Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms
Arne Duncan will be here Monday to talk to Morehouse students about teaching. US DOE/photo
Less than 2 percent of the nation’s teachers are black males.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, film director Spike Lee and Congressman John Lewis will try to change that Monday when they appeal to the men of Morehouse College to consider teaching as a career.
In a phone interview Friday, Duncan said the nation’s teacher workforce does not reflect the diversity of its student when only one in 50 teachers is a black male. “This is a national problem,” he said, “and one in which most schools of education have not shown leadership or foresight.”
So, Duncan has been traveling the nation to appeal to students of color “to consider coming back to the community and making a difference.”
Wouldn’t those students or any students, I asked Duncan, be more interested in coming to New York and being Spike Lee? (Lee is a Morehouse grad.)
“Maybe,” he said, “but I went to Howard University with John Legend who talked about the importance teachers made in his life. I think it is effective message to hear people like John talk about the role of teachers in his life.”
I told Duncan about a blog comment posted here at Get Schooled from the wife of an African-American male teacher about the pressure on her husband in the school since people expect him to mentor the many fatherless boys.
Isn’t that asking too much of a teacher, to teach kids algebraic equations and how to be a good person?
“It wouldn’t surprise me if her husband was the only black male in that school,” said Duncan. “We have to make this much more the norm. We need everybody to step up and help. We need more men of color in our schools, especially at the elementary schools.”
He agreed that a single caring adult often can make a difference for a child. I mentioned to Duncan that during a speech he made in Atlanta, I talked to Kerrie L. Holley, one of the thousands of South Chicago kids who attended the after-school math and reading program run by Duncan’s no-nonsense mother, Sue.
Holley talked about the role that Duncan’s mother made in his life. He attended her program from age 7 to college, and said Sue Duncan became his second mother. (Sue Duncan opened her educational and recreational after-school program in 1961 and still operates it today as a free service for neighborhood kids.)
Based in San Francisco with IBM, Holley was named an IBM Fellow in 2006, IBM’s highest technical leadership position. And in 2004, Holley, who used to tutor the sixth grade Arne Duncan in math, was named one of the 50 most important blacks in research science.
Duncan said, that if schools could increase the pool of mentors, drawing from the community as a whole, “mentors who could really get behind that child not at age 15, but at age 5, the impact could be powerful. We know in kindergarten which students are struggling. We don’t have to wait for high school.”
I told the education secretary that Georgia teachers were wary of Race to the Top’s requirement for a teacher performance evaluation system as they don’t think there is a fair way yet to measure performance.
“There are a handful of places around the country where this is being done really well,” he said. “There is not one that is perfect, but the teacher evaluation system is broken. The status quo is broken. Great teachers don’t get encouraged, and teachers who need improving don’t get support. A handful of districts are doing this in a thoughtful, creative way in partnership with labor and management working together.”
Duncan said 12 of those places will present their programs at conference in Denver in February being hosted by his department.(Denver is one district, he said, that has made a good start at a teacher evaluation system.)
With $4 billion dollars aimed at improving the nation’s lowest performing schools. Duncan also talked about how those struggling schools are in the process of making fundamental differences, of doing what he called transformational work.
You can see Duncan at Morehouse at noon on Monday. I have not received any word yet on whether his second appearance at Gwinnett’s Meadowcreek High School is open, but will post if the public can attend that event.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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155 comments Add your comment
Linda
January 29th, 2011
9:32 am
Too bad Mr. Duncan didn’t have the opportunity to meet Willam Blackwood, the teacher from Southwest DeKalb.
NWGA teacher
January 29th, 2011
9:39 am
I would love to see community support. Teachers can’t do it all. I work 10-12 hours per day at my teaching job, thereby neglecting my own child. Her grades have dropped. She could certainly use a mentor.
long time educator
January 29th, 2011
9:39 am
I think this is a great idea, but if you read this blog, there is such disrespect and distain for teachers in general, that a smart young person would be crazy to choose teaching. I have spent my life in education and I love so many things about it, but I would advise my own children to do something else, or at least stay away from public schools. The disrespect for teachers and administrators is at an all time high, budgets are being slashed and no one is hiring.
Lee
January 29th, 2011
10:09 am
More of the same old, same old.
The politically correct keep tap dancing around the root cause of the issue with these pie in the sky cures.
“More black men in the classroom.” “Six minutes of segregated time.” “More money – BILLIONS more.” Ad infinitum.
Guess what, years ago, you had black males in the classroom. You had segregated classrooms. You had teachers that “looked like” the students in the classroom. You have spent billions upon billions with your pie in the sky schemes.
All to no avail because you have yet to figure out a way to pour more brain matter into the skull. Sixty years since Brown vs Board and you still have the black/white achievement gap and you still deny the disparate IQ’s between the races.
“We know in kindergarten which students are struggling…”
Yes, you do. Actually, you probably know within the first nine weeks, but what do you do about it?
You push students along until one day, they are sitting in a high school classroom although they are functioning on a third grade level.
And you still push them along until one day, they “graduate” and we taxpayers have to hire somebody to help them fill out the application to receive welfare and food stamps.
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January 29th, 2011
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long time educator
January 29th, 2011
10:43 am
Lee, If there is a disparity, it is about family values; not IQ differences. Many lower socio-economic white children fall into this same category. I have seen both white and black poor children succeed if their families value education. And I have seen children from middle class homes fail if the children are allowed to decide if they will do homework or obey rules and the parents defend them. There are differences in IQ test scores among individuals within all cultural groups, but from my experience, an extremely high IQ is not necessary to succeed in school or life. If the family teaches the value of education and the child has average intelligence and tries, he or she will succeed. It is not about race.
drew (former teacher)
January 29th, 2011
10:52 am
“…a single caring adult often can make a difference for a child.”
Yeah, and in my opinion the color of that “caring adult’s” skin makes little difference.
===============
“Duncan said, that if schools could increase the pool of mentors, drawing from the community as a whole, “mentors who could really get behind that child not at age 15, but at age 5, the impact could be powerful.”
Yeah, and if frogs had wings….he’s right, though…some one’s got to do the parents’ jobs for them. Good luck drawing capable mentors from the community.
change
January 29th, 2011
11:00 am
$$$$$$ Can someone investigate how much money is spent on Gateway tests in Gwinnett County? Test, time, empoyees, student time focused on passing or retaking these tests.
Classroom student/teacher ratio continues to climb, but the Gateway stays. When is enough Enough?
Save money and teacher jobs.
Obviously, the gateway is more important than graduation coaches and teacher jobs according to Gwinnett administration.
This should be as big a scandle as the cheating in Atlanta and Dekalb.
It is time to know the real cost of Gateway and to students and faculty.
yes but...
January 29th, 2011
11:00 am
The fabulous young black teachers at our school are now currently retraining themselves or trying to figure out how to get into a performing school. They see the writing on the wall……..so perhaps Duncan could address this issue before he goes recruiting. How do we keep the great teachers we have especially our African-American ones?
And don’t tell me merit pay…these teachers are exhausted and discouraged. I don’t think merit pay matters especially as they will likely never see it because of circumstances out of their control.
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
January 29th, 2011
11:08 am
@ long time teacher: I agree completely with what you say, as I came from a “poor white family,” and had many close friends in the same circumstances. A little adult encouragement – a little ‘attention’- goes a long ways. Personally, I think there needs to be pushed to the point of headache that we need more black men in the *homes*- that happens, you’ll get them in the schools. Sorry to have to state the obvious, but if you come from “disadvantaged” circumstances, you will, yes, have to work harder, probably for your entire life, than someone who’s born into wealth. That said, I’m well over 50 and a lot of the kids I grew up with in more economically favored families are not generally doing so well: it seems the struggles I learned to accept (and I didn’t take them up willingly, at first) made me a bit more fit for a life filled with adapting to circumstances. Plenty of adults told me what I needed to hear as a kid; it was only with finding that “my way” led to the highway did I become willing to be open-minded to hard work and honest effort. Any person of any race can teach that, but only from their own experience. Without that experience, that testimony has no credibility, and the kids pick up on that right quick (That’s why all those “Doctors” in the various school administrations have no positive effect on behavior or aspirations of skeptical students).
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
January 29th, 2011
11:22 am
Surely many of our students need more male teachers and more male mentors.
Recruiting good men to be teachers and mentors will meet some of our kids’ need for manly attention and example.
But an even more pressing need for many of our students is a present and engaged father.
How might we motivate many males to recognize and “man up to” their duties as fathers?
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
January 29th, 2011
11:31 am
Yes but… and Chris Murphy:
Poignant comments!
How ’bout sending them to: state.superintendent@doe.k12.ga.us,
john.barge@doe.k12.ga.us,
michael.buck@doe.k12.ga.us,
brooks.coleman@house.ga.gov,
david.casas@house.ga.gov,
fran.millar@senate.ga.gov, and
bill.jackson@senate.ga.gov.
