NEWS
- My journey from urban D.C. to Vermont [Friendship PCS mentioned]
- Truancy Takes a Higher Toll on Black Families: Report
My journey from urban D.C. to Vermont [Friendship PCS mentioned]
The Current Newspapers
By Khalil Lee
August 26, 2015
The end of summer leads me to reflect on the journey I have traveled from high school to college. As a high school student growing up in an underserved D.C. neighborhood, I attended Friendship Public Charter School’s Collegiate Academy in Northeast.
In an area long plagued by poverty, unemployment and crime, in a still racially divided city, this high school nonetheless graduates 92 percent of its students on time — within four years. This compares to 59 percent for the D.C. Public Schools system and 69 percent for D.C. charter schools as a whole. And 100 percent of this college preparatory high school’s graduates are accepted to college.
Now a student at the University of Vermont — one of a number of colleges where I was accepted — I believe that one of my high school mentors was right to predict that I could flourish at this college, far from home.
Once matriculated, I quickly appreciated Vermont’s vibrant college community. As a student of color, I knew well before arrival that I would encounter an overwhelmingly white student body, faculty and administration. But I was keen not to allow my diverse experiences to become a barrier to making the most of my higher education opportunity.
Friendship’s role in helping prepare me for college included an academically rigorous Advanced Placement syllabus — something of a rarity among urban public schools. Although a public school, Friendship paid for me to take college classes for college credit at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia.
A somewhat harder adjustment for me came in the form of adapting to college living and managing my finances for the first time. These skills are hard to learn before reality bites.
My initial choice of majors was influenced by the opportunity to study economics and Chinese. Now enrolled to study history and Chinese as majors, with speech and debate as minors, I am embracing a new language while simultaneously pursuing disciplines I enjoyed as a student at Collegiate. I decided to persevere even knowing that many of my classmates arrived at least somewhat familiar with Chinese — an uncommon option in urban schools.
Complementing my academic interests are those that I have pursued through my time on the Student Government Association and via board of trustees meetings. Particularly important to me is debate over college policies. All of these forums have assisted me as I have honed arguments and changed my thinking about how our society does — and does not — work, as has my
reading of various authors while at college.
An interest in politics took me to work with the Burlington government — an experience for which I am especially grateful. The local Neighborhood Planning Assembly brought me into contact with Rep. Kesha Ram, a woman of color and the nation’s youngest state legislator, and her colleagues. From holding election meet and greets, to participating in hearings for zoning permits and discussions about housing developments, to offering advice to candidates, I have developed a taste for politics.
Some might think Vermont an inauspicious starting point for an African-American young man to pursue a political career. I disagree. I have found my different experiences in New England and the nation’s capital a source of strength.
Living life in different environments is not straightforward. It can be frustrating explaining the realities of urban life to college peers. Sadly, the belief that social ills, including racism, are yesterday’s problems is a persistent worldview in non-urban America.
I have learned that it is all too easy to dismiss the perspectives of others whom we do not know, and therefore struggle to understand. From growing up with my grandmother to living with my adoptive white parents shortly before college, and from Northeast D.C. to Burlington, Vt., my life has taught me many lessons. Sustained by close friendships — especially at the most difficult times — and also by mentors, I have learned to adapt and thrive.
Looking at politics, I believe that, while respect for others is important, this should not blind us to the fact that the past casts its shadow on the present. And while it is fashionable to stress the ethic of public service, our efforts ought to be judged by our role in correcting wrongs that the wronged lack power to overcome.
Opening our minds to that which we do not know is a beginning, but nothing more; truly understanding and changing what is wrong is more important.
Truancy Takes a Higher Toll on Black Families: Report
The Washington Informer
By Freddie Allen
September 2, 2015
WASHINGTON — Truancy among Black students has far-ranging consequences, not just as a predictor for low academic achievement, but also for the long-term cost to American taxpayers, according to a new report by the Center of American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank.
Blacks students are twice as likely to be chronically absent from school than their White peers, and “because absenteeism often leads to dropping out of high school, it is not surprising that high school graduation rates have a similar pattern of racial gaps as absenteeism rates.”
The report titled, “The High Cost of Truancy,” detailed the consequences of chronic absenteeism, identified students most at-risk and offered a number of state-level policies that demonstrated the ability to reduce truancy and keep students in the classroom.
Carmel Martin, executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress, said that as students across the country prepare to go back to school, the public needs to recognize that too many children aren’t showing up to school and many more who attend the first days of school won’t attend on a regular basis.
“The lifelong impact of truancy is alarming,” explained Martin. “It is a predictor of low student achievement, increased school drop out rates and can be a gateway to the school-to-prison pipeline. ”
Truant students often have little control over financial and medical issues or a stressful home life that can impact their ability to attend school on a regular basis. The report listed a number of family or community conditions that contribute to chronic absenteeism including: “parents who do not highly value education; child abuse or neglect; siblings who performed poorly in school; a large number of household members; chronically ill parents; low parental education attainment; foreign-born parents; providing child care for younger siblings; teen pregnancy or parenthood; violence near one’s home or school; homelessness; unreliable transportation; and having a family criminal history or an incarcerated parent.”
Schools that fail to address bullying, have poor recordkeeping, or lackluster school attendance policies can also make it harder for troubled students to stay connected to the classroom.
“In a recent study, one in five students who were excessively absent from school – missing seven days or more – were victims of bullying,” the report said. “For victims of bullying, missing school is an understandable defense mechanism that is within their control, particularly when bullying goes unnoticed by school officials.”
Kamala D. Harris, California’s attorney general, said that truancy and absenteeism come at a high cost not only to our children’s education, but also to the nation’s economy and public safety.
Harris said that in California alone high school dropouts cost the state $46 billion a year as a result of the burden they place on public safety systems, public health systems, social services and lost revenue from taxable income contributions to tax base.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) worked to reform school policies on truancy when they found that their system of issuing truancy tickets and fines not only had an adverse effect on low-income and minority students in the school district, but also “deterred students who are running late from going to school due to fears of interacting with law enforcement.”
The CAP report said that: “Enforcement of this policy led to a disproportionate amount of students of color being ticketed compared to their white counterparts, as well as disproportionate ticketing of low-income students who relied largely on unreliable public transportation to get to school.”
The report continued: “In LAUSD, during the same time period in which officers issued 47,000 tickets, the truancy rate in LAUSD increased from 5 percent to 28 percent. A truancy ticket issued for $250 could engender $1,000 in additional court fees and missed days of work for parents and guardians in order to attend court hearings, totaling a heavy price to pay for low-income families.”
Following a successful campaign to cut down on excessive ticketing that “reduced student ticketing for truancy and tardiness by 80 percent,” students now receive counseling and other services designed to keep them in the classroom instead of court dates.
Similarly, in Washington, D.C., school administrators work with K-8 students with poor attendance records to craft individualized plans that include “wrap-around services such as help with job searches, single parenting, transportation, filling out paper work, and parental education.”
Still, researchers found that states such as Pennsylvania and Texas rely too heavily on a ticketing system to address truancy, despite research that shows its disparate impact on students of color.
The CAP report recommended the adoption of a national definition for truancy, early warning systems to identify students at-risk for falling behind in the classroom, and policies that work to increase parental and guardian engagement in the educational process at school and at home.
Harris said in a statement that the debates about the public education system in the United States are moot if our children are not in class.
“Truancy is a major problem in California and nationwide, with significant economic and public safety costs,” said Harris. “This report should serve as a call to action, because every child deserves an equal education.”
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