"And Promise for All"
The Advocate, June 20, 2006

Eric J. Cooper

The Advocate's "Bridging the Gap" was a stunningly revealing series on the region's attempt to address the achievement gap between white children and children of color. Clearly, educational leaders in Stamford, Greenwich and Norwalk are focused laser-like on reducing and eliminating the gap. Yet for all the articles revealed, much was left unsaid in terms of eliminating obstacles to achievement for all students and solutions which might be considered.

Nationally, combinations of education policy and practices are raising the achievement of children of color above historic averages - not in individual exceptions but in whole classes and in whole schools. Why aren't these successes far more widespread? No child - no African-American, Hispanic or recent immigrant child - is so compromised by family or community circumstances that he or she cannot be successful in school.

The answer may reside in a community's unwillingness to address underlying causes of the achievement gap. As The Advocate pieces allude, perceptions about student ability are important, and for some districts, the cause may be framed around the racism and class bias that preserve the achievement gap.

Julian Weissglass of the University of California at Los Angeles argues compelling that communities must face how racism and class bias contribute to persistent "disparities" in achievement. Mr. Weissglass contends that racism is learned and that it is reinforced by "institutional racism," "lack of information and misinformation," "tenacity of belief systems," "internalization and transfer of racism" and "lack of opportunities to [help communities] heal from hurt."

Seizing on the last point, he proposes that the nation move beyond celebration of diversity and declarations that "all" children can learn to create what he calls "healing communities" in which individuals have an honest dialogue about racism. Through this process of caring and commitment to change, Mr. Weissglass says that communities begin to heal.

Advocate readers might disagree about how we reach a moral high ground. Some might feel it is quixotic to attempt to eliminate "institutionalized racism" because it is ubiquitous and will always be present in communities. Why bother, they might ask, when there is no racism in our community and all students are given an equal chance at learning?

An example of institutionalized racism in Fairfield County might be found in how students are placed in special education. African-American males vastly outnumber other students labeled as "intellectually disabled" or "emotionally disturbed." For example, the state Department of Education has identified disproportionate numbers of nonwhites in special education categories in Stamford's Public Schools, and is working with city to eliminate this disparity.

If we are to see change in our community and elsewhere, we have to change the facts, not just feelings that nurture and are nurtured by deep and historic social engineering that divides races and economic classes in Connecticut and America. It will take honest dialogue and leadership, as well as replication of successful models of schooling that can be brought to scale in our communities.

In their best-seller, "Freakonomics," Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner question how a community might determine ". . . whether the lack of discrimination against blacks and women represents a true absence or just a charade?" The answer, they feel, is in how other groups are protected or not - such as Hispanics and the elderly. Prejudice against any minorities is often subtle and can transfer to several social circumstances. How the country works to solve its immigration challenge is a prominent example. One success story can be found at Stamford's Scofield Magnet Middle School. I recently observed a "regular" class of diverse students in an eighth-grade class, led by an extraordinary math teacher. Marita Martinez and her colleagues have enabled students who, it was reported, couldn't talk or would shake when they had to participate in exhibitions of mastery on an interdisciplinary project. These students have become graceful and strong. The school policy does not allow academic tracking of students. Rather, the school differentiates instruction in a manner that individualizes and allows each student to learn at his or her own pace, with the help of classmates and teachers. Each student learns without lowering standards. Each student learns to respect individual differences. And each student learns from a curriculum of motivationally rich experiences that promote student engagement and a genuine enjoyment in learning.

Experts agree that a vast talent potential exists among the population of American students from low-income, minority backgrounds. Yet more than 80 percent of the wealthiest students further their education through four-year colleges, compared to the 40 percent of equally successful students from the poorest families. According to the Aspen Institute, 72 percent of students who come from the most affluent families and received test scores in the lowest tier continue on to elite colleges, while only 3 percent of students from the least affluent families attend elite programs.

Here's the irony: A demographic shift from majority-white to majority-minority will occur in America around 2050. While the demographic in our nation inextricably shifts, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has warned that racism in education will jeopardize our democratic society. In a partial response to this threat, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has gone so far to state that ". . . we're seeing the rise of a narrow (American) oligarchy; income and wealth are becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small, privileged elite. . .(that) suggests the growth of inequality may have as much to do with power relations as it does with market forces."

The promise of America is based on the premise that all children are treated as citizens in a national community - as human resources who will contribute to improved conditions for all. If we do not work toward the American tradition of fairness and social justice, then maybe we should heed the advice of "The Bell Curve" author Charles Murray, who suggests the nation considers establishing a ". . . custodial state. . . (where). . .we have in mind a high-tech and more lavish version of the Indian reservation for some substantial minority of the nation's population, while the rest of America tries to go about its business."

I would hope the nation never moves toward this cynical future. Let's remember the powerful words of the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, whose words should bind us all to the goal of the American dream: "All Americans want an America as good as its promise."

Eric Cooper is a parent and resident of Stamford. He is president of the National Urban Alliance and a board member of the Stamford Achieves Commission, the business, government and education group formed to raise awareness about the disparity of academic achievement by students of different ethnic and economic backgrounds.