Stop Blaming Black Parents for Underachieving Kids

[Vattel]

Mayors, teachers unions, and news commentators have boiled down the academic achievement gap between white and black students to one root cause: parents. Even black leaders and barbershop chatter target “lazy parents” for academic failure in their communities, dismissing the complex web of obstacles that assault urban students daily. In 2011, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg exemplified this thinking by saying, “Unfortunately, there are some parents who…never had a formal education and they don’t understand the value of an education.” Earlier this year, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman diagnosed that city’s public schools’ chief problem: the lack of “active, radical involvement of every parent.” And even President Obama rued last week that in some black communities, gaining education is viewed as “acting white.”

Clearly, there is widespread belief that black parents don’t value education. The default opinion has become “it’s the parents” — not the governance, the curriculum, the instruction, the policy, nor the lack of resources — that create problems in urban schools. That’s wrong. Everyday actions continuously contradict the idea that low-income black families don’t care about their children’s schooling, with parents battling against limited resources to access better educations than their circumstances would otherwise afford their children.

In New Orleans this month, hundreds of families waited in the heat for hours in hopes of getting their children into their favorite schools. New Orleans’ unique decentralized education system is comprised largely of charter schools and assigns students through a computerized matching system. Parents unhappy with their child’s assignment must request a different school in person at an enrollment center, with requests granted on a first-come, first-served basis. This year, changes were made to the timing and location for parents to request changes. A long line began forming at the center at 6 a.m. By 9:45 a.m., it stretched around the block. By 12:45 p.m., officials stopped giving out numbers because they didn’t have enough staff to meet with every parent.

Research backs up the anecdotal evidence. Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research recently found that African Americans are most likely to value a post-secondary education in becoming successful, at 90 percent, followed by Asians and Latinos. Whites, at 64 percent, were least likely to believe higher education is necessary for success.

When judging black families’ commitment to education, many are confusing will with way. These parents have the will to provide quality schooling for their children, but often, they lack the way: the social capital, the money and the access to elite institutions. There is a difference between valuing an education and having the resources to tap that value.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/30/stop-blaming-black-parents-for-underachieving-kids/

[philosslayer]

1. Thanks for posting

This mindset is racist tripe. Its poor facilities and lack of funding that are causing underachievement. I'm sick of this "blame the victim" mentality.

[Travis_0004]

5. Lack of funding is not always the issue

Cincinnati public spends thousands more per student than a lot of surrounding schools that are among the best in the state.

[philosslayer]

6. I'm talking lack of funding period

Not just education, but anti-poverty programs. Poverty also plays a huge role.

[badtoworse]

2. Good post. It's a complex problem.

One issue that doesn't get enough attention is the lack of options that many inner city parents have. In many cases, the public schools are terrible, but the parents can't afford to pay school taxes AND tuition for a private school. I believe that vouchers would be a tremendous help to these parents.

[B Calm]

3. Could it be the teachers fault?

[Vattel]

4. I know of no public school that is well-supported where the teachers turn it into a bad school.

Of course there are bad teachers and there are bad parents. But reducing the problem to either of these things is a serious mistake.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. 2 factors..........

considered to be indicators of how well a child will succeed:

1. Level of Mother's education (finished school? - high school - college)

2. Parental income

Alfie Kohn ( www.alfiekohn.org ) once said, "If you want a predictor as to how well a child will do on a test, drive by the child's house and look at the neighborhood."