Recently a conservative friend encouraged me to broaden my liberal horizon by reading an article on “The Real Structural Racism” in the Wall Street Journal (9-6-21)
Written by William McGurn in the Opinion section, the article criticized progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for not doing more to promote black achievement, saying that “if ever there were a structure systemically keeping African-Americans from getting ahead, it would surely be America big city public school systems.”
McGurn cites low reading and math proficiency rates for black eight graders in Detroit (4% for math and reading) and Milwaukee (5% for math and 7% for reading). He reported that this is also common in other large cities, despite much money spent per pupil in many of them.
The author goes also attacks progressives (meaning big-city Democrats) for ignoring the black achievement gap “by not making it easier for these kids to get into schools where black children are achieving, whether this be charter or parochial schools.” He notes that some of them even want to eliminate achievement tests themselves to cover their failure.
Yes, McGurn is describing a real problem. Black students are not doing well in many big city schools, and I have no doubt that systemic racism does exist in many school systems. His response to the problem is to privatize education. Send blacks to religious schools or charter schools and all will be well.
Well, maybe.
An article in McGurn’s own paper two years ago, “Charter Schools Success Is an Illusion,” by Glenn Sacks (8-26-19) pointed out that Charter schools, like magnet schools, are often successful because their enrollment is very selective. Take only the best students, screen out any weak ones, and your test scores will improve.
“There is a level of institutional hypocrisy here,” said the American Enterprise Institute in 2013.
As a teacher, I have never been fond of measuring educational success by test scores, even though politicians love to reduce “success” to a number suitable for media sound bites.
The many ways of learning, as well as many factors outside schools, make education complex but also an easy mark for those who seek simple solutions. Because of that, I see the value on McGurn’s final loaded question: “Is the answer to a black achievement gap to paper it over by eliminating any objective measures of achievement?”
Well, of course not. This question falls in the “Have you stopped kicking your dog” category.
Here is a more complex answer to the problem of institutional racism McGurn identifies in our educational system. The first step, of course, would be to screen out racist individuals in the hiring and promotion process for teachers and administrators, as difficult as that might be.
Second, and even more difficult, we could close the achievement gap between successful middle-class students and blacks and other minorities stunted by poverty by systemically promoting greater equity in our society.
Attack overt and subtle institutional practices outside the school that place poorer and minority students at risk from Kindergarten onward. Make it easier for their families to get home loans and salaries commensurate with their white, middle-class counterparts. I wonder if Mr. McGurn supports a $15 an hour minimum wage?
Then we might address those practices that make black students feel devalued before and after they enter school. Fear of the police, of walking, driving, or even jogging in white neighborhoods (in Brunswick, Georgia, for example).
The simple truth is that black Americans, like many indigenous Americans, are not treated well by many of the rest of us. This can be due to prejudice by individuals but it is also due to the cultural assumptions and attitudes built into the practices of many institutions, including our schools.
Many of us have heard of research showing that some white teacher’s lower expectations of black students can have consequences. A study in Education Week several years ago reported that “Teachers lower expectations for students can become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’” [10-24-17]
I appreciate Mr. McGurn’s awareness of the systemic racism built into our educational system, and I even wish that his simple solution would work. Alas, it will not. But, hey, thanks for pointing out the problem. It is a start.