Lee
January 29th, 2011
11:37 am
@LongTime, of course there are low IQ whites and high IQ blacks. It’s called a statistical normal distribution. Here is a good primer on the subject:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/04/26/9530.aspx
Ability and attitude are probably the two most important factors in attaining an education. The politically correct discount the importance of IQ on the ability side of the equation and our schools have suffered the consequences.
long time educator
January 29th, 2011
11:42 am
Lee,
If it boils down to ability and attitude and ability is given and attitude is the only variable you have any control over, you focus on attitude. To do otherwise would be foolish.
Kah
January 29th, 2011
11:55 am
How about making the big CEOs go to the classrooms and exchange salaries with the teacher for awhile. Some serious will be made. Most AA males are only interested in teaching if sports and or coaching is involved. In order to get the AA males to become teachers, they must graduate fro high school and college first.
Amen to the comments from”long time educator” . It is a shame to see the comments from “NWGA” in that her own child is “suffering” because this “teacher-parent” is exhausted.
When I mentioned to my own daughter about choosing the field of teaching about 6 years ago, she told me “no” and she had some information as a “8th” grader to support her decision. Heading her list was the low salary, lack of respect, politics, long hours. She is now a senior in college majoring in computer engineering and made more money working an internship in engineering this year than I make working in a non-teaching role for a school system. Grant you, I am a career changer to education but I came to this field degreed, with lots of corporate experience and countless hours of school volunteer work whereby I wore many hats: worked car pool, tutor students, taught students multiplication facts, worked in lunch room, served in various roles with PTAs, made copies for teachers, laminated stuff, made file folder games, worked with small groups, ran to the store to buy clothes for children that needed them, combed hair, washes faces, changed diapers, used my money to buy and buy to support these teachers and students and the list goes on and on. It brings tears to my eyes that teachers do not get the respect and pay that is deserved and even sadder that I am about to get a masters in special education as a career changer. Part of me says, I should have stayed in corporate America but I made the change to help my only child who diagnosed with a disability. Now she is a successful college student in the STEM field. Kudos to all of our teachers. I do not care how and where an individual got their education whether public school, private school, home school, boarding school, there were teachers involved(paid and unpaid). I think I will spend the rest of my life bringing honor and respect to this profession and continue to thank “teachers” for choosing to “touch lives forever”…. Rah Rah for teachers….
Kah
January 29th, 2011
12:01 pm
So sorry…corrections for my last posting…meant :”Something serious” in reference to the CEO’s in the classroom and …corrections: AA males must from high school and college first…
Helena
January 29th, 2011
12:10 pm
I’m lucky to teach in a MS with an above-average number of male teachers (both black and white) on our faculty, and I would *love* to see even more in the classroom. But given all the paranoia in society these days, I can’t really blame prospective male teachers from reconsidering, especially in the early grades. We’ve created such an air of suspicion around men working with very young children. I’d bet that 99% of male teachers are honorable, morally upright people, but all it takes is that one bad apple for others to cast aspersions on all of them. One of the 8th grade teachers at my school said that he’s constantly vigilant not to say anything that could possibly be construed as a “come on” to his female students. I’ve even heard parents of elementary schoolers in my community and church admit that although they “support” having more male teachers in their classroom, they just don’t think men “belong” in K-3 because “what if something happens?” Female teachers certainly have similar pressures — my admins have told us not to even pat a student’s shoulder in encouragement — but there’s such an unspoken air of suspicion around many male teachers. Obviously, parents and schools need to be vigilant because abuse does happen in rare cases, but I must say that I can’t really blame prospective male teachers who choose another career because they don’t want the world to constantly fear they’ll behave inappropriately or even illegally.
long time educator
January 29th, 2011
12:12 pm
Kah,
I applaud you for choosing to give your life to special education students; you will touch their lives and their families’ lives forever. Special education teachers are the kindest, most giving people I know. I am still an educator for all the reasons you named, but young people do need to know going in that teaching has become a very rough road and to succeed, they will need to be self-directed, intrinsically motivated and in a “Peace Corps” frame of mind.
ScienceTeacher671
January 29th, 2011
12:21 pm
We also need more black males in the homes, providing for their families and raising their children. Bill Cosby’s been saying it for years.
drew (former teacher)
January 29th, 2011
12:26 pm
“How might we motivate many males to recognize and “man up to” their duties as fathers?”
Thank you Dr. Spinks…that is the $10,000.00 question? Unfortunately, there is no force motivating fathers (or mothers, for that matter) to “man-up” and raise their children responsibly. There is no longer any social stigma attached to being an absentee father. And Arne Duncan can go on about the need for mentors (mentors = substitute parents), and more black male teachers, until he’s blue in the face, but all he’s doing is dancing around the root issue: lack of parental responsibility. This is not an “educational” problem…it’s a societal problem, and one we didn’t have 40-50 years ago when most parents, black and white, understood the importance of education.
I worked for several years in a metro Atlanta alternative school. I would often wonder: How in the world did these students get like this? Many times, meeting their parents (or parent…usually a single mother), answered that question.
Folks, it begins and ends with the family; mentors are good, but they’re simply a band-aid…there is no substitute for good parenting. And unfortunately for our young people, good parenting cannot be legislated, or outsourced. But that reality has no place for those who believe schools exist, not only educate children, but to raise them as well. And many parents are more than happy to have the schools do this…after all, they have more important things to do.
ScienceTeacher671
January 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
I’m just so tired of schools being expected to solve all of society’s problems. Of course, it has been that way since public schools began, but still…
Top School
January 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
http://www.alliancetheatre.org/en/Our-Plays/Now-Playing/Bring-It-On.aspx
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Musical Top Girl meets Top School-Cross the Line with rezoning and redistricting, North vs. South, Awards, Faking your way to the TOP, and the political power of the board members. BRING IT ON captures the challenges of APS and Dekalb schools. The perfect combination of elementary/high school drama on the NORTHSIDE of Atlanta. Story told by my friends. Jackson school has crossed the line
Lee
January 29th, 2011
12:38 pm
@Longtime, and I think it foolish to place the future valedictorian and a low ability student in the same classroom and expect them to learn in the same manner and at the same pace.
But that is what our schools do for the first eight years or so of a student’s education. It is only in high school that they can begin to segregate by ability by enrolling in A/P, Honors, College Prep, Vocational, etc, etc, classes.
Too little, too late, IMHO.
drew (former teacher)
January 29th, 2011
12:48 pm
“I’m just so tired of schools being expected to solve all of society’s problems. Of course, it has been that way since public schools began, but still…”
ScienceTeacher…it wasn’t always that way, but it’s definitely “become” that way. Any societal problems that can’t be solve by the appropriate institution (usually the family), gets dumped on the schools. Used to be schools existed to educate…now they also have to transport, feed, mentor, counsel, etc.. And it gets worse every year.
frankly
January 29th, 2011
12:53 pm
FORGET SCHOOLS We need more black men in homes, in marriages, raising their children. It is the root cause of so much of the societal ills that plague a large portion of the black community.
Not nearly enough attention has been given ti the evil (that’s right I said EVIL) that social programs have wrought on the black family by making it desirable for woman forgo marriage in favor of government scraps.
Tony
January 29th, 2011
12:57 pm
First, the focus is on the wrong thing. The focus should be on attracting and retaining the BEST TEACHERS into the field. Everyone misses the mark on this. From suggesting merit pay is the way to go, to the idea the “equitable distribution” of effective teachers should be utilized. None of these ideas will get the best teachers into the classrooms and keep them there. It really does not matter whether the teacher is male or female. It does not matter whether the teacher is black, white or any other race. What matters is that the teacher is well equipped with knowledge and ability to teach children the subject matter required. We don’t need to make it any more complicated.
Here are the things we do that run off good teachers -
1. Drown them with meaningless paperwork and methods of “teaching”.
2. Derail their efforts to maintain orderly classrooms where learning can take place by not enforcing good discipline plans.
3. Undermine the importance of high standards by allowing weak parents to make excuses for their children’s lack of academic performance.
4. Develop a media and political system that places the blame for all the social ills that affect student achievement upon the teacher.
5. Continually underfund the education budget so that teachers do not receive the pay and benefits commensurate with the expectations and qualifications placed upon them.
6. Implement ridiculous grading schemes for schools and teachers that over-emphasize one-time tests.
Should I go on?
It’s great that our leaders want to reach out to this group to recruit teachers. However, they must accept the reality that they are pushing the wrong agenda with their currect ideas of “reform.”
Kah
January 29th, 2011
12:58 pm
Thanks “long time educator” for the encouragement…as a mom of a child with a disability..I have truly logged in some hours doing everything humanly possible for my child to succeed and the results have been outstanding…Helena, thank you for the reminder of the “ugly” side to males being in the classroom. I too do not blame males for not choosing the profession for this very reason. This was the first piece of information that I shared with a young AA that I trained last school year in my department. However, I was floored when he told me about his previous work experiences on what some of the females did and said to him while he worked in another large school district in the Atlanta Metro area. I got a “headache” listening to some of the things that he said. It is so amazing how the male educator can be “destroyed” on just hearsay with the females and the females go on leaving their lives carefree. The more I read your posting Helena, the more I am of the mindset to say to the males: if you want to go into education, choose Higher Education or some other field or have millions upon millions of dollars of liability insurance. Being in public education is not worth the risk of adding to the male population in the penal system.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2011
1:00 pm
irony alert.
