failing school system? or failing parental responsibility?
The Toronto District School Board approved a proposal to create the city's first Afrocentric public school after supporters and detractors pleaded their cases during a meeting last night.
Following more than two hours of public submissions, which included opposition to the motion from the mother of slain teenager Jordan Manners, the vote was recorded as 11 in favour and nine against.
One trustee was absent, while board chair John Campbell excused himself from the vote.
"I don't know if an Afrocentric school is the answer," said Sheila Ward, who represents Toronto Centre-Rosedale, but added that the proposal "is not about segregation or integration, it's about student success," before raising her hand in support.
Afterward, a crush of reporters gathered around Angela Wilson and Donna Harrow, the two women who pushed for the school as a way to help underachieving black youth succeed. Their weary but triumphant faces said it all.
"We're ecstatic," said Ms. Wilson, standing beside her co-organizer, Ms. Harrow. "We've got so many other things planned. This is not just it."
The grade levels and location of the Afrocentric school have not yet been determined.
All four recommendations put forward in a staff report, entitled Improving Success for Black Students, passed Tuesday.
In addition to working towards opening up an Afrocentric Alternative School in September, 2009, the board endorsed establishing an enriched African curriculum that touches on the histories, cultures, experiences and contributions of people of African descent "and other racialized groups," in three existing schools by the start of the next school year. It approved a staff development, research and innovation centre that looks at ways to improve school achievement for marginalized and vulnerable students, along with an action plan that tackles that issue in the TDSB.
The school board admits that a "disproportionate" number of black youth are failing in their schools. According to its statistics, 40% do not graduate, compared with about 25% board wide.
But advocates of the Afrocentric proposal say it is the existing "eurocentric" system that is failing black students, and believe that the alternative model being presented is an endeavor worth trying.
The TDSB defines an Afrocentric school as one which "uses the sources of knowledge and experiences of peoples of African descent as an integral feature of the teaching and learning environment." The school would be open to all students.
In her submission to trustees before the vote, Loreen Small, whose son Jordan Manners was shot and killed in a public high school last year, said she worried that the school would "segregate" students.
"Martin Luther King and so many of our fathers fought to come together, so blacks and whites could be together," Ms. Small said. "This black school thing, no, it ain't right."
During her presentation, Ms. Harrow said misinformation has buried the truth. The proposal "is not a black-focused school, is not a school for only black students," Ms. Harrow said. She added that an Afrocentric school would "nurture and support" all children as they strive to succeed.
"We must speak the truth," said Ms. Harrow.
"I believe one who opens school doors, closes prison doors," Ms. Wilson said. "It's not about segregation. It's about self-determination," she said.
Winston LaRose, executive director of the Jane Finch Concerned Citizens Organization, challenged that notion that public schools are beacons of diversity, saying that, in truth, many schools already "don't represent the diversity you so much talk about."
Andre Levy, who lives in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, called the proposal a "half-baked solution to issues faced by black students."
Trustee Maria Rodrigues said she could not, in good conscience, deny "these black parents their right to establish an Afrocentric school." She voted in favour of the proposal, which she said would give students choices and work "to stop systemic discrimination" in public schools.
Gerri Gershon, who represents Don Valley West, maintained that "separating kids according to their colour is simply not the answer."
With the recent approval of afrocentric schools by Toronto School Board trustees, it makes me wonder if it's a half baked answer to the real problems surrounding the issue. I'd like to say I am vehemently opposed to it, largely due to the fact that I am against any type of segregation. Especially with the TV interviews that I did see, it seems that most of the actual students are against it. It just seems that parents are putting the full blame on a 'eurocentric' school system, and blaming it for a 40% of black students not graduating. I just don't think enough research has been done, to fully realize the cause of the problem.
I rarely take a stance when it comes to certain things, especially when it's about education, which I thought I left years ago after I graduated college. But it worries me that in this world of emoticons and IMSpeak, that our education system as a whole is failing. So many people can't make proper sentences, have bad grammar or can't spell even the most basic words (just the past few days, I have seen many instances of people spelling 'quiet' as 'quite', 'definitely as defiantly', or a really bad rendition of 'listening' with 'leassoning'). And I'm not immune to any of that, I find that I myself, am a victim of bad grammer grammar or spelling once in awhile.
They keep comparing to all-black schools in America, which is not a fair comparison to Canada. I mean no offense to my american friends when I say this, but racial issues are still a big problem in the States, there is still a polarized view within certain regions, and something I've experienced first-hand. Canada to me is different, especially when I first came to this country, at age 8 from the Philippines and I got thrusted into a small school in a small town. Of course the other kids were curious about my background but I never felt like I got treated differently by the school system in this country.
I just wonder where the parents are in this 40% of kids not graduating. Should they not be encouraging their own kids to go back to school, instead of blaming the education system fully and keep making excuses? Could it be that they (the students) are not getting challenged enough in school? could it be that they can't identify with the curriculum? why not add more black canadian history it? or create more black history classes? that to me is more progressive than actually creating a black school, further marginalizing these students. I'm proponent towards a stronger education for everyone, because in the real world it's all about shades of green rather than black, white, brown or yellow.
any thoughts?