Why Your Child May Not Graduate from High School

[Felt this was something to think about]

Community Editorial: Why Your Child May Not Graduate from High School

Spring 2013

Written by  Melodía Gutierrez

15 March 2013

Forty percent of the students pictured at Backman Elementary in the image above will not graduate from high school. Our state legislature continues to ignore this achievement gap in the academic performance between at-risk minorities and their white classmates. Parents, teachers and elected officials should be outraged that nearly fifty percent of Latino, Pacific Islander, African American and Native American students will drop out of high school.
These statistics beg for something to be done. In recent years, much of the legislation that is presented to address the achievement gap rarely makes it out of committee hearings, and consequently to the governor's desk to become law. Currently, Utah's legislative session is in full swing and despite legislation on classroom sizes and funding, there is not a single piece of legislation that tackles the injustice of this vital issue. Lawmakers have offered no solutions and worse, many simply don't see the achievement gap as an issue.
In mapping out the economics surrounding the achievement gap, we get a better sense of what leads to this disregard of many students. Governor Gary Herbert's budget for the 2014 fiscal year almost entirely neglects Title I schools, like Backman Elementary, that are identified as schools with large at-risk student populations. In his budget, Herbert sets aside $10 million for early intervention programs. While that amount sounds like a good start, it won't even cover expanding all-day kindergarten to all of our at-risk children, which would go a long way to providing our children the basic skills needed for educational success. For the children left out of all-day kindergarten—disproportionately minority students or students from lower socio-economic status—they begin their educational experience behind their peers and, as the evidence shows, they often stay there. Another token offering in Herbert's budget is the $3.9 million allotted to deal with the "educational needs of at risk children." Again, these millions are not enough to make any meaningful and desperately needed education reform, but merely allow Herbert to score some political points while conveniently serving as a distraction from the real problem.
Worse still, while these small expenditures are added, Herbert's 2014 budget makes big cuts to Head Start programs and Title I funding. Backman Elementary Substitute Teacher Cori Redstone explains, "Governor Herbert supports cutting Head Start and Title I funding for these kids. I strongly disagree he is a friend of education. 70,000 kids living in poverty will lose their access to early reading. Head Start makes a huge difference in their lives." Of course, those most affected by these cuts are those who need this funding the most.
Achievement gap avoidance will only create problems for the entire state of Utah. Minority students are struggling to meet standards in math and are barely meeting standards in reading and writing. 64 percent of Latino students are passing reading and writing exams, with just 47.7 percent succeeding in math. Black students average the same as Latinos in reading and writing, but only 45 percent succeeded in math. Native American students only average 62 percent passing reading and writing, but their math scores are frighteningly low at 44.7 percent. All this data indicates that our minority children are not prepared to enter college or the workforce, which leaves us to wonder why our students of color remain excluded from their shot at American Dream. Herbert's educational priorities encouraging students interested in math, science, technology and engineering may be needed skills for the jobs of the future, but by failing to address the achievement gap, he lacks the foresight to be inclusive of our minority and less advantaged white populations that are slated for marked growth within the next decade.
Utah's avoidance of the achievement gap issue is hazardous for our communities, our future economy and for our families. Every student lost is a future denied, a hope extinguished, a dream shattered. We can no longer afford to pretend this isn't happening, the achievement gap must become a top priority now so that each child pictured above has a chance at success and a chance at the American Dream.