Tony
January 29th, 2011
1:00 pm
Wait, I missed one -
7. Continue to allow colleges and university to allow low standards for entry into teacher education programs.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2011
1:02 pm
God help us all when the gov’t turns to Spike Lee of all people for guidance on education.
no wonder we’re screwed.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
@ Tony
what, you want smart people to be teachers?
instead of the barely literate?
silly man.
seriously, if we weren’t treated like crap by society, we probably wouldn’t need low standards.
only a fool would choose to go into education at this point in time
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
January 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
Frankly,
The problem is not exclusively a Black-Dad problem. There are many White Dads who also won’t “man-up to” their paternal responsibilities.
Will we ever get serious about “dead-beat” Dads? and Moms?
KB
January 29th, 2011
1:10 pm
Finding “better” teachers should not be the object; we need to find ways to ensure that our students work harder – from elementary school up! Maybe we need to hire “Tiger” Moms to instill a sense of work-ethic in our students at a young age.
catlady
January 29th, 2011
1:14 pm
And HOW does he plan to increase the number of black males in the classroom? Offer them more money? Give them some sort of incentives to go to college and major in education? How? How?
We also have a dearth of true science-major teachers, especially female in the physical sciences. Many of our girls might aspire if they had role models and mentors. What will he do about that?
KB
January 29th, 2011
1:15 pm
How about a long-term solution: free vasectomies (for any male). Seriously.
the truth
January 29th, 2011
1:19 pm
The first thing we have to do is stop making excuses. Major changes are needed in minority cultures. First, the marriage rate has to increase above 20 percent. To many kids are growing up without dads. Place a value on marriage. Value education more. Sadly, many kids don’t have a strong academic push. You can have a school full of black teachers, but if the structure isn’t there, nothing changes. Oh by the way, I thought we figured out in the 60’s that skin color should not be a factor in hiring. Can’t have it both ways.
ga tech 92
January 29th, 2011
1:20 pm
I’m a fan of teachers and especially good ones and getting rid of the bad ones. I’m not a fan of hiring quotas based on race or sex though…that’s racist and sexist. Let the best teachers teach, regardless of the color of their skin or their gender!
TheRog
January 29th, 2011
1:22 pm
Good luck on finding any men to be teachers with the kind of testing/pay/tenure/evaluation/lack of administrative support baloney that is coming from the so-called “reformers” and politicians. I know I’m counting down the days until I can retire. I would NEVER become a teacher in today’s political climate.
catlady
January 29th, 2011
1:22 pm
BTW, my younger daughter ended up as a math/astrophysics degree-holder, in large part, because of two MALE teachers (both fathers of daughters) who were absolutely convinced that women have a “place” in those disciplines. I don’t think color is the key, but the absolute conviction, expressed every day in every way, that students (male/female/black/white/whatever) are limited by their own actions, rather than having to fit what society thinks they “should” be capable of.
Chris
January 29th, 2011
1:28 pm
Are you kidding? More black mean to teach? Does he not see what poor leaders black people make? APD, Atlanta mayors, Obama, Clayton County Schools, Grady (before a white guy fixed it), DeKalb Schools, etc. There is a reason you don’t see many black Presidents of companies, CEO’s, teachers, doctors, pilots, etc.
Chris
January 29th, 2011
1:28 pm
men, not mean.
ga tech 92
January 29th, 2011
1:29 pm
Helena – I’ve considered becoming a math teacher many times. What you described is one of the main reasons I didn’t do it. Also the general perseption that somehow it’s “if you can’t do, teach”. Also the BS politics that keep teachers from being able to really teach and the kids rule the room in ways that wasn’t the case 20-30 years ago.
the truth
January 29th, 2011
1:29 pm
You can’t have a criminal record and teach. Maybe we should take shows like gangland, locked up, 16 and
pregnant and skins off TV. Kids are being poisoned with that trash. Don’t make the criminal lifestyle cool to kids. Maybe we should consider other children than just blacks sometimes. Why do they score lower than Hispanic kids that also come from poverty and have a language barrier. Blacks have to make changess more than excuses or nothing will change.
Toto: Exposing naked body scanners...
January 29th, 2011
1:44 pm
HEADS UP AT HARTSFIELD:
I look forward to Arne Duncan having to pass through the NOW REQUIRED naked body scanner! A LITTLE DOSE OF BACK SCATTER RADIATION NEVER HURT NOBODY! According to an eye witness account, the DOMESTIC FLIGHT security now herds ALL passengers through what appears to be a metal detector….BUT IT IS REALLY THE BODY SCANNER! No option is given to avoid it for a pat down. I HOPE OLE’ ARNE DOESN’T HAVE A PACEMAKER OR ARTIFICIAL HIP. He just might get zapped REAL GOOD!
ARNE GO HOME AND TAKE THOSE DAM* NAKED BODY SCANNERS WITH YOU. I’M SURE BIG SIS COULD USE THEM FOR A TANNING BED!
ARNE GO HOME!
BIG SIS GO HOME!
OBAMA GO HOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE FROM!
tim
January 29th, 2011
1:45 pm
Ho Hum……ANOTHER column on NEEDING MORE BLACK THIS or BLACK THAT……
More black men need to LEARN before they TEACH.
C.Tucker
January 29th, 2011
1:46 pm
That’s a joke…right?
Aquagirl
January 29th, 2011
1:53 pm
If we want more black men available to teach, maybe we could stop locking them all up for selling drugs to willing white people.
ABC
January 29th, 2011
1:56 pm
Maybe if more AA men stayed around to raise their children none of this would be an issue. And I blame AA women just as much for this problem.
Chris
January 29th, 2011
1:59 pm
Aquagirl are you that big of a moron? Just as many black people do drugs as white. At least white people don’t kill everyone, rob stores, sell drugs, etc. Pathetic thugs. This world would be a much better place without you people.
SSTeacher
January 29th, 2011
2:21 pm
The more I read about this guy, the more of a swindler and panderer he seems to me. The way he is treating current teachers (of any color) in an oppressive and disrespectful manner, why would a minority male seek to be under the rule of this man of no color?
Aquagirl
January 29th, 2011
2:24 pm
OK, let’s not throw black men in jail for selling drugs to black people either. I’m all for locking guys of any color up when they rob, rape, steal, and murder. (Except ones who should go straight to the gurney like that creep who was executed this week.) But if they’re selling drugs to another consenting adult, why spend money on incarceration and make them unemployable felons?
And what “you people” would we be better off without? Please, clarify. Inquiring minds want to know.
INDEED
January 29th, 2011
2:33 pm
I am a black male teacher in a notorious metro Atlanta county school system that is always in trouble. Yes, the low pay, more work-beatdown continues day in and day out. It is definitely not the IQ of African American students that is causing the problem. It is the lackadaisical, cell phone happy, overly social, non-achieving attitudes that some of these students bring with them from an absentee father, dysfunctional home. it usually happens like this: when an African American male like myself comes in with discipline, they become angry and combative because they are so used to being babied by females in their home environment. If there were more Black males in the classroom, i honestly don’t know if it would even do any good because it seems both the female and male students seem to respond better to females in the classroom which is more of a reflection of what they deal with in dysfunctional homes. Yes, that is the politically incorrect, big white elephant that no one in the Black community wants to talk about. Until this issue is solved, no amount of differentiated instruction, or any other methodology is going to help.
Mikey D
January 29th, 2011
2:36 pm
@Maureen:
“A handful of districts are doing this in a thoughtful, creative way in partnership with labor and management working together.”
You don’t think he was talking about any districts in Georgia, do you? According to the Perdue-Hames mindset, labor (the teachers) doesn’t deserve any place at the table in the development of reform ideas.
Chris
January 29th, 2011
2:36 pm
Well you can call me a “racist” but I just go by the facts. 99% of the time there is a murder, it is done by a black person. There are more blacks in jail then in college. Black people carry guns to “da club” for whatever reason. Black people like to break in and steal from hard working people who own shops in the city. God forbid they actually get a job and EARN money. Black people also enjoy breaking into homes in nice areas. White people are far from perfect but at least they don’t do a lot of what I mentioned. Look at Atlanta. When it was a “white” city, it was safe, everyone lived and went downtown, there was little crime, etc. Now it is black and look at it. Black people took down Buckhead and now are working on Atlantic Station. Why???
Ole Guy
January 29th, 2011
2:49 pm
Indeed an excellent idea. Remember, however, that excellent ideas…COST MONEY!
APS Teacher for now
January 29th, 2011
2:56 pm
I don’t believe more Black men need to be in the classroom. More African American men need to lead and support their families. They need to stop getting Shanaynay and Kashasha pregnant at 14 and 15 and then Jane and Samantha too. It’s ridiculous. Only people who want to teach and who are trained and committed to the profession should teach. There are so many pregnant African American girls pregnant by Black “men” who are already in poverty. The 14 year olds have babies at home.
