[Blackwatch]

I do not live in Fla. , but I do teach in the public schools system in Missouri, and I had to administer the state standardized test to some 8th grade "special ed" students (read: bad black kids) recently. I can tell you that none of them came close to passing. These kids, though they were in the "8th" grade taking an "8th" grade test, could not read the questions. I actually had to read every question and caption on the test for them. This was required by the state. These students could not answer %90 of the questions on the section that I read. Now, I am the first one to holla racism about the standardized testing process, but I can tell you, that these tests are not too hard for these kids to pass. In Fla. I can give a pass to the ESL students, but in other areas, I think Black folks are fooling ourselves if we think the only reason why are kids are failing in schools is racism. I don't wanna sound like that McWerter dude who wrote Loosing the Race but I think there is a serious cultural divide in Low income black homes and the educational system that hinders academic learning in the classroom setting. I read a study of midwest schools that did a survey of kids at suburban high schools that asked some really good questions. One finding stated that even with black kids at suburban high schools, the average number of books in their homes was almost %50 less than the number of books in white houses and %60 less than the number of books in Asian homes. And these black kids came from homes where there was at least one parent with a college degree. Now just imagine the discrepency when it comes to low-income black homes. I think this is a real problem, our kids are not reading and practicing critical thinking skills. This shows up in academic performance and standardized testing results. I am not saying the educational system doesn't need reforming, it surely does. But, I think it would be more feasible for black folks to really look at what type of students we are sending to the school, because we have a better chance of sending a more prepared child to school than waiting on an inherently unequal school system to change.
Blackwatch!!!!!!