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Last Monday we helped the Community Empowerment Association host a forum on Education Issues in Pittsburgh. Here’s what the New Pittsburgh Courier had to say:
Tags: A+ schools, community empowerment association, Education, election, forum, pittsburghPanel says community must be responsible for students
From 1973 to 1990 the achievement gap between White and Black students was beginning to shrink. Since that time, the narrowing has stopped and in some places that gap has widened.
In light of this and other startling facts, the PA League of Young Voters and the Community Empowerment Association held a forum May 4 to discuss how to bridge the achievement gap.
A panel of educators, school administrators and school board candidates addressed issues of discipline, resources and parent involvement. Several concluded the community must take on the responsibility to ensure students reach academic success.
“If we’re going to talk about how we fix education in Pittsburgh, it’s going to be fixed by community involvement,” Rev. Johnnie Monroe said. “This is the only city I’ve seen where the community isn’t involved in forcing the administration and school board to make changes.”
Monroe shared stories of other cities around the country where schools were directed by the wishes of the communities.
“I think we need to understand our schools are in our community as a community resource,” Monroe said. “This is a district where we have let the administration write the blueprint.”
Superintendent Mark Roosevelt has said that much of the federal stimulus money will be used to target middle school. While all of the panelists agreed middle school is a key intervention point, they said the money should be spread across other grade levels and should also be concentrated in making an impact before middle school.
“The data shows if you can get a young person at a young age, they’re less likely to drop out and less likely to flunk,” school board candidate Sharene Shealey said.
When addressing causes for the achievement gap, Faison Primary School principal Leah-Rae Bivins said the problem is not so much a lack of resources. She said male students, particularly, display a lot of aggression and the problem lies in how to reach them.
“I don’t think it’s a money issue for us,” Bivins said. “A lot of our teachers don’t really understand the aggression so they isolate students.”
Instead of punishing students, Faison has engaged them in a number of activities such as bike riding and visits with firefighters. Bivins said these types of actions have helped the suspensions rate drop substantially.
Many of the panelists agreed that parents need to become more involved and suggested fun activities to motivate them. Shealey said parent involvement could be stimulated by making sure parents know what their children should be learning.
“At my kid’s school, parents are in the school all the time and they’re not Black parents,” Shealey said. “But parent involvement isn’t just putting your face in the school, it’s supporting your student to the best of your ability.”
However, some panelists said African-American parents might be experiencing factors that hinder their involvement in the schools. They said it is therefore up to the community to take on this responsibility.
“We’re here because we see the inequity. In these communities we have things that hinder our involvement in the (parent teacher associations),” PA League of Young Voters member Adam Golden said. “We do not fit that model. We as a community have to replace the PTA.”
Several panelists said it is hard to show the value of education to students when their parents do not value education. A+ Schools Program Director Mayada Monsour [sic] said teachers must sometimes fill in for parents.
“As humans we have needs that go past learning,” Monsour [sic] said. “Two needs are a sense of belonging and self esteem. Teachers can be that for their students.”
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