So let me get this straight, out of all the factors that can be attributed to the poor performance of African-American students in U.S. schools: environment (poor, urban or otherwise), under-paid &/or under-motivated teachers, single-parent households, to name a few - where because of such factors it has been suggested that parents become part of the solution - these nine parents instead choose to become part of the problem!!!! In Atlanta today nine parents were charged with educational neglect because their kids have missed too many days of school "...most of the parents who now face arrest have children who have missed 40 to 50 days of school."
40 to 50 days of school? Yeah, I would hide my face too.
Here's some more food for thought: Statistics reported today at JBHE.com showing African-American scores on the SAT are at a 20-year low; African-Americans lag behind.... um.... well.... everybody.
and a quote:
"When you take the real doubts we harbor about our intellectual abilities and couple them to social alienation, you end up with a prescription not just for thuggish behavior but for large scale academic disengagement."
- Ellis Cose, The Envy of the World: On Being a Black Man in America.
