Archive for August, 2010

The United States gets a big red ‘F’ for its efforts to educate black youth in this country.  Last week, Justin’s blog highlighted some of the abysmal performance data for black male students in California. Then, I read the recently-released 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males from the Schott Foundation for Public Education.  It’s one thing to have a general sense that the state of education for black males in the U.S. is pathetic.  But, it’s another thing to actually SEE such alarming data.  I’m proud to be working for a foundation that is trying to make a dent in providing a solution to this crisis, but it’s much too big of a problem for only a handful of foundations to be tackling.

Just to give you a taste of these numbers, in 2007-08, the report shows that the overall 2007-08 graduation rate for black males in the U.S. was only 47 percent (78% for white males).  California graduated 54% of it’s black male students and 78% of white males.  If the numbers were reversed, what kind of education reform do you think would be happening nationwide right now?  New York has the lowest graduation rate for black males at 25% with 68% of white males having graduated high school in 2007-08.  Maryland has the highest graduation rate for black male students among the states with the largest enrollment of black students, and it graduates 55% of black males and 77% of white males.

This is a crisis.  There are some locales that have had success in closing the achievement gap.  For example, Newark, New Jersey went from 47% of black males graduating in 2001-02 to 75% of black males (62% white males) graduating in 2007-08.  What is Newark doing right that can be replicated elsewhere?  If ‘children are our future’, what kind of future are we going to have if we can’t even successfully educate youth in our public school system?  I want to end on a good note.  There are lots of great Bay Area organizations out there who are trying to help black youth and youth of color succeed in high school and go on to college.  If you know some youth who need educational assistance, please make them aware of our College Bound Brotherhood database so they can access support services in their neighborhoods.  And, if you know of a great program that supports college access for low-income youth and youth of color in the Bay Area that you think we should know about, please let us know.

Image source: library.fgcu.edu

With the California Department of Education releasing its annual California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) report this week, a more illustrative picture of the educational welfare of California public school students can be painted.  Instead of focusing on state-wide results, I want to highlight the changes in performance of African-American 11^th graders in the Bay Area from last year’s STAR report to this year’s.

Those familiar with the Mitchell Kapor Foundation know that our College Bound Brotherhood program is focused on creating a stronger college-going culture for African-American males in the Bay Area. The low number of African-American students graduating college ready can be partially attributed to the systemic and economic factors that they are faced with, as well as the the fact that African-American students are not proficient in the necessary subject areas in order to be college bound.  The charts below help to illuminate the performance of African-American students in Alameda and San Francisco County in the previous two school years.

Alameda County:

In English-Language Arts and Algebra II, African-American juniors in Alameda County showed little to no improvement from the previous year despite the percentage of those performing at levels Far Below Basic decreasing.

There was no shift in performance for African-American juniors in Algebra II.

San Francisco County:

In English-Language Arts and Algebra II, African-American juniors in San Francisco County demonstrated little increase in proficiency in English/Language Arts. However, there was a decrease in the percentage of students who were performing at levels Far Below Basic.

African-American students showed no increase in proficiency levels in Algebra II, but there was an increase in the percentage of students performing at levels Far Below Basic.

These statistics are definitely disparaging but not surprising considering that these statistics are consistent with the achievement gap that has long existed between African-American students and their white peers.  If we are to increase the percentage of African-Americans who are testing at proficient levels in English and Mathematics then community organizers, college-access programs, educators, parents, and most importantly students, must take responsibility to reverse these testing trends and set a higher standard for academic excellence.

To find information on college-access programs in your community please visit www.collegeboundbros.org

Everyone keeps talking about August being a slow month in the work world… it’s a lie.

Our grant recipients are gearing up this month for amazing fundraisers, street food, and festivals.  All of these events will provide great opportunities for you & your friends and family to eat delicious food in support of great local activists and causes.

August 15, 2010 Causa Justa//Just Cause at Dona Tomas

The kick-off event is Causa Justa//Just Cause’s Benefit for Housing and Immigrant Rights, which will be hosted on the 15th  from 5:00- 7:00pm at Oakland’s famous Dona Tomas located at 5004 Telegraph Avenue.  This event will highlight the work of the newly merged organization and lift up the efforts of their organizers and members.   Causa Justa :: Just Cause (CJJC) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization building community leadership to achieve justice for low-income San Francisco and Oakland residents.

How could you pass up a great night of delectable treats in the company of those who are fighting for the rights of San Francisco and Oakland’s residents?  You really can’t, can you.

August 21, 2010 San Francisco Annual Street Food Festival

One week later, on August 21st from 11:00am to 7:00pm, you can roam Folsom Street between 24th & 26th streets to taste some of the best street food the city of San Francisco has to offer.

The San Francisco Street Food Festival is an event hosted by La Cocina to advocate for the creation of policies that support the formalization of mobile food vending in San Francisco. As they note: “Policies as they exist today are discouraging and create barriers rather than opportunities for the creation of viable businesses and jobs for San Franciscans. Street food has the power to bring communities casual, affordable, delicious foods made by food entrepreneurs who reflect San Francisco’s diverse population. Policies that support the formalization of mobile vending will work to connect communities throughout San Francisco’s spectrum of class and culture to the everyday food that we all eat and love”.  Can you really pass this up? Again, I think not.

August 27-29, 2010 Eat Real Festival

To close out this amazing month of August, we have the annual Eat Real Festival, which will be held in Oakland’s Jack London Square.  Eat Real Festival was founded in 2008 by a group of people who believe that delicious, convenient, affordable and sustainable food should be celebrated through an annual food festival.  They know that today’s eaters are concerned about how to spend their food dollar yet are also increasingly interested in learning about how food choices can contribute to a healthier environment and stronger communities. By using fresh and local ingredients (and their amazing flavors), Eat Real aims to show how easy it can be to support a regional food system by bringing farmers, food producers and eaters together.

I hope to see you all at each of these events!