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The Washington Informer
Hope for D.C. Public Schools
By Tom Blagburn
Thursday, 09 October 2008
Having spent considerable time in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) grappling with administration, teacher, student and family problems very few people want to even remotely address, it seems somewhat strange that our city hasn't confronted the core issues so vital to D.C. Public School reform. Many readers are correct in their assumptions that much of what has happened to students in the system was "criminal." A lot, perhaps, still is criminal.
But there are other pertinent issues that are not receiving acknowledgement. First, the District's Public Schools System is not a complete failure. There are large numbers of students from every Ward of the city attending DCPS who graduate and go forward to attend and graduate from some of the best and most prestigious colleges and universities in this nation. It is wrong to continue to propagate the myth that DCPS is a complete failure. I think this ploy is used to illustrate that no matter how very little is actually accomplished, even the smallest of gains will be cheered with success.
The D.C Public School System is really a bifurcated school system: one group of students resides in wholesome homes and neighborhoods where there are responsible, educated adults who nurture, assist and help interpret or negotiate the complexities of life each and everyday. Their parent(s) have the means and fortitude to give them in-home matriculation support of every kind.
Unfortunately, within the other group are students who sometimes don't have anyone to guide or help them with interpreting the enormously complex problems of living in urban blight and impoverished neighborhoods. Some are like nomads living with various family members. Compounding their unfortunate predicament is the fact that too many of these students are also often misguided by wrong-thinking peers and are forced to simply concentrate on personal survival.
"Where do I eat?" and "How can I clothe myself?" are very real situations. Ask some of the teachers and principals of schools in Wards 5, 7 and 8 how they have had to cope with these problems. Substance abuse, psychological health issues and family incarceration heap enormous emotional stress on these students as well. Additionally, far too many witness an inordinate level of violence, carnage and street crime almost daily. It affects their psyche, their attitudes toward study, having a sense of the future, and it depreciates the value of human life.
Personal Subsistence struggles day to day can often supersede the drive to become proficient in reading and math. These complicated socioeconomic problems diminish education, thus creating low self-esteem, interpersonal conflicts and anger. And yes, despite these awful conditions and obstacles, many students do somehow find a way to succeed. However, it is not the group norm. But this very sad 40-50 percent school failure rate looms as a very large hurdle in creating effective school reform.
I have yet to see any educational reform plan from any Superintendent or Chancellor addressing any of these issues. And most leaders in this city have refused to have a candid discussion about the realities that many DCPS students face daily, while our public school system continues to experience high-dropout rates, high truancy, low test scores and students ill prepared to enter the District's workforce even after high school graduation.
As I have frequently stated: we can reform our schools through modernization; technology improvements; and hiring better trained principals, teachers and staff. But the dominant problem impeding urban education for all students isn't going to change until we face the despicable student divide that exists in far too many schools within large numbers of blighted neighborhoods across the District. It is a dimension of public school reform that our city must urgently address.
Tom Blagburn is the former director of the Community Policing, Metropolitan Police Dept.(Ret) U.D.C., Institute for Public Safety & Justice.
