Given Half A Chance: Black Males in Public Schools are Driven to Drop Out

50+ Years Post Brown v. Board of Education, Schott Foundation Report Reveals that States and Districts Fail to Educate the Majority of Male Black Students

The release of the 2008 Schott Foundation Report entitled “Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education for Black Males,” details the disturbing reality of America’s national racial achievement gap. State-by-state data demonstrate that districts with large Black enrollments educate their White, non-Hispanic peers, but fail to educate the majority of their Black male students.

Schott Foundation President and CEO Dr. John H. Jackson and national leaders will issue a call to action to redirect the pipeline that significantly denies Black male students equal opportunity to participate in our democratic society. Thought and opinion leaders will outline solutions to address urban segregated schools that often operate as drop-out factories and highlight local models for improving public education for all students in the U.S.

When:  Friday, July 25, 11:00 – 11:25 a.m. at the UNITY 08 Convention in Chicago’s McCormick Place, Halls F1 & F2 in the Media Showcase and Career Expo

Who:

• Dr. John H. Jackson, President & CEO, Schott Foundation for Public Education
• Arne Duncan, Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools
• Marc H. Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League
• Nicole Campbell, Vice President, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation
• William E. Schroeder, Special Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell

Why: More than fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, far less than half of Black males nationwide receive a high school diploma on time. Due to unfair school policies and inequitable funding, Black males are overwhelmingly railroaded into Special Education, disproportionately suspended and expelled, and least likely to be admitted into gifted programs. While our cities and school districts systematically fail to provide an equitable distribution of resources, and institutional policies unfairly “slow-track” these students, they are routinely blamed for the inability to succeed academically.

This report provides the public with data that can be used to hold policymakers and school districts accountable for facilitating changes that will increase high school graduation rates of Black male students and improve U.S. education overall.

About The Schott Foundation for Public Education
Founded in 1991, The Schott Foundation for Public Education seeks to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced high quality preK-12 public education.