Notes from
Trish's Desk
April 6, 2010
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Greetings!
When it comes to educating students of color, Washington state public schools are on a trajectory to disaster. That's the only conclusion I can draw from the recent report from the Achievement Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Did you know that Washington is one of the few states where the achievement gap is actually growing? Something is seriously wrong with an education model that is under-educating a huge and growing segment of our young people. Here are three key points from the committee's findings: - Over the last ten years, the population of students of color in state public schools has increased 38% while the population of white students has actually decreased 11%.
- Perhaps a little surprisingly, economic status does not seem to have an impact. Middle and upper income students of color underperform low-income white students. (Read more here...)
- While we have made modest improvements in achievement among students of color, progress is so small, that at this rate, it will take 50 more years to effectively close the achievement gap in math.
This situation is unacceptable.
Read the full report here...
Things are so bad that Washington was one of only 10 states that couldn't qualify for federal funding under the Obama Administration's $4 billion Race to the Top, so we didn't even bother to apply in the first round!
The
Partnership for Learning issued a memo last week that lays out a clear path to the reforms needed to
bring much needed change - as well as federal education funding - to the
students of color TAF has worked to support for over 13 years. Governor Gregoire recently signed an education bill that talks about making major reform, but as a recent Seattle Times editorial points out, we still have a lot (and I mean, A LOT) of work to do. We cannot wait another 13 years.
If there is hope for the next
generation of students, it lies with each of you. Here's what you can do join TAF's
efforts to end the crisis in education:
Those of you who read my newsletters regularly know that we are conducting the How
Far Would You Go? online event through April 18. After reading these two latest reports, this is more than just a clever name for an event.
It's a serious challenge for each of us
- How far would YOU go to build a new
movement that makes public education work for students of color?
Thanks for listening,
Trish Millines Dziko
Executive Director
Technology Access Foundation |
