The two go hand in hand. One cannot have one without the other. Education - even if it is as minimal as a GED is key to preventing recidivism in prisoners returning to society.
I was encouraged to read a story regarding same in tonight's online NY Times. It would appear that the Wesleyan University in Connecticut has spent funds to bring an educational degree program to inmates at a correctional facility. Some of these inmates will be in prison for decades, others a few years - one even has a father who is a college admissions advisor. The students compete hard for a spot in this elite program.
President Obama has a full plate, but he has committed to doing something about prison reform - much-needed, ever since Bill Clinton took away Pell Grants from prisoners during his administration - these men and women do not need more recrimination and judgement, they need help to get back on track so that when they do return to society they have a chance at actually making it!
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Murders by black teenagers rise - NY Times
The celebrated reduction in murder rates nationally has concealed a “worrisome divergence,” said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University who wrote the report, to be released Monday, with Marc L. Swatt. And there are signs, they said, that the racial gap will grow without countermeasures like restoring police officers in the streets and creating social programs for poor youths.
The main racial difference involves juveniles ages 14 to 17. In 2000, 539 white and 851 black juveniles committed murder, according to an analysis of federal data by the authors. In 2007, the number for whites, 547, had barely changed, while that for blacks was 1,142, up 34 percent.
The increase coincided with a rise in the number of murders involving guns, Dr. Fox said. The number of young blacks who were victims of murder also rose in this period.
Murder rates around the country are far below the record highs of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a crack epidemic spawned violent turf battles.
“Regrettably, as the nation celebrated the successful fight against violent crime in the 1990s, we grew complacent and eased up on our crime-fighting efforts,” the authors said.
The report primarily blames cutbacks in federal support for community policing and juvenile crime prevention, reduced support for after-school and other social programs, and a weakening of gun laws. Cuts in these areas have been felt most deeply in poor, black urban areas, helping to explain the growing racial disparity in violent crime, Dr. Fox said.
The preceding is a story I found in the NY Times this morning. The report will be released later today.
I am concerned by this report on many levels. I am the mother of 4 sons who are half black and half white. I don't anticipate that any of them will become a murderer, but am alarmed at the statistics cited in this report. We should all be. We are failing our children. Kids need after school programs - those in the age range of 14-17 are at the highest risk for this black-on-black crime of murders committed by these youth. The sad thing about this study (and there is much to be sad about - please read the entire article if you have time - here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29homicide.html?hp) is that our youths have been consistently ignored, and black families continue to experience a disproportionate breakdown in already fractured families. Indeed, our President Elect Obama's community outreach work on Chicago's south side was primarily with African American youths in that demographic who would have been on the path to nowhere without his programs and intervention. I was most proud of him when he called on absent African American fathers to become more involved in the lives of their children. Absent this, we as a society need to fill the void that is created when African American males become separated from their fathers, for incarceration, divorce, lack of marriage or any other reasons.
We need a comprehensive program to address the unique needs of our African American males. They are growing up without fathers - fathers who are absent, in prison or both. This cannot stand and were the statistics the same amongst the Caucasian community, I dare assert that we would be convening special sessions all over the country in caucases, congress, neighborhood meetings and the like. They need to see African American teachers en masse in school districts, and not just at the upper levels, they need a teacher a day to see a positive male role model. Where are they going to learn how to be a man if they are never around one? My children are fortunate in that they have had a father by birth and many surrogate fathers who have helped them along their way so that for the most part, they have avoided the pitfalls that might have tripped them up in their respective life's journeys.
It truly takes a village to raise a child, and if these children are not going to attend after school programs or Boys and Girls' Clubs, then employment training opportunities need to be afforded them so that they can get off the streets and become positive, contributing members of society.
The main racial difference involves juveniles ages 14 to 17. In 2000, 539 white and 851 black juveniles committed murder, according to an analysis of federal data by the authors. In 2007, the number for whites, 547, had barely changed, while that for blacks was 1,142, up 34 percent.
The increase coincided with a rise in the number of murders involving guns, Dr. Fox said. The number of young blacks who were victims of murder also rose in this period.
Murder rates around the country are far below the record highs of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a crack epidemic spawned violent turf battles.
“Regrettably, as the nation celebrated the successful fight against violent crime in the 1990s, we grew complacent and eased up on our crime-fighting efforts,” the authors said.
The report primarily blames cutbacks in federal support for community policing and juvenile crime prevention, reduced support for after-school and other social programs, and a weakening of gun laws. Cuts in these areas have been felt most deeply in poor, black urban areas, helping to explain the growing racial disparity in violent crime, Dr. Fox said.
The preceding is a story I found in the NY Times this morning. The report will be released later today.
I am concerned by this report on many levels. I am the mother of 4 sons who are half black and half white. I don't anticipate that any of them will become a murderer, but am alarmed at the statistics cited in this report. We should all be. We are failing our children. Kids need after school programs - those in the age range of 14-17 are at the highest risk for this black-on-black crime of murders committed by these youth. The sad thing about this study (and there is much to be sad about - please read the entire article if you have time - here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29homicide.html?hp) is that our youths have been consistently ignored, and black families continue to experience a disproportionate breakdown in already fractured families. Indeed, our President Elect Obama's community outreach work on Chicago's south side was primarily with African American youths in that demographic who would have been on the path to nowhere without his programs and intervention. I was most proud of him when he called on absent African American fathers to become more involved in the lives of their children. Absent this, we as a society need to fill the void that is created when African American males become separated from their fathers, for incarceration, divorce, lack of marriage or any other reasons.
