Admitting it is failing some students of colour, the Toronto public board could open a black-focused school as early as next fall.
Two community meetings are planned in the next week to discuss the idea of an “African-centred alternative school” from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 that would have more black teachers, black mentors, more focus on students’ heritage and more parent involvement.
“Whatever is being used in the system at this moment is failing a lot of students – and more specifically a lot of black students,” said Donna Harrow, a community worker who is behind the push for such a school, along with Etobicoke parent Angela Wilson.
Race-based schooling, despite its good intentions, is a dangerous way to combat academic failure for three main reasons -
Problem #1: Black-Focused Schools are Hypocritical
As some bloggers have already opined, it is sadly ironic that members from the racial group responsible for the biggest civil rights / integration push in North American history now campaign for racially-segregated schooling. Alas, that is not what I was alluding to – rather, Ontario just had an election that focused inordinately on the possibility of public funding for religious-based schools. Ontario Conservative leader John Tory staked his reputation on support for the initiative and Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty howled in protest. The voting public were equally dismayed with the idea and Tory was slaughtered at the polls (failing to even win a seat for himself). For the McGuinty government to consider race-based schooling barely a month later is a double standard beyond reproach – and a betrayal of the public confidence.
Problem #2: The Segregation Genie
If blacks are allowed to have their own schools, who’s to say that the Portuguese –another group said to be underperforming academically- won’t want their own as well? On the other end of the spectrum, why couldn’t the high-successful Chinese also apply for segregated schooling? Chinese culture is quite unique from the European experience, there are far more Chinese than blacks in Toronto and the Chinese could additionally claim that public schools aren’t teaching their high performing children quickly enough (or at least SOME of them could claim the latter).
An additional wrinkle – contrary to what fund-chasing activists publicly proclaim, there is no such thing as black culture. The “black†population of Toronto comprises of several ethnic groups from four continents. The primary groups are Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Somalis, Ethiopians and Nigerians. Jamaicans and Trinidadians have a somewhat similar culture due to their shared history of slavery and Euro-Centric indoctrination. The East Africans -Somalis and Ethiopians- and somewhat similar, owing much to Arabic influence and the fact that both states have been historically independent as they do to any notion of blackness. Nigerians belong to a third faction (West Africans) and have a different history altogether. Now, if these schools are being justified on cultural and historical relevance grounds, how the heck can you place these three factions of “blacks†together? Jamaicans are the most notorious of the black groups for crime and poor school performance – why would they care about Haile Selassie any more than they would about Winston Churchill? Will the East Africans continue to be isolated if there are no bilingual classes in Soomaali and Amharic? How finely will the school population have to be subdivided to eliminate all of these supposedly incapacitating barriers?
Problem #3: History Classes Cannot Override Social Deficiencies
The most dubious claim by proponents of an Africentric curriculum is that the inclusion of African history will increase interest and subsequently the achievements of black students. If that is the case, how come Asians are doing so well despite little instruction on the dynasties of Ancient China (which would still be of little use to a Vietnamese immigrant)? Better yet, why aren’t Jamaican children as a whole performing much better in Jamaica, where the history classes are heavily oriented towards local culture? The answer lies in both history and economics: except for the rich upper classes, Jamaican kids are doing extremely poorly in school and end up feeding a gang culture far worse than multicultural Canada. Jamaica’s murder rate has consistently been in the top 5 for the world, surpassing considerably poorer states like Zambia and political hot-spots like India (whose students tend to do quite well in Toronto).
More academically-successful immigrants emigrating from places like India and Hong Kong tend to be wealthy and well-educated in their homelands. More recent Jamaican immigrants, by contrast, tend to be from the poorer classes who lived in shanty-towns embroiled in gang wars precipitated by the nation’s two political parties. Education in Jamaica is still largely a privilege of the wealthy.
This cultural disparity was exacerbated by the refocusing of Canada’s immigration point system away from academic traits and in favour of required employment experience, which took place during the late 1970’s. Entry to Canada became more difficult for Jamaican university graduates and much easier for housekeepers. Most Jamaicans –even wealthier ones- were not and are not able to “buy†their way into Canada like their Asian counterparts, causing freshly-educated Jamaicans to look elsewhere for migration. The revised immigration policy also favoured single workers over family units, which caused many Jamaican women to leave their children behind to get a job in Canada. Many applied to have their children emigrate later as direct family members once the rules became more family-friendly.
The social effects of this migration pattern should be obvious – a child that grew up with one or zero natural parents in an unstable environment with poor education would beseverely ill-equipped to handle the pressures of living in Canada. (S)he would have to live in an alien culture with a mildly-educated mother who was never around through the formative years and often still won’t be around due to long work hours, the lack of a father, and a culture of origin that placed little emphasis on academics. In short, many of these kids, by nurture, have no value for learning and become more economically isolated as manufacturing and other low-education jobs cease to exist in Canada’s service-oriented economy.
My question to the Africentric scholars – do you seriously think this social problem can be fixed by teaching more history lessons about Africa?
