Education

Report: California Is Failing Black Students

Published

9 years ago

February 19, 2016

By Manny Otiko and Charlene Muhammad

California Black Media

The California Legislative Black Caucus is preparing strategies for accountability after a new report revealed Black students are disproportionately suffering from disparities and inequalities in access, opportunity, and achievement in education.

State lawmakers held a briefing to examine findings of the report, “Black Minds Matter: Supporting the Educational Success of Black Children in California.”

“Our goal is to demonstrate that there are replicable program models that the state and local districts should consider as they contemplate ways to close the achievement gap,” said Assemblymember Shirley Weber, a Democrat who represents cities in the San Diego area.

Weber chaired the Feb. 10 informational hearing in partnership with the Education Trust – West, the Oakland-based organization that advocates for educational justice and the high academic achievement for California students of color or come from low-income families.

The report found that Black students are less likely to graduate high school within four years, have access to college preparatory programs, or graduate from college.

“Black Minds Matter” also illustrates that Black students are more likely to be suspended or placed in remedial or special education programs.

The briefing on the study comes in the wake of the two-year-old “Black Lives Matter” movement against police violence, which has drawn national attention.

The ‘Black Minds Matter” movement grew out of a partnership between the Education Trust-West and the San Jose-based California Alliance of African American Educators (CAAAE), which provides culturally-informed services to students, families, and teachers.

Ryan Smith, executive director of Education Trust – West, said when people think about the needs of Black children, it is important to talk about the context and the history.

Only two out of 10 Black students meet the state standards for mathematics, and only three out of 10 reach standards for English, according to Smith.

“We’ve made progress in educating Black students, but if we are going to close the achievement gaps, we are going to have to make leaps,” Smith said. “We’d like to see the state address this issue.”

Statistics from the California Department of Education reveal that about 68 percent of Black students graduate high school within four years.

But a closer look at the data reveals deeper problems, Smith says.

Only 40 percent of Black students who attend segregated (or predominantly Black) high schools in low-income areas graduate.

“Poverty plays a factor, but it can’t be explained by poverty alone,” Smith said. “A study in Houston found that Black parents are most likely to check their child’s homework than any other ethnic group. A national study also found that Black parents are most likely to value college as important for success.”

Smith recommended partnering with local community organizations to correct the problems, create incentive programs and ensure that all students have effective educators.

Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, gave his perspective on the state’s role in education and acknowledged that there is room for improvement.

“Education is the key,” he said. “I know what positive expectations lead to and how important expectations are.”

Torlakson said he was moved by student presentations after several students shared the pain they go through dealing with prejudice and how some people around Black students lower their expectations of them.

Assemblymember Cheryl Brown, a Democrat who represents communities in the San Bernardino area, asked if the Department of Education dedicated any staff to the lowest performing students.

The problem was a lack of resources, Torlakson indicated.

Weber noted part of the solution requires accountability even though California has a policy that allows local control over educational funding.

“It is about figuring out where that money is going, because it has not reached the children,” she argued.

“We’re in a critical state in terms of African-American children … if money were an issue, then we’d continue to see a decline in the achievement of everybody,” Weber argued.

Solutions also involve personnel, accountability, and curriculum, Weber said.

“It’s not only a moral thing that we have to do,” she said. “It’s an educational thing. It’s an economic thing. We cannot continue to sentence these children to a life of prison and under employment and poverty because it’s a vicious cycle that we have to break.”

To call the state government’s attention to these problems, “Black Minds Matter” recently staged a rally at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. About 1,000 students attended and urged Gov. Jerry Brown to take immediate action.

Organizers said the coalition’s priorities include getting the state to increase funding to districts with high numbers of Black students. I

Debra Watkins, CAAAE executive director, said the coalition also seeks to empower Black students to take charge of their educational destiny.

The school system is often hostile to Black students,” she said. “It is overtly racist at times.”

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California Black Media

2024 in Review: 7 Questions for Sacramento’s New Mayor Kevin McCarty

During his time in the Assembly, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty authored over 90 measures that became law including the Universal Preschool Act, the American River Parkway Conservancy Act, Independent Investigations in Police Shootings, among others.

Published

16 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Oakland Post

Kevin McCarty, Mayor of Sacramento.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

In November, former California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty was elected Mayor of Sacramento.

He was sworn into this new role on Dec. 10.

Before becoming Mayor, McCarty represented the 6th Assembly District for 10 years. This district includes most of Sacramento and parts of Sacramento County.

During his time in the Assembly, McCarty authored over 90 measures that became law, including the Universal Preschool Act, the American River Parkway Conservancy Act, and Independent Investigations in Police Shootings, among others.