We need a comprehensive program to address the unique needs of our African American males. They are growing up without fathers - fathers who are absent, in prison or both. This cannot stand and were the statistics the same amongst the Caucasian community, I dare assert that we would be convening special sessions all over the country in caucases, congress, neighborhood meetings and the like. They need to see African American teachers en masse in school districts, and not just at the upper levels, they need a teacher a day to see a positive male role model. Where are they going to learn how to be a man if they are never around one? My children are fortunate in that they have had a father by birth and many surrogate fathers who have helped them along their way so that for the most part, they have avoided the pitfalls that might have tripped them up in their respective life's journeys.
It truly takes a village to raise a child, and if these children are not going to attend after school programs or Boys and Girls' Clubs, then employment training opportunities need to be afforded them so that they can get off the streets and become positive, contributing members of society.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Obama's new education secretary
Okay, okay - so I didn't get my wish: I really wanted Colin Powell to return to an administrative/cabinet position but it was not to be.
Obama has just appointed Arne Duncan to this coveted post.
According to news reports: "The incoming Education Secretary is a 44-year-old Harvard graduate and basketball player, who once played professionally in Australia. He has a track record of raising student performance in the tough environment of Chicago schools and is an advocate of higher pay for teachers, as well as pushing them harder."
Mr Obama declared that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children". Mr Duncan said education was "the civil rights issue of our generation".
As my regular readers and friends know, education, or the reform thereof is something with which I concern myself greatly. All parents should be concerned with the abyssmal state of education in our great country. It is simply not acceptable that the standards of achievement in inner city and poor school districts continue to drop, except in the cases of exceptional leadership with great superintendents and principals, not to mention in tune teachers.
Our children deserve more, to coin a phrase used by the Utah Education Association. Let's pray that they finally get it, regardless of the size of their household income.
Obama has just appointed Arne Duncan to this coveted post.
According to news reports: "The incoming Education Secretary is a 44-year-old Harvard graduate and basketball player, who once played professionally in Australia. He has a track record of raising student performance in the tough environment of Chicago schools and is an advocate of higher pay for teachers, as well as pushing them harder."
Mr Obama declared that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children". Mr Duncan said education was "the civil rights issue of our generation".
As my regular readers and friends know, education, or the reform thereof is something with which I concern myself greatly. All parents should be concerned with the abyssmal state of education in our great country. It is simply not acceptable that the standards of achievement in inner city and poor school districts continue to drop, except in the cases of exceptional leadership with great superintendents and principals, not to mention in tune teachers.
Our children deserve more, to coin a phrase used by the Utah Education Association. Let's pray that they finally get it, regardless of the size of their household income.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Caroline Kennedy in the senate - does it get any better than that?
I was excited to see that Ms. Kennedy Schlossberg is considering the soon-to-be-vacated NY Senate seat when Hillary Clinton is confirmed by the senate to become the next Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
Caroline Kennedy is a formidable woman - she has of course, the benefit of being from one of the most amazing political families of our generation - her relatives have changed the face of America for the better - Robert, John and her uncle Ted who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year - may God bless him.
Caroline is known for her advocacy work that centers around public education - we all know that our education system in this country is fraught with trials, ineptitude, low scores, crowded classrooms, low teacher morale and the list goes on. As a former educator, I purposely took a job in a private school so that my children would have the benefit of attending. In my most recent home state of Utah, charter schools are springing up at an amazing rate - their schools perform almost at the bottom in the nation - when it comes to per capita spending, they fall behind Mississippi. Our students deserve more.
For a time, I served on a board (Utah council of Educators) to try to address such inequities in the Utah school system where 3 of my 4 children were attending and succeeding and failing at varying levels. With Mrs. Kennedy in the senate, we can ensure that our children's needs are being met at the highest levels - inadequacies and inequities that exist in schools could be addressed.
It would certainly shake up the crowded field of would-be candidates - an impressive field, I might add - they would serve for 2 years, finishing out Senator Clinton's term and then would need to be elected.
Change has finally come to this country - I welcome the change.
Caroline Kennedy is a formidable woman - she has of course, the benefit of being from one of the most amazing political families of our generation - her relatives have changed the face of America for the better - Robert, John and her uncle Ted who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year - may God bless him.
Caroline is known for her advocacy work that centers around public education - we all know that our education system in this country is fraught with trials, ineptitude, low scores, crowded classrooms, low teacher morale and the list goes on. As a former educator, I purposely took a job in a private school so that my children would have the benefit of attending. In my most recent home state of Utah, charter schools are springing up at an amazing rate - their schools perform almost at the bottom in the nation - when it comes to per capita spending, they fall behind Mississippi. Our students deserve more.
For a time, I served on a board (Utah council of Educators) to try to address such inequities in the Utah school system where 3 of my 4 children were attending and succeeding and failing at varying levels. With Mrs. Kennedy in the senate, we can ensure that our children's needs are being met at the highest levels - inadequacies and inequities that exist in schools could be addressed.
It would certainly shake up the crowded field of would-be candidates - an impressive field, I might add - they would serve for 2 years, finishing out Senator Clinton's term and then would need to be elected.
Change has finally come to this country - I welcome the change.
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