To the brain dead gentleman…nobody is interested in stories about dead white people and crappy science by other dead white people. Life is about relationships… We humans still don’t get it and the continuous wars are a testament to our folly. Fiddlesticks
Aquagirl
January 29th, 2011
3:00 pm
Chris, I don’t think it’s racist to note blacks (men especially) commit crimes at a higher rate. It’s a fact and unless people stop running and hiding and screaming “racist” every time it’s brought up, we won’t get anywhere. But it might be nice to ask “why?” Unless you think they are genetically programmed to do so, it’s an environmental factor. Who or what causes that factor(s) is another discussion. I think at least part is the cycle of locking up black men, which removes them from the community and certainly doesn’t make them better fathers, citizens, and—to get back on the topic—teachers.
Some people whine that drug dealers should stop selling. Ironically these people often worship capitalism. If there is a demand, there will be a supply. We blame the suppliers rather than just admit Americans love their drugs.
Latina & Legal
January 29th, 2011
3:15 pm
More Black, Hispanics and Asians teachers are needed everywhere. The US population no longer looks like the Beaver Family, but most of our public school teachers and administrators do.
MannyT
January 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Just an observation.
How might this blog influence anyone interested in teaching as a profession? I peek in sometimes. It looks like the angry folks outnumber the happy folks by a large amount. Hard to convince people to go into a profession where there are so many critics and frustrated professionals.
I do agree that a more diverse pool of teachers is probably a good thing. It sounds like it is a hard sell to get good, new teachers to join the profession regardless of race, gender, etc.
BravesFan79
January 29th, 2011
3:41 pm
You know how many Murders a majority white place like North Dakota has for the ENTIRE year!?
13 !! And thats a record that was just set. In a majority black place like Atlanta, or New Orleans, thats usually the # of murders every 2 weeks. This is why teaching your kids white racial pride is just as important as Mexicans teaching their kids Mexican pride.
Penny
January 29th, 2011
4:19 pm
Good luck with this. As an African American women myself. I find it very difficult to find a decent African American man to stay with me and my kids. Im starting to believe WB DuBoise and the talented tenth, at least in the dating world, lol! At this point I dont care what shade he is, light, dark, you know? Lol.
Educator at heart
January 29th, 2011
4:19 pm
@Chris. Before you start racist quotes of crime statistics, please check your statistics. Below are the factual statistics nationwide by the FBI Crime National Statistics database. As you can see, your comments were based on stereotypical prejudice versus actual factual data. Education for all people assist in the ability to assess facts based on qualified research. This helps our country and nation grow.
Offense charged
White Black
TOTAL 7,389,208 3,027,153
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 4,741 4,801
Forcible rape 10,644 5,319
Robbery 43,039 55,742
Aggravated assault 209,922 111,904
Burglary 155,994 74,419
Larceny-theft 719,983 306,625
Motor vehicle theft 39,077 23,184
Arson 7,085 2,154
Violent crime2 268,346 177,766
Property crime2 922,139 406,382
Other assaults 672,865 332,435
Forgery and counterfeiting 44,730 21,251
Embezzlement 9,208 4,429
Stolen property 51,953 29,357
Vandalism 157,723 48,746
John
January 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
@Educator at heart, you are not proving your point when you consider that African American’s make up 13-14% of the population. Yikes, those stats are not good!
Marc
January 29th, 2011
4:25 pm
@ Educator at Heat – Is that correct? Blacks make up 14% of the US population, but account for 40% of crimes committed. Your stats must be wrong, please double check!
YG&B
January 29th, 2011
4:33 pm
@Chris – I am going to assume that you write to incite and that you cannot possibly be as ignorant and racist as your comments come across. Those who refuse to grow and learn are usually the first to rant and rave about getting rid of an entire population. It also appears that the anonymity of a blog encourages some to say things that they probably would never have the courage to say face to face. I pray that your sphere of influence is small and no young impressionable children are under your guidance and direction.
Educator at heart
January 29th, 2011
4:37 pm
@ Chris. The table did not post clear. I am reposting so that you can see the statistical data and observe how off target you really are. Let’s see if this works with posting… Because this post will go into cyberland, I have placed the statistics for the white population on top, and the statistics for the black population on the bottom so that you can easily compare. You will note that you are so off on your data that it is ridiculous that you even made such a statement. Check your data before making these types of comments.
Offense charged
White
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 4,741
Forcible rape 10,644
Robbery 43,039
Aggravated assault 209,922
Burglary 155,994
Larceny-theft 719,983
Motor vehicle theft 39,077
Arson 7,085
Violent crime2 268,346
Property crime2 922,139
Other assaults 672,865
Forgery and counterfeiting 44,730
Embezzlement 9,208
Stolen property 51,953
Vandalism 157,723
CRIME BLACK
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 4,801
Forcible rape 5,319
Robbery 55,742
Aggravated assault 111,904
Burglary 74,419
Larceny-theft 306,625
Motor vehicle theft 23,184
Arson 2,154
Violent crime2 177,766
Property crime2 406,382
Other assaults 332,435
Forgery and counterfeiting 21,251
Embezzlement 4,429
Stolen property; 29,357
Vandalism 48,746
Penny
January 29th, 2011
4:39 pm
Please don’t pay Chris no attention. People like him just try to get everyone all worked up and respond to his junk. He just a little boy who got nothing better to do than aggravate folks.
Educator at heart
January 29th, 2011
4:46 pm
The comment was posted to show that 99% of the murders in this country are NOT committed by the Black population. The original post by Maureen was sharing the agenda by Arne Duncan to encourage more Black mentoring in the classroom. I agree that this is a positive strategy to strengthen the educational goals of our nation, provide positive role models for all children, and decrease the continued social problems created by hundreds of years of lack of opportunity for African Americans. Our nation has made progress, but it is still a long road to climb for there to be equality. Stereotypical views of African Americans is a sad commentary and does nothing but perpetuate discrimination in our county.
Educator at heart
January 29th, 2011
4:46 pm
@Penny. You are so correct!
Tom C.
January 29th, 2011
5:02 pm
The white crime rates that you cite in your statistics also includes everyone but blacks including asians and hispanics. This inclusion inflates the white crime rate.
another comment
January 29th, 2011
5:07 pm
Last year, when Cobb County did their ridiculous firing of 700 teachers and hiring of 500+ back the next week. At Campbell High School the lame Principal let go 10 of the 17 Math teachers including the only black male teacher. As he told me he wasn’t going to quiver and beg for his job back when they reposted 8 of the 10. This numnut of the Principal had given the ten teachers all identical rating with a needs improvement rating, with a “doesn’ t effectively use technology” . This is in a school that only has 03 Power Point on their Computers, so what Technolgy are they talking about.
This black mail teach is now teaching down south of Macon and working on his PHD so he can teach at the college level.
How many more morons and insecure administrators will we have first.
devildog0300
January 29th, 2011
5:13 pm
I wonder what military instructors do differently. African American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines seem to learn their jobs well. Many instructors are black, hispanic and asian as well as white. Maybe we can learn something by watching how they teach in service schools.
ScienceTeacher671
January 29th, 2011
5:49 pm
@drew(former teacher) – of course it’s always been that way. 100 years ago it was about helping immigrants assimilate, teaching them American values, and keeping children off the streets and out of the factories.
Latina & Legal
January 29th, 2011
5:52 pm
@devildog0300 the difference is in the discipline policy and its enforcement.
Rationaled
January 29th, 2011
5:55 pm
Prominent educator at UGA, who happens to be black, once told me the following (and I summarize here..) when I asked him about the problem of having a disproportionate amount of white teachers in predominantly african american school districts –
“Why would I ever tell an african american male or female that is smart enough to graduate from college to go into education? They can make far more money in another industry and work just as hard being just as qualified.” He was speaking to a group of educators….and basically telling them that they were wasting their lives. He worked in the COLLEGE of ED at UGA and was pushing black educators AWAY from the program because he thought they could do far better with a degree in business and/or journalism from the same school…and Arne wants to make a difference…sure he does. He wants his picture in the paper so that when he runs for congress he’ll have an easier time with name recognition.
Sped Teacher
January 29th, 2011
6:10 pm
Most of the black children (general ed students as well as special ed students) that I teach are more than capable of doing their work. The problem is that it just isn’t “cool” to be smart. I find myself biting my tongue when I should be praising a student. I have found that when I praise a black student (mostly the boys), they tend to shut down and refuse to do their work. Instead, I encourage them, and offer to help them catch up in a nonchalant way. Several of them do come to my room during homeroom to complete classwork from the day before or to finish homework that wasn’t done the night before. Even when they do come to my room, it doesn’t always guarantee they will do their work. IF there are others in my room already working, they will suddenly decide not to do their work and will make excuses why they can’t do it all of a sudden. Our school now has ‘advisement’ once a month to help students learn to make right choices. We are using Coach Wooden’s program. While I’m not knocking this program, I find myself stressing when it is advisement time simply because I don’t know how I’m going to fit everything into an already packed day. In order to have time for advisement, 30 minutes of one of our class periods has to be altered. I am rambling, but my point is that parents have to take their roles seriously; they need to parent so we can teach. I absolutely love what I do and never dread going to school every day. I love my students and enjoy them immensely. Unfortunately, there are days that a “come to Jesus meeting” is in order simply because I may need to remind students that it isn’t nice to talk about their “mamas” and they don’t have to buck up and show their fists just because someone accidentally ran into them in the crowded hallway. I agree with others…it doesn’t matter how much we differentiate or teach using the the latest method; until these children can come to school with a full tummy and feel safe at home, we will not be able to address their needs. When they have the weight of the world on their shoulders before they even step into the school each morning, don’t expect them to have their minds ready to learn. It doesn’t matter what color their teacher is at this point.
