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Bob Vasquez, TPS’ own “Flava Flav,” served as hype man last
week to pump up the district at a news conference on its
“Destiny” tax levy tour and to discuss TPS’ latest report
card findings.
The district’s results were portrayed as “Victory” in this
“fake-it-til-you-make-it” celebration performed primarily
for the media. Yet for many, Toledo Public Schools is more
“Bad,” “Dangerous” or “Thriller” than triumphant as it
continues to systemically deprive African-American children
of the opportunity to learn.
Despite the ‘great cry and little wool’ of this poorly-disquised
promo plan, the harsh reality is that nearly all of the
inner-city schools (nine) are in academic emergency and that
wide racial achievement gaps exist in a school district that
satisfactorily met a mere four of 26 performance indicators.
The comments made by TPS board president Bob Vasquez
concerning the district’s performance are an affront to the
black community’s historical “holy cause of education” and
unmasks the district’s unwillingness or even hostility
towards providing equal quality education for people of
color.
“You should all be proud and remain proud. We’re a very
proud district, we’re very proud of you. We’re very proud of
our students,” Vasquez reportedly blustered.
In a contemporary educational culture fixated on teaching to
tests and thus conditioned to focus on answers at the
expense of questions, and predisposed to the ingestion of
data rather than being equipped with the ability to analyze
and reflect information,
Vasquez’s cheers were an attempt to misdirect attention away
from the gutter educational experiences of the inner-city.
Several questions beg to be answered.
Why is there a lack of commitment to educate black children
and an absent urgency resulting from the failure to reach
all children?
Why does the fair opportunity to learn depend upon the race
or zip code one lives or attends school?
Why does the school rating increase when the percentage of
black students decrease?
Why are inner-city schools failing miserably when there are
extremely successful schools within the same district? Or
why are some educators able to be successful with black
children while others who work with the same children fail?
Elucidate the profound
district tolerance for low expectations for black
achievement and that of black children within TPS.
What explains the disproportion of teachers in predominantly
African-American schools who have been trained in one
discipline but who teach in an area for which they have had
little exposure? The result ensuring that experienced,
competent, respected and caring teachers are assigned to
high-achieving schools while vacancies in low-achieving
schools are filled with inexperienced, less
culturally-aware, incompetent and often frightened teachers.
Why are graduation rates, reading and math scores for black
males so far behind that of white students? And why is
segregation, evidenced by a disproportionate number of black
students in special education classes, allowed to exist
within an “integrated” school system?
Yet the most enduring and relevant question is where should
blame be assigned or how to identify responsibility for the
disparities and dysfunction concerning African-American
students.
We have been told over and over that it is our fault
because there is a connection between “our assumption of
moral responsibility and academic achievement.” Our children
are more interested in gangs and drugs and we do not value
education in our families, we are told. Too many
irresponsible fathers and welfare moms are having babies out
of wedlock. Or
its the peer pressure that portrays learning as a “white
thing” and a host of other socioeconomic challenges to
educational achievement including poverty, family
dysfunction or community impotence that have all been used
as excuses for poor student performance.
But the truth is that racism, while “extra-legal, closeted
and covert,” still exists and undoubtedly comes out in the
policies of school districts and in the attitudes of its
employees as evidenced in the obvious disparities and
one-sided educational outcomes.
We have for too long sat back and relied on the
failed strategy of
benevolent others to “do right by us” instead of using what
the late educator Barbara Sizemore, Ph.D. called, “levers of
power.”
We do have recourse that includes not merely blaming others,
but also assuming the responsibility for change, ourselves.
How?
“Our money should never support businesses or organizations
that support white privilege in hiring, issuing contracts,
or
in the failure to provide
educational equity. We should always vote in large numbers
in order to make a difference and support our own politiians,”
wrote Sizemore, because “power concedes nothing without a
demand. It never did and never will.”
We should demand implementation of culturally responsive
pedagogies that create a sense of family and caring, honor
and respect
of the children’s
culture and fosters a sense of community and connection to
something greater in the children than themselves (Delpit,
2010).
Rather than teaching “less content to poor, urban children;
more should be taught. Critical thinking should be a
priority and racist societal views of the competence and
worthiness of children and their families should be
challenged.”
If we fail to use the power that
we already hold in our hands and
available to address the inequalities and inequities in the
educational system then we have no one to blame but
ourselves.
Contact
Rev. Dr. Donald Perryman at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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