“The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”
President Barack Obama
Inaugural Address, 2009
This historic day of an African-American taking the oath of office as President of the United States reminds us that history has not been kind to large groups of people in this country, a history that remains a vexing problem for the nation.
President Obama spelled out clearly this nation’s enduring spirit and noble idea: “All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” More on the speech. This no doubt covers lots of rhetorical territory for our new president, but I am reminded of the nagging problem – an inconvenient truth, if you will – that the promise of equal opportunity is still denied to some in this country.
Equality of opportunity does not exist in education, for instance. The concept of public education offers the promise of equal opportunity, but much has been written about how that falls short for many schools serving disadvantaged children. Not enough accountability, some cry. Ineffective teachers, others lament. Hapless administrators, still others contend. Suffocating union control, many argue. Meager incentives, some say. Poor parental support, even more declare.
It is no doubt some of that is true and maybe all of it. But my sense is that we are still not very serious about providing the capacity that is needed in schools that serve the underserved. Dollars that flow into urban schools, for instance, are often calculated to provide something extra to help the disadvantaged to succeed. Of course, in Ohio and elsewhere, we really don’t know if we are sending enough to make a difference and whether those dollars are being used in such a way as to make a difference. On the face of it, those dollars seem inadequate to me when compared to the resources in time and attention and materials that we believe are needed for those students to succeed. And they seem painfully short when compared to the highest spending suburban districts where local wealth often equals wealthy schools.
Does the disparity and inadequacy of resources have consequences? Well, the achievement gap between races is an enduring fact, not one that is created by union contracts, nor by poor administrators, nor by lapse attention to data and results. The link between disadvantaged neighborhoods – often predominantly minority – and disadvantaged kids and disparity in performance is so clear and pervasive that it is tiresome to hear all the explanations why that should not be the case.
You’ve already seen the facts. For instance, in Ohio, black males graduated at a rate of 64%, compared to 88% for white males. In some schools, the graduation rate for black males was as low as 22%.
So, for me, when I hear that this nation’s enduring spirit, precious gift and noble idea is that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness, I think of the savage inequalities that exist between our richest and our poorest schools and wonder whether we can ever fulfill that ideal.
A week from today, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland will deliver his own address, his third State of the State, in which he is expected to propose his much anticipated package of education reform and school funding reform. While it is doubtful that this address will be historic, my hope is that it will nudge this state much closer to the dream that was revisited on this historic day.