McCarty and his wife Leticia have twin daughters, Victoria and Barbara.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with McCarty as he concludes his term in the Legislature to reflect on his accomplishments this year as he enters his new role as Mayor.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?

I had a bill that was an urgency measure that was signed in June. It creates a new class for high school students to learn about financial literacy; to learn about dollars and cents and what it means to be a young person today as far as credit cards, student debt, buying a house and all the things that come that come with being an adult. I’m excited that my bill became law.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?

Black Californians are certainly a part of my legislative agenda. My Assembly district was very similar to California, way less than 10% Black population. But the issue is that education and health care and housing and poverty loom large — how they impact Black Californians.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

We are in a downturn in our economy with our state budget. So, I wasn’t able to score some final victories on some of my top priorities like the middle-class scholarship to make college debt-free.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

There’s so much work to be done and this was my final year in the Legislature. So, looking at all of our successes and trying to be able to make a difference and help change people’s lives throughout California.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

It takes time. This work is not easy. Look at this firestorm we’re in right now about reparations and what we did and didn’t do. This work is not easy. If it was easy, we would have done it a long time ago.

But it’s our job to continue to fight, push forward and keep at it.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Patience.

You know, we want some of these reparations policies to happen now. So, it’s hard to be patient. We want to see change now and so we just have to keep plugging along.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

I won the race for Mayor here in my hometown, Sacramento.

So, I will continue work in public service, serving people and making a difference in people’s lives. Just a different vantage point being a Mayor versus an Assemblymember. But it’s always the same thing. It’s helping people, public service, making a difference, and remembering those who don’t always have government on their side.

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Arts and Culture

‘Giants Rising’ Film Screening in Marin City Library

A journey into the heart of America’s most iconic forests, “Giants Rising” tells the epic tale of the coast redwoods — the tallest and among the oldest living beings on Earth. Living links to the past, redwoods hold powers that may play a role in our future, including their ability to withstand fire and capture carbon, to offer clues about longevity, and to enhance our own well-being.

Published

16 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Oakland Post

A woman stands amid towering redwood trees in a forest. Photo courtesy of Marin County Free Library.

By Godfrey Lee

The film “Giants Rising” will be screened on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 3-6 p.m. at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, located 100 Donahue St. in Marin City.

Through the voices of scientists, artists, Native communities, and others, we discover the many connections that sustain these forests and the promise of solutions that will help us all rise up to face the challenges that lay ahead.

The film’s website is www.giantsrising.com. The “Giants Rising” trailer is at https://player.vimeo.com/video/904153467. The registration link to the event is https://marinlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/673de7abb41279410057889e

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Marin City Library and hosted in conjunction with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.

All library events are free. For more information, contact Etienne Douglas at (415) 332-6158 or email etienne.douglas@marincounty.gov. For event-specific information, contact Zaira Sierra at zsierra@parksconservancy.org.

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Activism

Racially Motivated Violence Against Black Teen Prompts $10 Million Claim Against LAUSD 

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends. 

Published

1 week ago

December 30, 2024

Oakland Post

(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

A distraught mother and her legal team announced a $10 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Dec. 16, alleging that her son was the target of bullying because of his race.

“CS DOE is a 14-year-old African American student at Verdugo High School. He is a Ninth Grader,” reads a statement the plaintiff’s attorneys shared with California Black Media (CBM).

“Almost from the first day of class (in August 2024), CS DOE was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.”

The family’s identity has not yet been released to the public due to safety concerns, according to their attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Caree Harper. The student’s mother is identified only as A.O. in the complaint.

The first video, filmed in August, showed several non-Black students punching and kicking a Black student in a bathroom on campus while yelling racial slurs. The mother claims that the students who attacked her son were not punished, and the administration asked her to move her son to another school for his safety.

“They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards those students,” said the student’s mother. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to finish. I wanted him to at least stay until the December winter break, and then I was going to transfer schools for him.”

Before she could enroll her son in a different school the attacks escalated.

CS DOE, a 14-year-old freshman, left the school but was followed by a car, according to Gage. Several individuals exited the vehicle, one with a “large butcher knife.” A fight ensued and two people were stabbed. The Black student was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was later released into his mother’s custody.

The high school freshmen is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Feb. 1, but Harper says she will reach out to the District Attorney and make the case against charging the young man.

“His mama had to go find him because he was hiding and fleeing for his very life,” said Harper.

According to the boy’s mother, the young student is still traumatized and has not been able to return to the area because it remains unsafe. Racial slurs have also been spray painted on their home.

“I’m sad. I’m devastated, you know,” said the mother. “I still feel like they’re after him. I still feel like they can kill him, possibly.”

The LAUSD and principal of Verdugo High School did not respond to CBM’s requests for comment.

If you are – or someone you know is – has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, please visit CAvsHate.org for more information and to find out what you can do about it.