The Gap in Graduates
Uploaded by Jiggaman827 on Oct 20, 2004
The Gap in Graduates
Over the years a high school diploma has become significantly more valuable. Advances in technology have created a demand for a more skilled labor force. Without a high school diploma it would be impossible to attain the higher education necessary to be eligible for desirable careers. In turn the consequences of not receiving a high school diploma are extremely brutal. “On average, dropouts are more likely to be unemployed than high school graduates and to earn less money when they eventually secure work.” (Kaufman p. 1) There is a drastic gap in the graduation rates between African-Americans and whites. While some might say the reason the reason for the difference is attributed to African-Americans being inferior. This idea is completely false. The reasons for the gap in graduation rates in the two races are poverty and the quality of the school systems where they live.
“The national graduation rate for the class of 1998 was 71%. For white students the rate was 78% while it was 56% for African-American students.” (Greene, p 5)
In the Cleveland City School District the graduation rate of African-Americans is 29%. This is way below the national averages. Cleveland also claimed the highest poverty rate among the nation’s 68 largest cities. “More than 31 percent of the city’s residents last year fell below the federal poverty level, $18,660 for a family of four, census officials said. Additionally, nearly half of all Cleveland’s children lived in poverty. The economic state of the environment in which the kids live and grow up in presents additional obstacles that others do not have to face. It is very likely that school going kids living in these areas will have to get jobs to help the family income. This would take away from the time that they have to devote to there studies making them fall behind and in other cases quit school all together. The crime in the impoverished neighborhoods and schools where they live and learn would make some scared to attend, and land others behind bars hindering them from completing their education.
Another cause for the difference in graduation rates is the quality of the school systems where African-Americans live. In 1999, based on standardized testing public schools were ranked in 10 different groups called deciles, with Decile 1 being...