phrased the issue in terms of tracking 9th graders, which avoids some of the dueling stats.
What Is To Be Done? I don't know the answer to that. But, as we did in the 60s, we first must raise consciousness. So I begin here. I think every newspaper in this country should have a meter, a clock, of graduation rates, so we see it every day. And until that 50% is 90%, none of us can rest.
Marc Aronson
WWW.Marcaronson.com
**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)
Received on Wed 21 Nov 2007 06:01:38 AM CST
