A new report speaks to the criminalization of African American and Latino youth, telling us that 26 percent of youth who are arrested are African American. But then he takes you through the process from arrest to adult remand. Forty-four percent of African-American youth who are arrested are detained; Substantially fewer white youths are. Forty-six percent of African-American youth go to criminal court, while the majority of white youth are referred to juvenile or alternative court. And 58 percent of youth in state adult prisons are African American, more than double the proportion of those who are arrested. That is the system that is waiting for our young people if we do not act together in public education. Just as schools must be seen in the context of the criminal justice system, so the urban economy must be seen in the context of the suburban economy. A very important paper has just been published that looks at economic growth in central cities compared to suburban development. For example: In Baltimore, between 2015 and 2018, employment opportunities decreased by three and a half percent, while the surrounding suburbs increased by 10.1 percent; Philadelphia job opportunities in that same period were down 1.1 percent, suburban areas up 5.1 percent; The central city of Denver was up 1.7 percent, the suburbs up 16.6 percent. In 2018, black school dropouts were twice as likely to be unemployed as white school dropouts. Our country has fled from affirmative action. Just look at the suspension and expulsion rates: 25 percent of African Americans will be suspended over the course of their time in high school. The richest African-American students are twice as likely to be suspended as the poorest white students. question of race and class. And the poorest Asian Americans are seven times more likely to be suspended than the richest Asian Americans.
We need to deal with tracking issues, which, I must say, I see as the structural embodiment of racism and class discrimination; this is how racism and classism are played out in a school. Everywhere, we have finances and other inequities; and appalling discrepancies in teacher qualification, certification within sites. The atrocities of tracking can no longer be ignored. How many students are here from high school? Do you remember back in elementary school daffodils, blueberries, daisies, or some other version, where they really thought they were kidding you about which were good readers and which weren’t? Clues speak louder than yelling at teachers to have high expectations. Teachers and children read those structures. Let me also say that a group of us just completed an amazing study recently: we surveyed over 1,000 young people in New York (white, black, Latino, and Asian) about their experiences with the police, teachers, grocers, and restaurants. . It goes without saying that white girls and black boys are growing up in very different cities. And, I’m sorry to say, kids in trouble report that they feel as unlikely to turn to their teachers as they do to the police. I am concerned that we are losing teachers. Massachusetts teachers are leaving their districts because their students arrived 10 minutes ago from the Dominican Republic and are being told they must teach in English only. There are communities in New Jersey that can’t find fourth grade teachers because it’s the first year of testing. And in Baltimore, political leaders boast of raising first graders’ test scores. That is what I call the politics of urgency.
Despite or because of our best efforts, systemic reform is taking place. It’s just not the systemic reform we hoped for. Today we are witnessing a systematic realignment of public dollars and public interests with the needs of corporations and elites, a gentrification of the public sphere. I think we know what to do in urban America. I feel like I’ve been saying this for 100 years: Small schools are actually better than big schools for most students, particularly the poorest students. No matter what the indicator, students in small schools outperform students in large schools. You may find some exceptions, if you have already shortlisted by class, by the cultural capital of the children, by the qualifications of the teachers, and by the per capita that the schools obtain. But there is a new study where we look at the performance of small schools in Chicago. We look at thousands and thousands of children in Chicago public schools. And no matter what indicator you look at, with the slight exception of sometimes those stubborn standardized test scores, students in small schools have higher attendance, lower violence, higher grade point averages; they are much, much less likely to drop out, much more likely to go to college and have a sense of soul. What I mean by that is when kids in big schools see a fight, they’re like, “I’m cheering for him or I’m leaving.” When children in small schools see a fight, they say, “I’ll stop it or find a teacher.” Teachers in small schools are more satisfied, more engaged, less likely to be absent, and feel more accountable. Teachers in small schools also express a much more fundamental feeling of disappointment when they cannot meet the needs of young people because they know them so well. If only one adult was necessary, most children would be fine. Most children have someone who adores them, someone who takes good care of them: poor children, rich children, and middle-class children. Sometimes it’s a babysitter, sometimes it’s a mother, and sometimes it’s a grandmother, father, or uncle. Most children have someone who adores them. They need schools that know them and teach them. Let me say one more thing about small schools. Did the rich discover the power of “small” a long time ago? The average high school high school. Any guesses on its size? 298. How many of you have a school in your city that has more than 1500 children? 2,000? Keep your hands up. 3,000? Do you have fancy rich kids?
