Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success in Progressive Cities
The American education system is rife with problems. Schools go underfunded, teachers barely can make a living wage and students have to worry about either getting shot at or body-slammed by school resource officers. While many of those problems tend to be attributed to schools in lower-income areas, a study shows that’s not quite the case.
NBC News reports that in some of the nation’s most progressive cities, academic success is divided across racial lines. Cities such as San Francisco, Minneapolis and Oakland have some of the worst gaps in success between white students and their black and Latino counterparts. In San Francisco, 70 percent of white students are proficient in math while only 12 percent of black students can claim the same. In Washington D.C, 83 percent of white students are reading at a proficient level as opposed to black students who are ranking at 23 percent.
In comparison, some of the most conservative cities in the country have closed if not eradicated the gap completely. While this is not a good look, it’s a problem that can be fixed. Some solutions proposed were politicians allocating more funds into their school systems, more interaction between teachers and the parents of students and programs that will track the year to year progress of minority students.
It’s no secret that American education tends to favor whiteness. This report isn’t so much a shocking exposé as it is a confirmation of what we already knew. I would like to see meaningful change come as a result of this study though I find it highly unlikely.