Public education for inner city children of color is in a state of crisis, and has been for some time. To address the need for information on this issue, the Schott Foundation for Public Education, a public interest group with a focus on improving public schools in Massachusetts and New York, has developed an outstanding website named Black Boys Report.org that provides “parents, educators, media, policymakers, elected officials—and anyone who cares about education and equity—with direct access to important, alarming data on the devastating reality of education for Black males across all 50 states.”
The site is built around the 2008 edition of Schott’s 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males. The Executive Summary of the Report lays out the issues:
(Our 2008 report), Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, details the drastic range of outcomes for Black males, especially the tragic results in many of the nation’s biggest cities.
Given Half a Chance also deliberately highlights the resource disparities that exist in schools attended by Black males and their White, non-Hispanic counterparts. The 2008 Schott report documents that states and most districts with large Black enrollments educate their White, non-Hispanic children, but do not similarly educate the majority of their Black male students. Key examples:
✦ More than half of Black males did not receive diplomas with their cohort in 2005/2006.
✦ The state of New York has 3 of the 10 districts with the lowest graduation rates for Black males.
✦ The one million Black male students enrolled in the New York, Florida, and Georgia public schools are twice as likely not to graduate with their class as to do so.
✦ Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and Wisconsin graduated fewer Black males with their peer group than the national average.
✦ Nevada and Florida graduated less than a third of their Black male students on schedule.
✦ Illinois and Wisconsin have nearly 40-point gaps between how effectively they educate their Black and White non-Hispanic male students.
One of the things that makes this site so useful is, it provides a state of the art way to drill down to educational information and data about particular states. The webmasters deserve a lot of credit for the way they “architected” the site, to use a techie term.
Source: the Schott Foundation for Public Education, http://blackboysreport.org/node/21
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But even more that that, Black Boys Report.org shows in chilling detail how poorly black males are performing in our public schools. The site is not just informational; it’s stark presentation of the issues is motivational. I highly recommend that you give it a look.
All Other Persons 
Thanks for the resource. Like voting registration numbers, this just shows how far we have to go. I know the report addresses “resource disparities,” but I’m curious how much attention is paid to teacher pay and qualifications. Also, what level of involvement is demanded of the parents? It’s tough. Parents of black children are more likely to have to full time jobs that do not give them the luxury of spending as much time with their school-aged children as other parents. Yet, the need is greater because of the resource disparities. Quite the conundrum.
You are right about how tough it is for most black parents. But we have some how got to transfer the belief that education is most important after relationship with God. Priorities have got to be made.
This is some very clear information that again shows that the current state of the Public Education system is a failure. It is a failure and there is real no way to spin this. We can’t have areas in the country where our graduation rates are lower than 50%. We can’t allow this type of mediocrity to continue. You wonder why our youth see Rapping and Athletics as the “ONLY” Option? Look at the numbers! If I lived in an area where I had a 50/50 chance of geting out, I would try something else too. I can’t blame our youth for looking at life like this, we have to come to the table with some of viable of options. It feels like the definition of Insanity..we can’t keep doing the same thing and looking for different results. I’m not Insane..are you??
As this country closes the first decade of the 21st century the African American community is experiencing a crisis of leadership..Where have all the Black leaders gone? Who picked up the torch after Thurgood Marshall? Was it the ultra-conservative judge Clarence Thomas? Who picked up the torch after our beloved dreamer Martin Luther King Jr. was cut down? Who picked up the torch after our shining prince Malcolm X was cut down? Why are there no Black leaders educating and mobilizing the Black masses to deal with the disintegration of the Black family? Today over 70% of Black homes are female-headed..
The academic achievement gap between Black non-mainstream, inner-city students and White mainstream students is deplorable, bordering on disaster! Black students graduate three years behind White kids..Black students have a drop-out rate of 53%..If we combine this drop-out rate with the highly conservative estimate that 16% of these students will fail to pass state required exit exams, we arrive at a figure indicating that only 37% of Black students will receive high school diplomas..
“Between the Rhetoric and Reality;Simpkins&Simpkins,2009; p-173:Amazon.com..