Latina & Legal
January 29th, 2011
6:16 pm
@ Chris—the racial profile of a pedophile in this country is middle aged White men.
Stop the "internal bleeding' in the Black community
January 29th, 2011
6:18 pm
Check this blog for the need to stop the “internal bleeding” in the Black community: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/black-womens-health-and-happiness. And the author of that blog has a new book for Black women’s health, LIving Well, Despite Cathcing H***, in which she asks for Black men who “lead, read, respect and protect.”
Much of the lack in the Black community stems from the mindset of man young Black men…and some young Black ladies who join in and behave badly. MLK and others beckoned the race to a better life. But there are many Blacks who are doing fantastic things; we unfortunately only hear about, or magnify, the negative. But young Black men do need to get their act together. Pathetic.
NOW…Whites have “internal bleeding,” too: meth, mass killings, choking game. EACH community needs to remedy its own ills.
APS Teacher for now
January 29th, 2011
6:40 pm
@Indeed…I am battling with those same kids that you have. Every child in my class except two (2) are either a discipline problem or a combination of discipline issues and low comprehension. I am stern and they are combative for 15-20 min each day. Getting them to stay on task takes a Herculean effort. I get frustrated but I refuse to give up. I’ve been teaching 28+ years and I am determined that these Black and Hispanic children will learn. Can you believe it? I got my first Hispanic cut ups in this 90% Black High School this year. Wow! I had never seen that before.
I can see the Retirement Light at the end of the tunnel so it helps. These children don’t care if you are male or female, Black or White – they have no home training. Daddy isn’t there to help momma raise them and teach them how to respect adults, their peers and themselves. And they keep having babies. They keep having babies and they have no money, no diploma and a lot of frustration passed on and internalized by their kids.
It is a shame that people have so little understanding of education.
Dr. Proud Black Man
January 29th, 2011
6:53 pm
The problem? Lack of discipline. The solution? Simply ENFORCE the rules in your school handbook. Why isn’tthis done? Usually at the top of the leadership chain you have a “Queen Bee” type administrator. This is usually a heavy set “churchified” woman with extensive ties to the community that her school services. Instead of holding students to academic and behavior standards she is quick to make excuses for “her children,” and quick to remind the classroom teacher of “issues” that these “children” are having at home. Unfortunately since black men and women are in a undeclared war with each other, mix in a healthy dose of misandry and you will see why there are few black men in the classroom. “The soft bigotry of low expectations.” W was right on this one.
Ashley
January 29th, 2011
6:55 pm
Yes I agree this world does need more black male teachers, but before we climb that mountain why don’t we tackle the absentee rate of responsible black fathers in the home!
JayDuce
January 29th, 2011
7:08 pm
I am a black, male teacher. I teach because it’s a passion for me. Do I like all the baggage that comes with the job? Nope. However, it’s a ministry for me. Every person is called to do something on this planet. No governmental agency can force someone into something as grueling as teaching. Individuals have to WANT to be an educator.
Of course, increasing salaries would be a good place to start if they want to recruit “the best and the brightest.” Otherwise, they are going to be just spinning their wheels.
Top School
January 29th, 2011
7:09 pm
And you don’t think there is a RACE problem…
Don’t miss the musical BRING IT ON!
Playing at the Alliance Theater…My friends wrote it and mixed in some APS humor…OPENING NIGHT WAS LAST NIGHT…
Oh! so Atlanta…
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Musical Top Girl meets Top School-Cross the Line with rezoning and redistricting, North vs. South, Awards, Faking your way to the TOP, and the political power of the board members. BRING IT ON captures the challenges of APS and Dekalb schools. The perfect combination of elementary/high school drama on the NORTHSIDE of Atlanta. Story told by my friends. Jackson school has crossed the line…And Top Girl/School takes the award. aew!
APS Teacher for now
January 29th, 2011
7:09 pm
Oh gosh Dr. Proud Black man, “where dey do dat at”? My school has a thin white male administrator. I am not at war with Black men. They’re just not into my type; I’m not a “Redbone.” Therefore, I ignore them except to have polite and intelligent conversations. I am amazed at the students in my class and I am saddened by their actions. I still write their little selves up, whatever…And, they will get an F if they fail. However, I am trying to teach them and keep them out of the failure categories.
I can’t give up on my race no matter how forlorn things may look. I have to try.
Tonya C.
January 29th, 2011
7:16 pm
I said this in the previous entry on this subject but it bears repeating again:
This event with Spike Lee won’t do anything! As the spouse of a black male teacher, I told my husband that had I known he was going to teach I probably wouldn’t have given him the time of day. It’s a taxing education environment today, and even more so for minority male teachers. And the belief that these men will replace the lack of male role models in these children’s lives is an added burden for many too face, especially those with families of their own. Then combine that with the low pay and a pension that requires a minimum of 10 years of service to be vested, and it’s just not a lucrative field for many.
My husband is expected to be a father, uncle, and big brother to many of his students. That is draining when I still need him to be a husband and father at home. He is fantastic at it, but after only three years is considering what else he can do with his soon-to-have Masters degree.
Ben
January 29th, 2011
7:30 pm
Never really thought about it until reading this blog but in 16 years of education I never had a black teacher/professor, male or female. There surely are plenty of educated black men out there who are qualified to reach, the trick is recruiting and retention. One in fifty really is absurd.
Having spent a career in government I believe a big part of the problem is the heavy emphasis that has been put on hiring females to achieve diversity. Where I am hiring/promoting males, white black or any other color, is not encouraged.
Ed Johnson
January 29th, 2011
7:42 pm
Can someone please explain why our federal government is promoting “race”-based identity?
Allow me to tell a story. A few years back I happened by chance to be in the presence of an Atlanta high school student, male, when I overheard him boast to others: “I am a rising ‘urban’ student!” Hearing that struck a chord, so I engaged him.
“Excuse me, young man, may I ask you are question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you consider yourself mostly a) “urban,” b) “African-American,” or c) human being?”
Sadly, he did not choose c, human being. It deeply struck me that perhaps APS had indoctrinated the kid to know himself only in terms of “race.”
Now, Obama’s Duncan’s focus on “race” identity can only further the inane culture that tells black kids to aspire to nothing they don’t see a “black” role model promoting, that a “white” person cannot possibly be a role model for the “black” child. Nonsense, plain and simple.
By the way, Scott Crossfield was one of my teenage-years greatest “role models,” in spite of “racial” segregation, at the time (http://www.acepilots.com/planes/x15.html).
Earlier, it was Gene Audrey and Roy Rogers; got their autographed pictures. And Superman still is a great role model for any kid.
Content of character, folks. Content of character. Wasn’t that the premise?
Katz P Ajamas
January 29th, 2011
7:48 pm
As long as seniority is rewarded and merit ignored, few self respecting men will choose teaching as a career.
APS Teacher for now
January 29th, 2011
7:52 pm
How much do Construction folks make, welders, plumbers and the like? Booker T. Washington said Black Folks needed to know a trade, something that would always provide cash flow. Are half of these guys Black or for that matter, White women, I think not. This is so much broader than teaching. I have 3 nephews who are truck drivers and they are married and take care of their families. Two others are in the computer field and several are lawyers and doctors. Teaching does not appeal to them. The low pay often attracted only single women who later would marry and have this supplemental income. Well times have changed. With all the crap going on in teaching, you have to really want to do this. I agree with the person who says it has to call you. Beware today in Georgia though, you may not want to answer the phone.
hibby
January 29th, 2011
8:20 pm
I am an african american male who taught elementary school for 13 years prior to going into administration. I enjoy teaching and look at my current position as one that teachers the teachers as an educational leader in my school. I have always heard the saying, “Oh it’s great that you are teaching.” “That’s nice.” “Teachers don’t make any money why do you do it?” It is a calling and I learned long ago it is not how much you make but what you do with the money you earn. If most americans lived below their means our county wouldn’t be in the position we are in now. (Maybe another blog topic as to how teachers manage their money). When the kah said that we are only interested if coaching or teaching sports is involved is following their deep seeded ingnorance of educators. I have a greater impact on instruction now than I did as a teacher. Yes I do miss the classroom and have co-taught with some of my teachers this year. It is important to mentor all teachers and groom them to be successful. Yes I would love to see more african american men in the classroom because we bring a different experience to the educational experiment. We all don’t come from broken homes or sports backgrounds.
oldtimer
January 29th, 2011
8:33 pm
Indeed…Bless you. You do not know when or where you will make a difference, but you will. Keep your chin up. You are doing God’s work. And everything you said is true. I saw it before I retired.
Tonya C.
January 29th, 2011
8:44 pm
Hibby:
That’s beautiful and eloquent, but waxing poetic won’t pay GA power. We live fairly frugally, but have children to raise. With increasing insurance premiums and increasing bills, not possible. This school year my husband made $35,120. I am the queen of coupons and generics, have sacrificed the few things I did for myself, shopped thrift and garage sales, and we STILL couldn’t make ends meet. I am patient and couldn’t imagine life without my mate, but two of his black male co-workers have divorced in the last year—correlated to their teaching incomes.
I was offered a job for more than my husband makes a year, with a high school diploma. You’ve got to see the irony in that.
oldtimer:
You make me laugh with your stories of how others have it worse. Really? That should be really disturbing to you as a professional.
Education is a BUSINESS. Teachers are the building block of our society, and should be treated as such. But until you speak as a collective for your rights and realize that you are professionals and not priests, it won’t be a lucrative field to a generation that has watched the blanket of security snatched from so many.
chris
January 29th, 2011
9:06 pm
I seen many good black male teachers, but do get in trouble like white men do with female establishment in Teaching. Not a very male job in the south. Kinda a pc statement, why not more mexican male teachers? Bottom line is we need more males in teaching period of all races.
Toto: Exposing naked body scanners...
January 29th, 2011
9:16 pm
Dear Arne,
Born again Christians are way ahead of the curve. My boys have both hispanic (home schooled) and black (former prison record) youth pastors who are Godly, awesome men! Our congregation has always been culturally diverse. We are united under the power of Jesus Christ, who has the power to change lives. When you threw God out of the public schools, the power of change went too. IT’S A SPIRITUAL PROBLEM!
Now look who’s in charge:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf9loz_willow-smith-whip-my-hair-official_music
chris
January 29th, 2011
9:24 pm
By the way I’m a different and nonrascist chris. Nothing wrong more black men in the classroom, but also more of everything.
Dave
January 29th, 2011
9:36 pm
drew (former teacher) – They need you in Washington for a reality check on the state of our educational nightmare. Only have one thing to add – breakfast program. When parents willingly send their kids to school everyday with empty stomachs, what does that tell you? How hard is it to make a kid a breakfast of cereal, fruit and a piece of toast? Ever hear of Maslow’s hiearchy of needs. When kids don’t eat they don’t compete, then it’s the teachers fault. Talk about child neglect.
Fire Bad Teachers
January 29th, 2011
10:50 pm
Why not just a call for more GOOD TEACHERS? We should demand this from our teacher preparation programs and no double standards.
Maureen Downey
January 29th, 2011
11:07 pm
@cHRIS, Arne Duncan also talked about the lack of Hispanic male teachers. Black and Hispanic male teachers account for 3.5 percent of the US teaching force, he said.
And to all, Duncan says we need more black teachers, more male teachers and more good teachers in general. But the point is that he is going to Morehouse College Monday and is speaking to an audience of black males so his focus will be on the need for black men in teaching posts.
Maueen
Scooter
January 29th, 2011
11:09 pm
1. To clarify – the Gateway test no longer exists in Gwinnett. Students take the CRCT. It is called a gateway if the student must pass it for promotion.
2. Is there really a job that doesn’t have its own set of frustrations? But how many professions allow you the opportunity to truly make a difference in the life of another human being? If I had chosen my career based on how much money I thought I would make, I doubt I would have been as fulfilled. I have been an educator for 15 years. Yes, there have been hard days, long nights planning and grading, frustrating parents, difficult students, etc. And that is just fine because there are the former students I see teaching now, others who come back to say I made a difference, and that is what matters to me. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
3. It has already been said, but it is the teacher quality that matters, not the color of the teacher’s skin.
5150 UOAD
January 29th, 2011
11:16 pm
Teach WHAT?
How to get a hood rat preggers and leave her to pass the child to Grandmom? The AA culture is very different from the Anglo culture. AA teen girls have no fear of passing their babies to their moms and having a 40yr old Grandma raise a kid. It is almost expected or condoned. AA men have never been expected to be a role model until the child is a teen. It is the TRIBLE culture that they still live by with American money to fund it. The Ghetto culture is a JOKE, but MTV and other mediums are still trying to make it COOL. 78% of black males are nothing to respect even if they are rich. They got RICh off acting the Ghetto Thug. Black Women accept this and really Respect this. The AA woman wants the Baddest Bro in the Hood to Choose her to be his B…/ Baby Momma.
5150 UOAD
January 29th, 2011
11:21 pm
The best Black male teachers nee to be 50+ yrs old and married. If they are not then I don’t buy the crap they are selling. A couple in our Sunday School calss are grandparents and they are rasing 5 count it 5 grand kids form their children. She holds a Masters from Spielman(?) amd he is a Howard Man. Their children are well educated too, but they passed the grand children to the grnd parents. I can’t respect that type of MAN to teach public school kids. I bet the same man you are talking about thinke the US is a Democracy too.
Toto: Exposing naked body scanners...
January 29th, 2011
11:31 pm
Here’s a great video about a white family who really knows the art of living well. We could all learn from them – schools too. I think we should plow up the football fields and have the students start growing FOOD.
See urban farmers……
http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/community/sustainable-family-outside-la—-keeping-it-extra-real.html
DMACK
January 30th, 2011
12:11 am
Poor Chris…..his black girlfriend broke up with him. I agree, the world would be better off without people like you……Please leave a note when you shoot yourself in the head…….
Nikole
January 30th, 2011
12:29 am
I graduated from Spelman in 2004, and Morehouse did not have a teaching program then. In fact, the entire AUC was supposed to get together to form a teaching program, as Spelman was going to get rid of their program.
ND
January 30th, 2011
2:14 am
Every time some dumbass white supremacist like Chris shows up to spew his easily disproven propaganda, hit him with a little bit of this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/opinion/09nisbett.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Educator at heart
January 30th, 2011
3:09 am
“Most important, we know that interventions at every age from infancy to college can reduce racial gaps in both I.Q. and academic achievement, sometimes by substantial amounts in surprisingly little time. This mutability is further evidence that the I.Q. difference has environmental, not genetic, causes. And it should encourage us, as a society, to see that all children receive ample opportunity to develop their minds.” excerpt from “All Brains are the Same Color”
Peter Smagorinsky
January 30th, 2011
5:54 am
Goodness, this one really got the racists to come out of the woodwork.
Just a brief remark about Duncan’s remark that “This is a national problem and one in which most schools of education have not shown leadership or foresight.” A college of education can only recruit students who’ve been admitted to the university in the first place. So it’s part of a general recruitment problem. Here’s an excerpt from something I’m currently writing that puts the issues in perspective:
The University of Georgia, where I teach, is similar to many state namesake institutions in that it is attended primarily by White students of comfortable levels of affluence. It further ranks last among the United States’ 50 flagship universities in the percentage of minority and impoverished high school graduates it enrolls: Nearly 40 percent of Georgia high school graduates in 2007 were Black, Latino, or Native American, yet less than 10 percent of UGA’s freshman class emerged from these minority demographics (Haycock, Lynch, & Engle, 2010).
This dominant culture population in turn provides the pool from which the College of Education draws its teacher candidates. Guarino, Santibañez, and Daley (2006), in their comprehensive review of research on teacher recruitment and retention, find that over 70% of all people choosing teaching as a profession are women. Further, they summarize a variety of studies of the demographic makeup of the teaching population and find that the profession is roughly 85% White. Racially categorized pass rates on the Praxis licensure exams, according to one study (Gitomer, Latham, & Ziomek, 1999), suggest that “the teacher applicant pool was disproportionately White before testing, so the effect of testing was to make an already homogeneous pool even more so” (Guarino et al., 2006, p. 180). In my 20+ years of teaching certification courses, I have averaged about one non-White student a year, which no doubt follows from the winnowing of potential candidates at the university’s initial admissions level and whatever factors contribute to career decisions in students’ first two years of general education coursework.
You can’t recruit people who aren’t there to begin with, and it’s hard to be sure that any effort to recruit at the high school level will produce students who will eventually choose that major. So it would be a very low-return effort to recruit at the high school level, and the pool from which we might recruit after enrollment is relatively small. Catch-22.
Fred
January 30th, 2011
6:45 am
@Indeed
“It is the lackadaisical, cell phone happy, overly social, non-achieving attitudes that some of these students bring with them from an absentee father, dysfunctional home.”
Your quote speaks volumes. Unfortunately, that’s the standard across all of society today.I think you hit the nail on the head.
Jack
January 30th, 2011
6:56 am
It starts at home. We all know that. It matters not the color of the teacher or mentor: if a child doesn’t receive nurturing, encouragement and geniune love at home, the child is handicapped for life; handicapped in school, the job market and handicapped in becoming a responsible parent.
PappyHappy
January 30th, 2011
7:47 am
When will John Lewis start speaking to the need of Black fathers taking part in their child’s rearing and schooling? It is going to be near impossible for your Black boys and young men to have a constant role model while in school (maybe a couple of hours a day, five days a week), when there is no male in the home. John Lewis is not the only one — there are many Black leaders who seem to avoid the most single obvious problem — too many Black men shirking their duties as a father, and FAILING TO PROVIDE CHILD SUPPORT!!
Guess the bigger question is: WHERE IS THE VOICE OF BLACK LEADERSHIP?
Joe 6-Pack Public
January 30th, 2011
9:13 am
Thomas Jefferson was simply wrong. His idea of “free” education for all was – and still is – utopian.
Probably won’t happen, but schooling needs to go private. Competition will make for better schools.
Ah, but then, what to do, out of “fairness” for those who cannot (or will not) pay their own way in society? Why the dear government must solve all of their problems of course.
Obama is in the unique position to echo Bill Cosby’s message that the black men need to step up in their own homes and communities, but I don’t see Obama preaching that gospel anytime soon.
Obama could help the black youth see that growing up to be Mike Vick or a gansta rap star is not the wise thing to plan on, but he’s too busy polishing his image.
APS Teacher for now
January 30th, 2011
9:35 am
Black women give birth to Black men. That hasn’t changed. Until the mother of the child is educated and not an enabler, nothing will change. “The truth shall set you free.”.
dawgfan
January 30th, 2011
9:44 am
Why in the hell would anyone want to be a teacher anymore? They get blamed for everything and make absolutely no money. No black man, white man, yellow man, or purple man in his right mind is going to enter this profession until this changes.
Thanks.
Fire Bad Teachers
January 30th, 2011
10:04 am
@Peter Smagorinsky
I do not have the answer, but attempting to blame the Praxis for further reducing the applicant pool is irresponsible. Is is better to have a minority teacher or a qualified teacher? If pass rates are lower for minorities on the certification test, why? Have those students entered programs to meet quotas rather than entering based on merit? Have they been treated differently and passed along through college?
I recently took the K-5 Praxis and passed with flying colors. I have never taken an elementary education course. I bought a study guide at Barnes and Noble and read it the night before the test. To my dismay, while waiting for the test I spoke with scores of UGA College of Education graduates who were attempting to pass the exam for the third of fourth time. I told the graduates I would take my diploma back and ask for a refund. Why is one of the most prominent colleges of education in our state unable to prepare qualified teachers in four to five years?
APS Teacher for now
January 30th, 2011
10:10 am
Young Black women have to be taught that it is not ok to have babies at 12, 13, and 14. Bristol Palin should not be a poster child either. Girls need to graduate from high school before they start these families. I’d be interested in knowing what percentage of the teaching force in the United States is comprised of Black females. I think it is noble of Mr. Dunn to address Morehouse but these guys won’t last in the classroom. They’ll be looking for upward mobility. As a teacher, you only get more money if you get a cost of living raise, a longevity raise or if you get another degree. There is no promotion mechanism. Master Teacher levels 1,2,3,4, and 12 don’t exist. You can try for asst principal, principal, dept chair, instructional coach… Not much space there. And, in APS it’s based on who you know, where you come from (not ATL please), and how young you are.
Let these Morehouse men be Construction Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Investors, Doctors, Professors, Engineers, Homebuilders, Account Execs, Pilots, Hotel owners, Grocery Store Owners, Corporate Farmers, owners of businesses that produce jobs for all people… Just to name a few. And if there are those who want to teach, who have what it takes and are not just taking the 2 or 3 year Peace Corp approach, then by all means recruit them.
Teaching is still a noble profession and I’m glad I took this route. I have no regrets and I would encourage those who care about the plight of African American children to encourage Black, Mixed Race, Asian, White, Hispanic or whatever background or sex to consider teaching if you are qualified and committed.
Kathy
January 30th, 2011
10:25 am
Really, Fire Good Teachers? You took the K-5 Praxis and passed it because you studied it for one night? You are so smart that you bested UGA grads who were re-taking the test? When did this supposedly take place? The state of Georgia has used the GACE exam for several YEARS!!!!
Dumaka
January 30th, 2011
10:44 am
Great, Have a meeting in the middle of the day so positive male educators like myself can’t attend because we are at school. Great planning.
Fire Bad Teachers
January 30th, 2011
10:51 am
@Kathy- You are correct. I took the GACE for K-5 about two years ago at Clarke Central in Athens . I am showing my age. I originally got certified for middle and high school grades by taking the Praxis almost 15 years ago.
The part about the UGA grads taking the GACE numerous times is entirely true. Many of my UGA graduate peers didn’t pass the Praxis on their first or second attempts 15 years ago.
My exeprience with both tests is they covered content at the most basic levels. No true rigor from either certification test.
It is also true that I read through the study guide the night before the test and passed with high scores. The test didn’t cover anything more than basic education theory and content a middle school student could pass.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 30th, 2011
11:12 am
@Joe 6-Pack Public January 30th, 2011 9:13 am
Your comments sounds like a man who is uneducated, immoral, and a racist. Why do “YOU” people have to always bring up President Obama and Michal Vick. You will never be on the level of President Obama or Michael Vick. STOP BEING JEALOUS OF SUCCESSFUL BLACK MEN. You had 300 years to be where they are today.
GET OVER IT!!!!
I have more respect for them than I do for you!!!
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 30th, 2011
11:24 am
@Chris (A RACIST DUMMY)
ALL BRAINS ARE THE SAME COLOR you idiot!!!!
“I.Q. difference has environmental, not genetic, causes. And it should encourage us, as a society, to see that all children receive ample opportunity to develop their minds.”
Fire Bad Teachers
January 30th, 2011
11:25 am
Does anyone know where the GACE pass rates are reported and if they are reported by college?
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 30th, 2011
11:35 am
@BravesFan79 January 29th, 2011 3:41 pm
I REPEAT – THE BRAIN HAS NO COLOR . Stop spewing your racist comments. When you stand in judgement on judgement day, tell God “teaching your kids white racial pride is just as important as Mexicans teaching their kids Mexican pride.”
He will respond – “WHAT ABOUT MY BLACK KIDS?”
Dekalb Teacher
January 30th, 2011
12:15 pm
I’m confused. Why aren’t we starting at the beginning (headstart and title 1 use in elementary schools) instead of looking at the end (a career in a classroom )and just hoping that with the right “mentor” and lots of “encouragement,” these black males(or any socioeconomically and academically disadvantaged)will wind up teaching?
Has Arne Duncan talked at all about revamping Headstart Programs (Maureen, I hope you ask about this)? According to the NYT last fall, there are only two good headstart programs in the country, yet we keep pouring money into these programs. Title 1 funds are equally mispent. According to Jonathan Kozol, since its inception in the late 1960s, title 1 funds have done nothing to improve (at least in any meaningful, measurable way) education for the economically deprived, yet we continue to channel money into this equally ineffective “program” (which appears to have little to no governance if you judge its worthiness in Dekalb).
APS Teacher for now
January 30th, 2011
1:21 pm
@Dekalb Teacher…good points about Headstart. I can’t remember the name of the program now that Ronald Reagan cut out that taught people trades and got them a job after high school. It kept Black young men and women off the street. I remember now…CEATA. I think it paid them while they learned. APS cuts down on Choral, Drama and music programs and wonders about gangs. Everybody can’t play basketball and football. What happened to the Scouts. They wouldn’t be lame if they were started early in most schools. We need safe places for kids and their brothers and sisters to go together with safe transportation home. Girls and Boys Clubs are great but they’re not reaching enough kids.
African American kids are not all “ghetto” and some of them are brought up in middle and upper income homes. A comparison of those test scores for the brain dead gentleman to the general population might be quite an eye opener. I passed the TCT on my first try with A’s across the board in all subjects. I’m Black, so what? My sister had to take the National One in North Carolina and she passed it with flying colors. I went through the Grad teacher program at GSU, and my White and Black professors were the best. She went through the one at Spelman which was tops at one time. It ain’t about the color of your skin. We humans can be so trifling at times. And, we’re all on this planet together.
Disgruntled Employee
January 30th, 2011
1:48 pm
As a black male teacher I have seen the difference that I make in the classroom. However, to ask a black male who may be the first in his family to go to college to be a martyr by becoming a teacher is asking too much. We need to build wealth in the black community and education as a profession is not the way to do that. Treat education as a true profession and you will get better teachers of all colors. Until then if I’m a black male talented in science and math, I’m never going to be an educator.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 30th, 2011
2:01 pm
@Disgruntled Employee January 30th, 2011 1:48 pm
I understand and agree with your feelings. Black male teachers are under appreciated. They are often used as disciplinarians in the schools. They are not valued for their talent. I agree that if a black male who is talented in science and math he can make more money in another field.
Let those who have a passion for teaching teach.
Peter Smagorinsky
January 30th, 2011
2:49 pm
@Fire Bad Teachers,
Please note that I am trying to explain some reasons for why things are as they are, not assign blame as you interpret me to say.
Kah
January 30th, 2011
5:47 pm
To: APS Teacher and Dekalb Teacher,
Thanks for bringing up the Headstart &Title 1 programs…The federal government pumps a lot of money in these programs. It is like putting money in a bag with a “hole” in it.
