While the Schott Foundation is pleased that Kentucky legislators are reviewing its data to address the alarming low graduation rate of African American males, we are concerned that they are considering the wrong solution to the problem: charter schools. The opportunity gap that has led to the persistent achievement gap between students of color and their White peers is a systemic problem.

The following is a press release from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform concerning their new, must-read guide to teacher quality in educaiton reform. You can download the PDF of the guide here.

A recent research report by Sean Reardon of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford University has received much publicity, including a major article in the New York Times.

 Vouchers – as well as state-sponsored tax-credit programs that support private schools – are not the answer to ensuring America’s children have a fair and substantive opportunity to learn. These programs divert resources from public schools, affect a limited number of students and, most studies show, don’t improve children’s educational experiences.

It’s a simple fact that schools must be safe environments for teachers to teach and children to learn. But harsh discipline policies that are pushing out students for minor infractions defy common sense.

The achievement gap between White students and Black and Latino students correlates to the OPPORTUNITY GAP—disparity in access to quality schools and the resources needed for academic success, such as early childhood education, highly prepared and effective teachers, college preparatory curricula, and equitable instructional resources.

Worse than the dire academic and achievement statistics for our nation's male students of color is the notion that those dismal numbers (graduation rates, drop out rates, testing scores, etc.) are repeated so often that they may be losing their shock value and, consequently, their ability to inspire action. In the February issue of Phi Delta Kappa Magazine, Pedro Noguera, the Peter L.

Below are the organizations, studies and data you can consult for information on the opportunity gap and the negative impact it has on the ability of of every child to have access to a quality education. 

Organizations