BLACK STUDENTS TOLD YOU AREN’T SMART ENOUGH TO PASS IN VIRGINIA

Black Alliance for Educational Options Asks “How Dare You?”

There comes a time when you hear something that makes you stop and ask “What century is this?” Today is one of those days. The state of Virginia released its new achievement standards in response to the state’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the new performance standards only 45% of Black students will be required to be proficient in math while that same standard is set at 82% and 68% for Asian-American and white students respectively for this school year. Those same set of standards only require 76% of Black students to be able to read.

These standards are coming from state with a rich history of racial discrimination and a legacy of educational inequity that resulted in a court case that was included in Brown V. Board of Education.

Here we are in 2012, and the same state of Virginia is essentially saying to Black students that we know we have failed you in our public school system, but instead of us taking responsibility for that and providing you educational options such as high-performing charter schools or vouchers that allow you to opt out of a system that cannot serve you, we’re going apply for a waiver from NCLB, lower our expectations of you and create a new set of standards designed just for you.

We’re meeting you where we believe you are. In other words, we’re passing the blame on to you.

What does this mean for our Black students? It means the state public education system in Virginia does not believe Black students can achieve at a high rate. It also means is that the elected and non-elected officials who created and adopted these new standards have created a new form of Jim Crow – students may not be separate in brick and mortar any longer but they certainly are in expectation.

While this modern-day focused discrimination should not come as a surprise, miraculously it does. Why? Because as we watch our schools fail our Black students every day, what we are seeing in Virginia is proof that evidently the state education system agrees.

State education officials have defended these new standards by saying they were based on past test results. Only 45 percent of Black students in the entire state have proven that they are proficient in math…how unfortunate.

Instead of lowering pass rate standards, why not the raise the bar on the type of public education you provide to Black students? Why not give them the tools and resources they need in order to not only pass the state tests but surpass your, albeit limited, expectations? Or, more importantly, why not give parents the option and the power to send their children to schools that can do the job right?

The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) will always have high expectations for our Black students because we know they can achieve at high rates. They are no different than any other race – period. Lowering the standards will only lower their self-esteem and self-expectations.

Governor McDonnell, Virginia is better than this. It’s time to let go and give our students what they deserve – high-performing schools with high-quality teachers and equitable resources.

BAEO is the nation’s leading advocacy organization supporting the empowerment of low income and working class Black families in their quest for high quality options and parent choice in education. For more information on BAEO visit www.baeo.org.

###

tanzi@baeo.org
202-253-6233

Tags: