Droppin' Out: The Real American Crisis

There is a major crisis going on in America. If we do not avert this crisis we may see the destruction of America as we know it. We will no longer be able to compete with other countries, thousands more people will be unemployed, our cities will become centers for poverty, violence and drug addiction.

No, this crisis is not our financial crisis or the collapse of of the auto industry. This crisis is way more severe than either of those. The crisis is the collapse of the urban educational system, a crisis has been swept under the rug by the American media and government for years.

The urban education crisis is hardly a new one. For years the American government has neglected the educational needs of the poor African Americans and Latinos who occupy many of our city centers.

It is no coincidence that the cities with the highest drop out rates also have the highest crime rates and highest murder rates. Students who are unable to obtain quality educations find opportunities in the world of drugs and crime. The cycle continues from one generation to another, in poor neighborhoods with poor schools plagued by crime and no opportunity -- giving birth to another generation with the same problem.

Bailing out the urban educational system is not just a money problem. For too many years Americans have fought against things: communism, drugs, poverty. Isn't it time to fight for something? If Americans are to solve this problem, first we must realize what a major problem it is and realize that the future of our country is at stake. As with most problems, the solution must come from hard work and innovation as well as funding.

By bailing out the urban education system we would not only reduce the crime rate, relieve our overcrowded jails, and provide jobs for inner cities, we will also be breaking the cycle that keeps poor people of color in the same neighborhoods, repeating the same cycles of violence, drugs and poverty.

We have seen the heights a person of color can reach when given the proper education and opportunities in Barack Obama. How many future leaders, innovators, artists and businessman turn to crime or despair because of a lack of educational opportunities.

As someone who has worked in the some of the worst schools in Boston and the South Bronx, I've seen the overcrowded classrooms, the over-stressed, unprepared teachers, the metal detectors at the door, the gangs and lack of art and athletic programs to keep students interested in school. However I've also seen the desire to learn, the thirst for knowledge and the belief in the USA as a beacon of opportunity.

In Baltimore last year, students went on a hunger strike to protest the cuts in after school programs. John McCain said one thing that I agreed with during the campaign: that education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. While de jure segregation has been gone for more then 50 years from our public school system, the system is still inherently separate and unequal.

The few blacks and latinos lucky enough to live in neighborhoods with decent school systems have a fair chance at the American dream, the masses who are trapped in inner cities with few routes out. Because property taxes fund school systems, rich neighborhoods get lots of money to fund their schools while poor neighborhoods are forced to suffer, creating a class and race based form of de facto segregation.

Bailing out the urban education system will take more than money. It will take people willing to sacrifice and believe in the future of this country. If Obama can inspire people to work for him to get elected hopefully he will be able to inspire people to follow his lead and work as community organizers in urban neighborhoods.

Here are some of the national high school drop out rates according to The Wall Street Journal:

Baltimore: 65% of all students drop out

Chicago: 45% of all students drop out

Columbus: 60% of all students drop out

Detroit: 75% of all students drop out

Los Angeles: 43% of all students drop out

New York: 53% of all students drop out

Here's a Music Video I Did With Some of My Former Students in the South Bronx About the Drop Out Crisis:

The Movement: Droppin Out

Comments

[carrieanna]

So what is the reasoning for suggesting this be a Federal government vs State government's responsibility?

[Casey Gane-McCalla - Huffpost Blogger]

There is a cycle of bad education if parents have bad educations, they are less likely to push their students in school.

Blaming the kids and the parents is the easy way out. We are a society. High School drop outs are not a black or latino problem its an American problem

[Casey Gane-McCalla - Huffpost Blogger]

I have looked at the lives of drop outs. I worked in a school full of them as a teacher and I find your assesment to be totally wrong. These lids want to learn and be productive members of society.

I believe that having veterans teach our chldren would be an excellent idea, especially if they're qualified. Will that solve the whole problem? Probably not but it would be a great step.

[sdskelton03]

I'm sure some of the kids want ot learn and be productive members of society. But many don't.

