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THE STATE OF EDUCATION
Reginald Hutchins
Feature Editor
reginaldhutch @ gmail .com
During my senior year of high school Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Educa
tion, came up to Morehouse College and gave a presentation on the state of educa
tion, and the lack of black male representation in the program. Since that field trip, I
have been driven and inspired to learn more about the state of education in the public
school system. Upon my matriculation into Morehouse College, I found out there
was no education degree program on campus, and now as I embark on the end of my
sophomore year and beginning of my junior year, I see a greater need for Morehouse
to develop a program
According to the U.S. Department of Education, black men make up only 2
percent of the nations 4.8 million teachers. This statistic is not reflective of the actual
amount of black males in the American Public School system. In many urban school
districts, like the Atlanta Public School system and the Fulton County School system,
African-American students outnumber Caucasians and other ethnicities 2-1. This cre
ates a disparity between instructors and students.
Organizations like Teach for American and City Year have committed them
selves to strengthening the ties between some of America’s best college graduates,
and some of the poorest performing school districts.
“[As apart of City Year] I feel like I am able to give students who are seen as
trouble students confidence to know they are smart and don’t have to give into ste
reotypes people have placed on them,” said Lindsey Hutchins, current City Year Corp
Member in Little Rock, Ark. “I serve as a mentor for them when they need someone
to talk to besides their parents or friends.”
Even with great impact, one could ask if that’s enough to completely change
the face of the American Pubic School System, especially with the incorporation of
black men into education.
The Black Blue Dog Reported: “When you have a well-prepared African
American man teaching black boys, the impact can be phenomenal,” said Brend' L
Townsend Walker, an attorney and a professor of special education at the University
of South Florida in Tampa. “I have interviewed African American male students who
had pretty much written school off, v hose teachers had given up on them, but whose
lives were turned around when they got into a class with African American men. Gen
erally speaking, they just have a better ability to relate to the students and mediate
situations that others couldn’t handle.”
Many HBCUs have already taken the plunge into creating programs for Af
rican-American males to choose to study education. Institutions like Clark Atlanta
University and South Carolina State University both have education programs that
help to produce and encourage black men to teach
Programs like the Call Me MISTER - Mentors Instructing Students Toward
Effective Role Models - initiative have devoted themselves to finding effective black
role models to become teachers at the elementary school level to help foster a sense
of importance of education in the minds of all students, but primarily those black
male students who need the extra push to not be lost in the school system. This
scholarship program spans all of the South Carolina, and a few other select schools
with education programs.
Currently, African-American males graduate at 52 percent rate nationally, and
in the state of Georgia they graduate at 49 percent rate, which means that of the ap
proximately 315,408 black males enrolled in school in Georgia, only about 151,400
of them graduate. This constitutes as a state of emergency, and Morehouse College is
being called to help effect change as the black male headquarters of knowledge
success.
WHAT MOREHOUSE CAN DO TO EFFECT EDUCATION
>:.
Delonte Egwautu
Contributing Writer
delonte.egwautu @gmail.com
Morehouse College is an academic institution that prides itself on transforming
and creating renaissance men that will graduate and commit their lives to bettering
the world. It’s a unique school where black men commence their journey to become
revolutionized Black MEN that change society. However, at an institution where edu
cational excellence is constantly preached, there is no degree, certificate program or
any research opportunities for students who will potentially become educators.
Aspiring to work in the field of education is becoming more and more attrac
tive among young adults, whether it is teaching, researching, or positively effecting
educational policy. There are several programs, like Teach for America and City Year,
that provide opportunities for young individuals and recent college graduates to get
involved in educating minority students.
Through dialogue with several students, it has been established that a program
needs be created at Morehouse for the advocacy of Black men in education. More
over, a program that provides research opportunities with faculty mentorship, in
school apprenticeships, and exposure to graduate school programs focusing on educa
tion policy, research, and instruction.
The faculty mentorship/research program allows for relationship building
between students and faculty members who have mutual interests and are passionate
about education. In addition, this program also gives exposure and experience neces
sary beyond the undergraduate level.
Secondly, in-school apprenticeships allow praxis - the application of ideas. In
schools, student researchers would go through the process of applying their teachings
and research findings. Placing a student researcher in a local school in Atlanta, part
nered with an educator, provides guidance and exposure to the classroom.
Whether a student researcher is interested in teaching or policy, having expe
rience in the classroom is imperative to fully understand how education needs to be
improved. In school where children are destitute of a quality education, these student
researchers can enter and begin making marginal impacts that in time will create a
difference overall.
Lastly, during an alternative spring break, Morehouse students would travel to
the top graduate of education schools like Vanderbilt, University of Pennsylvania, and
Harvard. Networking with successful Black educators at these institutions exposes, as
well as establishes, connections for the future. Through conversation with admission
officers, students and professors, student researchers on the trip can dialogue about
exactly what they want to do post-Morehouse.
It is clear that a structured, concrete program needs to exist for educational
institutions ranging from childhood development, to elementary education, or even
education policy. Some may argue that there is no need for one due to the fact that
teaching jobs are becoming more specialized, requiring a teacher to have an expertise
in a certain subject. While that may have some validity, it is also important so have a
core of educators who are skilled in the general field of teaching.
Although a degree program would take great diligence and hard work to con
struct, a research program for students is very realistic in the coming years. Building
off success and interest, a degree program can be formed for students to major in.
Morehouse needs an opportunity like this.
It is not about having another program, but it is about having an outlet, a
resource, and an advocacy plan that strives to increase black men who are positive
representatives in school. Young Black children and teens are desperate to just not
have school as a place for discipline because it does not happen in the household, but
a facility for active learning, discussion, innovating, and educating.
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