OPINION Black Education "Hard Times at Douglass High," is an HBO documentary that aired last June. It captured much of the 2004- 2005 school year at Baltimore's pre- dominantly black Frederick Douglass High School. The tragedy is that what is seen in the documentary is typical of most predominantly black urban schools. Douglass' students are four to five years below grade level. Most of its ninth-graders read at the third-, fourth- or fifth-grade levels. In 2006, only 24 percent of its students tested proficient in reading, in math just 11 percent, and that's an improvement over previous years. Only one student managed to score above 1,000 on the SAT and another student scored 440 out of 1,600. You get 400 points for just writing in your name. Out of its 1,100 students, 200 to 300 are absent each day. Many of those who do show up don't do so on time; they roam the hall- ways and leave .,.. the school during M the day. Only one-half of the Si. school's 500 in-: - ' coming freshmen .' ninth-graders re- 2 turn for their sophomore year BY WALTE and far fewer re- main for graduation Sixty-six percent of the teachers are uncertified. Even if there were'no cer- tified teacher shortage, I doubt whether many teachers with attrac- tive alternatives would want to teach at the school. Douglass High School is not a place for teachers with high ex- pectations for their students. English teacher Mr. McDermott resigned in the middle of the school year saying, "Teaching becomes secondary, and discipline is the main thing that goes on. I don't feel like I'm making a difference ........ e. A MINORITY VIEW '008 Creators Syndicate ER WILLIAMS Cameras fol- lowed then-prin- cipal Isabelle Grant on her visit to the home of a chronically absent student. The stu- dent who reads at the fifth- or sixth- grade level is promised that if she attends school regularly she'll be promoted to the 11th grade. It is im- possible to eliminate such a reading deficit in a semester. Teachers are pressured into passing failing stu- dents. The documentary showed that within a few days of graduation time the school went from having 138 eligi- ble graduates to 200. Promoting and graduating students who haven't made the grade is nothing short of -academic fraud. Douglass High School teachers and .staff appeared to be concerned and caring people, but the poor quality educational'outcomes demonstrate t 0'~~ 6 ,: The 2007 Teen Competition Team from Dance Works came home suc- cessful earning a second place trophy with their competition tap dance, "Hit Me. Up "The eight member team attended the Dance Makers Inc Na-, tional Convention & Competition in Myrtle Beach, SC, June 23 through June 27. The girls were accompanied by teacher Shannon McCook., (Pnut, Submrnlile] . that concern and caring is not ' enough. The virtually empty class- rooms, filmed on back-to-school night, suggested little parental inter- est in their children's education. School day behavior demonstrated lit- tle student interest. Some students spent class time laughing, joking and tussling with one another. Others had their heads lying on their desks or ap- peared uninterested in the teacher's discussion. Many of those engagedin student-teacher exchange on academ- ic topics showed very limited reason- ing ability. Frederick Douglass was founded in 1883 as the Colored High and Train- ing School before it was renamed. It is one of the nation's oldest historically black high, schools. It was a draw for Baltimore's brightest black students. Success stories among its alumni in- clude Thurgood Marshall, Cab Cal- loway, as well as several judges, con- gressmen and civil rights leaders. I guarantee you that if Douglass High student test scores of that earlier era were available, they wouldn't show today's achievement gap. Also, a 1940s or '50s Douglass High graduate would find no comparison between student behavior during their school years and that shown in the docu- mentary. Politicians and the teaching estab- lishment say more .money, smaller classes and newer buildings are nec- essary for black academic excellence. At Frederick Douglass' founding, it didn't have the resources available to- day. If blacks can achieve at a time when there was far greater poverty, gross discrimination and fewer op- portunities, what says blacks cannot achieve today? Whether we want to own up to it or not, the welfare state has done what Jim Crow, gross dis- crimination and poverty could not have done. It has contributed to the breakdown of the black family struc- ture and has helped establish a set of values alien to traditional values of high moral standards, hard work and achievement. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Cre- ators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at wwWt.creators.com. > *N0 ' IB^/^ & '^?' ^ H ^ 'r^n'.i k- H-I ' M vw ajr'^'lvB&J Jtf r rrlllllf mil IIIIIHlBUIIIUI mfcaMSrH - � I ,..t l&-. ^ ^ l i l ,.., .., ' , " . ..- 'l~~~~~ ~~~ - ^lf"*f ^iS ; .- ,^ ^ \^ ^ ^5G) @MSE 9S1�% &TJiH) Suwannee Hamilton Technical Center has many options for you to choose from! Adult General Education Programs * Adult Basic Education (ABE) * Adult High School * GED Preparation Business Education Programs * Administrative Assistant * Medical Secretary Family & Consumer Science Programs * Early Childhood Education SUWANNEI HAMILTOZ Health Science Programs * Patient Care Technician * Phlebotomy * Practical Nursing Industrial Programs * Automotive Collision Repair and Refinishing * Automotive Service Technology * Brick and Block Masonry * Building Construction Technology * Cosmetology TECHNICAL CENTER 415 S.W. 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To mail your letter/article, send it to: The Jasper News, 105 NE 2nd Ave., Jasper, FL 32052 or FAX it to: 792-3009. THE JASPER NEWS, Jasper, FL THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008 DAG-E I A an y more.