Headstart is nothing but “babysitting”. I heard in Georgia Headstart programs the teachers can not put up alphabet charts and if a child calls a “circle” a “square”, the teacher can not teach what is correct. Even worse, there are no consequences for children misbehaving. For example, if a child hits another child, the teacher should say to the hitter: make better choices…what…
Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms « Kilroy's delaware
January 30th, 2011
7:42 pm
[...] Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms. [...]
Ami
January 30th, 2011
9:56 pm
I am not sure if the color of their skin is important or as Dr. King put it..the content of their character. I think students should have a male role model as they travel through their school career. In my small town, many of the male teachers only teach a few years before they are the up and coming administrators. There are only a handful of early elementary male teachers. The majority of middle and high school male teachers are coaches or administrators. I have known a few male teachers leave the profession because of budget cuts and begin making more money pursuing other career opportunities. Students need to be influenced by male and female adults. With the cuts in education, I am afraid we will lose many great educators both male and female.
ScienceTeacher671
January 30th, 2011
10:36 pm
“Back in the day” we never had any male elementary school teachers. NEVER. In some of the schools, even the principals were female.
But almost all of us had Daddy at home, and Uncles and Grandpas and maybe even Granduncles just down the road or sometimes also living in our home.
And they all loved us, but they also all knew how to make sure we behaved ourselves.
Dr NO
January 31st, 2011
7:24 am
“Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms”
Well then I guess Mr Duncan is a bigot or would seem the case. Where the same statement made with the substitution of white or oriental or indian for black then all the world would be in a turmoil.
There would be a verbal pandemonium, a tsunami of havoc would crash upon the shores logic.
NO…more black men is not the answer…so sorry “Uncle Arne”, try again.
What’s Happening in Atlanta | Toni's Class
January 31st, 2011
7:31 am
[...] and discussion-provoking blog post on the need for African American men in the [...]
U.S. Education Secretary: We need more Black men in classrooms – ajc.com | The Black Report Archives
January 31st, 2011
7:58 am
[...] Click here to read more BR:Top Headlines | Submit Press Release Tweet [...]
Education updates – Garysworld USA – Jan 31st - GarysWorld USA
January 31st, 2011
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[...] Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms [...]
U.S. Education Secretary: We need more Black men in classrooms – ajc.com | Black News
January 31st, 2011
9:30 am
[...] Click here to read more BR:Top Headlines | Submit Press Release [...]
Tweets that mention Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms | Get Schooled -- Topsy.com
January 31st, 2011
9:46 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Althea A. Fung, Connie Jackson. Connie Jackson said: Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms http://t.co/8W2Y1sN [...]
Dr NO
January 31st, 2011
10:20 am
That little kid is thinking to himself…”Who is this Duncan man? He keep saying 1 + 1 = 11 but I think it = 2.”
EducationCEO
January 31st, 2011
11:47 am
*coughs* Didn’t we hear this last year? Just checking….
Burroughston Broch
January 31st, 2011
12:32 pm
Mr. Duncan is as full of impossible aspirations and plentiful excuses as his boss, President Obama.
What we first need is more discipline and respect in the classroom, regardless of race. I graduated from a Georgia HS as a member of the last lily-white class. The next year the colored schools (the name then) were closed and their students absorbed into the former lily-white schools. I substituted in these schools five years later after graduating university and saw a tremendous change – discipline had gone to hell in a handbasket. A few classes taught me that I didn’t want to substitute any more. All of the problems I experienced were from black kids, and it sounds as if the problem has become endemic to all races now.
Until we are ready to bite the bullet and get rid of the troublemakers, we will continue to have this problem, regardless of the sex and race of the teacher.
Ivan Cohen
January 31st, 2011
1:33 pm
Why are more black men needed in the classrooms? Because communities inhabited by blacks don’t have enough males or none at all. Prison scooped up some because of bad choices. From Monday to Friday where school hours can range from 7:30am to 3:00pm or 8:00am to 2:30pm, the influence of these black men in the classroom will have limitations and frustrations. They cannot take the black male students home with them and the students will not have the presence of black male teachers on the weekends. Diversification in the occupations is needed. For those males who choose the teaching profession, may they be blessed however this society does black males as a whole an injustice by shoe horning them into one profession because there is a void in the lives of black male students. We need more black men in the Chambers of Commerce in every nook and cranny of Georgia. We need more black men on the boards of directors. The color of their skin is important. Black men are not just needed in the classrooms…they are needed in the principal’s office.
Jeff Artis
January 31st, 2011
2:58 pm
Why don’t Black men become teachers? Three reasons. 1) Black men can make more money doing other things in other fields. 2) We say we want strong Black men in the classroom. But we turn around and complain when those strong Black male teachers demand academic excellence by making students come to class on time, making students do the work and making student act right while in school. 3) Black teachers, in general, always seem to get the so-called “problem” students that White teachers don’t get leading to burnout. I am a Black male teacher. I love my job. I look forward to going to work everyday. But, I also understand why Black men say, “No thank you,” when it comes to getting a job in education. I had a dollar for everytime someone said I was too hard or too demanding, I could retire. You can’t have it both ways.
Black kids need options other than sports, rap and the corner | Get Schooled
January 31st, 2011
3:40 pm
[...] panelists laid the groundwork that we already discussed here in the earlier blog based on my telephone interview with Secretary Duncan: Only one in 50 teachers is a black [...]
BlackPride » Blog Archive » Black kids need options other than sports, rap and the corner
January 31st, 2011
3:54 pm
[...] panelists laid a grounds that we already discussed here in the progressing blog formed on my write talk with Secretary Duncan: Only one in 50 teachers is a black [...]
Continuing Education Friday – belated – Staying After School - Wilmington Star News - Wilmington, NC - Archive
January 31st, 2011
4:39 pm
[...] Education Secretary calling on more black males to go into teaching Share and Enjoy: [...]
Terrence Cole
January 31st, 2011
8:14 pm
I feel as a black educated black man that if we as black men were closer to our young to guild them through this part of there lives that we would have a better out come with our children when the become teens, as well as into adulthood! you cant be something you dont know how to be.
@BlackWebSeries
January 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
So what do the HBCUs have to say about this?
Kalonji
February 1st, 2011
1:29 am
We certainly do need more African American men in the classroom! I’ve supported Philadelphia’s system for nine years and quite often not only are you disrespected by students and families but administration is insensitive as well. With the rise of the internet I suggest every parent play a proactive role! Don’t expect the system alone to educate your child. A plethora of information is available here and once you embrace the process of education you should be able to supplement your child’s education regardless! But that requires a parent who’s involved from conception with their child and most times that is lacking in the urban setting. During my early years in between general housewife responsibilities, Mom provided me the basics of reading and writing before I entered the system and I think that initial boost had a tremendous impact on me and that most children will benefit from that. READING IS FUNDAMENTAL!
ARNE DUNCAN ON MONDAY: WE NEED MORE BLACK MEN IN CLASSROOMS « The Jolly Good News
February 1st, 2011
6:04 am
[...] DUNCAN ON MONDAY: WE NEED MORE BLACK MEN IN CLASSROOMS Arne Duncan on Monday: We need more black men in classrooms. st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable [...]
Is Education Still the Way out for Blacks? « popwife
February 1st, 2011
12:25 pm
[...] AJC columnist Maureen Downey recently pointed out that less than 2 percent of the nation’s teachers are African-American males. [...]
Fool for Thought
February 1st, 2011
10:55 pm
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has NEVER been a k-12 teacher. Interesting, huh? The general has never spent a day on the battlefield.
To those considering a career in education: read the comments on teachers floating about the internet, examine teacher’s pay scales (especially across the South), consider the (often) third world working conditions of public schools, consider the fact that precious few of the current leaders in education (like Duncan or Bill Gates) have ever taught in a k-12 classroom.
What does this reveal about society’s regard for teachers skills, time, expertise and education?
If you want to “make a difference” in the lives of children, be creative and choose or create another venue.
If Arne or Spike were teachers, the public would not be listening to them. America’s public schools are little more than testing centers. Classroom teaching in a public school is no longer a viable professional option for thinking individuals who long to inspire students, maintain healthy marriages and support their families. Take it from a 15 year veteran in a public high school classroom.
BlackPride » Blog Archive » Is Education Still the Way out for Blacks? « popwife
February 2nd, 2011
4:05 am
[...] AJC columnist Maureen Downey recently forked out that reduction than 2 percent of a nation’s teachers are African-American males. [...]
Top Black News Headlines – January 31, 2011 | The Black Report Archives
February 2nd, 2011
7:08 am
[...] U.S. Education Secretary: We need more Black men in classrooms [...]
Top Black News Headlines – January 31, 2011 | Black News
February 2nd, 2011
7:41 am
[...] U.S. Education Secretary: We need more Black men in classrooms [...]
Fathers Read » Blog Archive » FRIDAY LINK DUMP: Jim Trelease . . . Dadventure . . . Arne Duncan calls for more men of color . . . the Men Read Program . . . a father’s reflections on reading Harry Potter . . . and more
February 4th, 2011
11:22 am
[...] * In this piece by Maureen Downey, writing for the AJC Get Schooled Blog, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan points at that less than 2 percent of the nation’s teachers are black males: [...]