The Elephant In The Room

The elephant in the room in the debate over minority representation in higher education is this fact: public schools fail miserably at their jobs. Vast numbers of minority and disadvantaged students leave school wholly uneducated and utterly unqualified for enrollment in college – or for meaningful jobs. The disparities that exist in college enrollment have their origin here, and until the matter is addressed across the country, we will never achieve the kind of equality we hope for.

Somehow, the focus of America’s attention on education and opportunities for learning has placed a greater emphasis on the end of the education continuum – college – than on the beginning and middle of the process – kindergarten through 12th grade. But it’s here, in the first 13 years of learning, that the most harm is occurring. Whatever the other reasons minority representation in higher ed is lacking, the primary, overwhelming one for most is that these young people simply lack the education required for entry. With the same being true for entry into the workplace for non-college aspirants.

Ian Rowe, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, recently provided an analysis that illustrates the problem.

“If you are concerned that the decision to end race-based affirmative action will result in less black students in college,” Rowe wrote, “consider this: In 2015, 18 percent of 4th grade Black kids read at or above ‘Proficient’ as defined by the National Assessment for Educational Progress (aka ‘The Nation’s Report Card’). In 2019 only 15 percent of that SAME cohort, now in 8th grade, read at or above Proficient levels. Now, in 2023, it’s very likely that less than 20 percent of that SAME cohort of Black high school seniors are reading at Proficient levels.

“The biggest issue that group faces, is not the lack of affirmative action to get into college. It’s being ill-prepared before even getting there. That is the truth we have to confront,” Rowe concluded. “Stronger families and more school choice have to be part of the story so that our kids can compete on equal footing, far before college applications are on the table.

And that is the crux of the matter.

In many public schools for many, many students nothing approaching proficient, or even adequate, is being achieved and hasn’t been for decades. In a recent Washington Post op-ed Mark Thiessen raised another aspect of this issue pointing out that while expanded state education-freedom initiatives promise hope for students, roadblocks remain. Due to compromises made with the very bureaucracies that choice programs are designed to help parents circumvent, per-student funding for those who choose options outside traditional school systems receive far less than what is allocated for children who continue to attend traditional public schools.

Consider that Pinellas County, FL spends $18,000 on average on each student, but the private, innovative SailFuture which educates at-risk students, receives only $8,000 – the state’s share of per-student funding – with the district retaining all local and most federal funds despite the loss of that student.

For the alternative education options to thrive, per-student funding must be equitable. If a child leaves a public school a portion of the money earmarked for his or her education shouldn’t stay with the school. The money should follow the student. All of it! The current half measures aren’t enough.

Innovative options need all funds following students. They also need flexibility to be freed from 20th century restrictions on hiring and fixed-seat time rules that impede work and higher education attainment. Schools should be permitted to measure students on how they succeed, not how long they sit in a classroom. But most districts prefer to follow business as usual models, because they get paid regardless of success or failure.

Advocates have every reason to be outraged when opportunities are denied minority and underserved populations. But the outrage shouldn’t be confined to disparities in higher education. It should extend to the lack of opportunities available in a K-12 a public school education, and the funding limits placed on those seeking innovative education opportunities elsewhere. Better schools put students on better footing for college admissions. Better schools work to make their students distinctive. Let’s re-focus our attention on achieving that.