…
That said, I don’t officially oppose Africentric schools. Why? Because Ontario is already segregating schools, as stated in the article. One cannot seriously oppose Africentric schools without proceeding to oppose native-only schools and the entire Catholic school board. To attack one type of focused school system is at best myopic and at worst biased. Thus, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed - just mind the slippery slope.
As long as Black-focused schools don’t actually exclude non-Black students (and I would say the same if there were “White-focused†schools), I don’t have a problem with them existing and even receiving public funding (of course, any school that excludes students on the basis of race should be allowed to exist - on its own money, not the taxpayers’). However, I’m somewhat uncomfortable with the idea, because they will in effect isolate Black children from the mainstream. My sister has two biracial (Black-White) children, and I am happy to see them succeed in the mainstream system. Perhaps Black-focused schools are worth a try if they really succeed in helping Black kids achieve academically - but I still can’t help believing there is a better way.
McGuinty was re-elected despite a record of broken promises, and despite mind boggling hypocrisy in opposing for others what he takes for his own kids (i.e. Catholic school funding). He has a clear mandate from the public to lie and be a hypocritical demagogue. Get over it, man.
Your concern is a valid one and I believe that proponents of these schools need to stress that -
1) Africentric schools aren’t for blacks only
2) Not all blacks need to go to Africentric schools
As I posted at Jack’s NewsWatch:
Not every black student is going to attend these school and I suspect that the high achievers will not attend because your high school of origin counts for a lot when applying to university. Coming from an Africentric school shouts “I couldn’t hack it in the regular school systemâ€. Obviously the question will arise - who says you can hack it in a regular university?
That said, are we not better off for having at least a few of the high-risk youths turn themselves around in an alternative school?
However, I’m seeing too many opinions and not enough factual research for or against the Toronto District School Board’s proposal for Afro-centric schools.
The idea isn’t new. Its been tried in the United States. So the business case for the proposal should clearly articulate the problem; evidence of success achieved elsewhere; and any problems or pitfalls encountered.
As a taxpayer, I’m willing to support any plausible and feasible initiative to reduce the school drop-out rate for any race of disadvantaged kids.
As someone who made it through the system I know how damn alienating it can be…and unfortunately my future kids probably will too since no one gives a damn about fixing the system as it is….but I would like to know that if one of my kids is really at risk and not adjusting to the system…there is an alternative that they could use even if its temporary to get them back on track.
There is no reason for people to jump on this idea when there is even a school for kids who are normal but whose parents are gay. There is no comparison between this and the idea of separate school systems for the various religions. If it does not work then its back to the drawing board, but I say let the community try it since people so often run their mouth about how the community does not come with its own solutions.
The main thing though is to be taught by black people who will not mistreat students…to have black guidance counselors that will not sell student short on what their future is….to have black male teachers present to serve as role models for young males who need this alternative school the most.
I personally think the best part is the black staff getting across to the kids what they need to know.
While this is being tested, I would love to see recruitment of black teachers from everywhere (immigration) to feed the regular school board. Also, the recruitment of black counselors and principals. I want enough black staff in schools that none of the other staff things they can get away with misguiding or mistreating black students without their colleagues finding out. I want them to interact with black people in their profession that will not let them sit in lunch rooms and fill each others heads with idiotic stereotypes about “all black people” and assuming that success stories are “exceptions to the rule”.
I have noticed that so far no articles on Afrocentric Alternative schools have addressed the fairness of the extra costs involved, while the extra costs were continuously cited in regard to funding faith based schools.
Despite the fact that due to changing demographics its student enrollment shrinks 9% every 5 years, which is a trend that is expected to continue, the Toronto District School Board continuously has difficulty staying within its budget, and taxpayers can expect no relief. The base allocation budgeted for students is $5,000 per elementary student, and $10,000 per secondary student, and the school board further supplements that base amount by providing $5,000 per alternative student, and has introduced a graduated small-school supplement of between $1,500 to $5,000 for schools with enrollments of 300 or less. By creating small specialized alternative schools the Toronto District School Board is actually trying to justify rewarding itself more funds for handling a shrinking number of students.
Although I understand why black parents want so much more money spent on educating their children, I am sure they would be the first to cry racism if they were targeted for tax increases in order to cover the costs, and since property taxes are calculated at a much higher rate for rental units in Toronto, many of the poor must actually carry a higher burden for the cost of education. Further, rural students have a school drop out rate similar to blacks, how is it fair that so much less money will be spent on them?
Please contact all TDSB school trustees and express your support for our city’s black students and your opposition to dividing Toronto’s public schools by race.
A special Program and School Services Committee (PSSC) has been set for January 29, 2008 at 6 p.m. to discuss the Africentric school issue. The public board meeting (when this item will be debated and decided on) will be held at 7pm on January 30th. Both meetings will be held at 5050 Yonge Street.
All persons wishing to speak to the issue must register as delegations prior to the special committee meeting by contacting Board Services at: david.tomczak@tdsb.on.ca.
You can send an email to all Toronto District School Board Trustees c/o David Tomczak (clerk):
david.tomczak@tdsb.on.ca
Please send me a copy of your email(s) for my records (josh@joshmatlow.ca)