CHARLESTON SC EDUCATION  AND CRIME TRAGEDIES: A NATIONAL DISGRACE

WE NEED A NATIONAL EFFORT NOT MORE SINGULAR MEETINGS 

 

THE PROBLEM

 

48% of Black Kids Underperform in Charleston SC by 4rth Grade 

6 to 8 % of White Kids Underperform by 4rth Grade

While Charleston Boasts the number 2 High School in the Country

 

Most Murderers in North Charleston have 10th grade education or less

 

  "In elementary schools, Negroes lag one to three years behind whites, and their segregated schools receive substantially less money per student than do the white schools.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, 1967

“[W]hite students score an average of 1.5 to 2-grade levels higher than black students in the average district.” – Reardon, et al., 2019

Larry Elder-  a conservative radio host and Republican who ran replace Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom said  “ About 67 percent of Black students did not meet state standards for English language arts on standardized tests, according to the California Department of Education. Roughly half of all public school students who took state tests did not meet the standard for English. 

This nation is at a crossroads.  A Socialist Marxist future where the few control the masses or a Democracy where all segments of the population are theoretically in control through elected officials. In a representative government, all races have rights as is defined in the Constitution  

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Preamble “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

CONSTITUTION Preamble: We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”.

The concept of “equality” has never been fully achieved. Equal Education, I believe, is the one pillar of our society that brings life to the thoughts and dreams as stated in these two preambles. 

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                 A FEW SOLUTIONS

1. K-8 must become familiar with career possibilities. 9-12 must be exposed to those career pathways. Through internship/education projects with potential career pathways directly from high school to workforce in such areas as medicine, law enforcement, business, education, science, and agriculture for example. S.T.E.M. programs should be instituted in 8-12 as a vehicle in science, math, etc.

Dr Helen Frazier, a career educator now a Charleston County School Board member developed such a career pathway concept for middle and high schools. I was part of her team in Charleston. We were never able to institute the concept.

When a middle school student shot and killed another student my wife and I developed and ran a career pathway program at Toole Middle School ( now Military Magnet, see news article). 

 

2. Students must be enthused about education, not bored. As a private detective, I handled security for basketball games at a high school. I also taught and coached in a Charleston High School. I noticed how students became enthused competing against other schools. My wife Michelle, a career teacher in elementary and middle school used the Harry Potter “houses” by dividing her classrooms into four “Houses” which would compete with each other in jeopardy-type competitions, athletic games, for points. By dividing her class she recaptured the “competition/game concept to her classrooms. More successful students in each house helped underperforming students.   

As Director of Student Government at the University of South Carolina in the late 60’s early 70’s I saw the importance of students taking the education of their chosen future professions from theory to practical application by interning in those professions while at University. In my Carnegie Institute grant where I published “The Student Role in Handling Campus Affairs.” I attempted to secure a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration with then-Attorney General Dan McCloud and Chief J.P. Strom of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. To place university students in the Attorney General’s office, a Doctor's office, a Magistrate’s office, SLED, and a Sheriff’s office.