Our schools have had to enforce dress codes and uniforms because the kids don't have the sense to dress correctly. They fill their minds with a hip-hop culture that denigrates women and glorifies violence. Schools have resorted to bribing kids for attendance because they don't show up.

The kids have also created a culture that demeans success as "acting white" to the point where those that do achieve are disrespected. It's like a bizarro world.

[intelliwoman]

Some of these children are interested in education and want to learn, but the real key is whether THEIR PARENTS are interested and regard school as more than a baysitter.

In Philadelphia, many of the children with concerned and involved parents have abandoned the public school for chrter and parochial schools. whats left in the public schools are the children with parents who don't care, who are not involved and who can't even manage to get up (if they are even around) to get their children off to school.

[sdskelton03]

I live in the city of St. Louis, and I would never send my children to the public schools.

[TRUE BLUE AMERICAN]

If you look into the lives of the ones that drop-out you will find the main problem. They have very little respect for authority, no discipline, and crappy parents( assuming they have two). Bush spent the largest amount of money on education, the largest in history. The control teachers had in the past is gone. You can lead a horse to water..............

[praire2paradise]

One of the biggest hurdles to revitalizing the school system is that it is almost impossible to become a second career teacher in America. As a retired military officer, I can tell you this from first hand experience. We have a lot of college educated unemployed veterans right now who have the smarts, organizational ability, courage, and discipline to turn around troubled schools and act as role models for the students. Except for a handful of token Troops to Teacher positions they are shut out.

I have a friend who has a masters in aeronautical engineering, a PhD in astro-physics and who worked on designing the space shuttle as an Air Force Officer. He wanted to back too his rural hometown to teach the kids science. Denied. He's now a design engineer at Boeing.

I know a guy who was a retired military officer with a masters degree in international relations. He wanted to teach civics and history. He was told he could biology because that's what his undergrad degree was in. He abandoned his teaching dream - and is now a Congressman! He told me that second career teaching conversion is a nation problem, but he thought that it would take 20-50 years to address it!

The next time you complain about American kids falling behind in math and science, or not being able to find Iraq on a map ask yourself why we don't have educated, experienced military veterans in our classrooms.

[mnyegele]

Where does sdskelton03 get his stats? I spent a lifetime teaching in one of the so-called worst inner city high schools in Los Angeles, and never did LA come even close to spending 11K per student. In fact, I spent thousands of dollars out of my own pocket because I preferred to do without rather than see my students do without.
Yet in spite of my sacrifices and dedication, what do I see as a reward?
Our arrogant airhead governor Arnold Schwarzenegger constantly jacks up tuition at state-run colleges and universitiesHe slashes Cal-Grant money that my students need to finance their education. So If my students do get degrees, they begin their lives with thousands of dollars of debt.
A number of my former students have chosen to follow my footsteps. They are now replacing me in the classroom. And, what is their reward? Because of budget cuts, LAUSD is going to fire 2,300 new teachers.,And these new, young teachers still have to pay back student loans.
Is it any wonder kids drop out?
I also tried to encourage my students to get financial aid, but financing a college education is a nightmare right out of Kafka And that's only one of the problems.... I could go on, but the number of permissible words is limited.
I must close with one question - why am I the only person who is angry?
For real, am I the only person on the planet who really cares.

[sdskelton03]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/03/25/state/n095807S47.DTL

Here is a link showing that the state of California (not nec. L.A.) will spend 11k per student next year.

There are LOTS of problems with our inner city schools. Money is not one of them.

[sdskelton03]

"For years the American government has neglected the educational needs of the poor African Americans and Latinos who occupy many of our city centers."

Balderdash. In St Louis we spend over 11k per year per pupil. American government has done all it can do.

At some point poor African Americans and Latinos who occupy city centers need to be held accountable for their own failures.

[Briarcircle]

"For too many years Americans have fought against things: communism, drugs, poverty. Isn't it time to fight for something? "

Education is the most important issue.

[BabsfromKansas]

Absolutely - the biggest contribution Obama could make in the next 4 years is public re-engagement around a problem that CAN and MUST be solved!