This historically black school once beat white schools in every test – now only 1% pass Math
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“Teacher, did you ever study Thomas Sowell at this high school?” Elaine asked me as we stood outside Paul Laurence Duence Duence High School – or Dunbar, to be west – in Washington, DC and I told her why I made a point of doing Dunbar to refresh myself with Mering and the American Dream. I had asked her, a mother of two children at school, for what it was, and her decision was very disappointing. “Sowell said Dunbar was the epitome of excellence back in the day. What happened?”
From 1870 to 1955, this all-black public school drew prominent families from across the country – parents moved to enroll their children in life’s best shot. Sowll described these families as “aspirational,” meaning they want to overcome any obstacles. They were determined people, and such people cannot be stopped. The classes were full, sometimes too full, but the results didn’t lie. The Dunbars graduated from white schools on the test, and almost all went on to college – some in the Ivy League.
Economist, social theorist and bestselling author Thomas Sowell (FOX News)
Other famous graduates include Jean Toomer, Author of “Cane;” Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first black soldier in the US military; And William Hastie, the first black judge – and many others who became doctors, lawyers and musicians.
However, moving toward integration after Brown V Dunbar was no longer open to all of DC but became a neighborhood school, drawing students primarily from the immediate area. Worse, elite black students who live within the school’s boundaries often flock to white schools.
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The standards deteriorate almost immediately. In the 1970s, it was difficult. Elaine told me it was getting worse. He would know – he went to Dunbar in the late 1990s. Today, fighting breaks every week. The football team was recently suspended after bench-clearing, and money games were lost. There are Metal Detectors everywhere, but they are useless against the riots of unruly children that bring out most of the teachers.
Education numbers are terrible. Nine percent of students are good at reading, and 1% – yes, 1% – are good at Math. Elaine laughed when I asked why, and I told her I guessed the graduation rate. I guessed, “30%?” Nope, he said. “Seventy percent! They’re lying to our kids – they’re graduating without skills or basic skills.”
Even Barack Obama, who praised Dunbar during his presidency, chose instead to send his daughters to a $40,000-a-year private school. Elaine has been trying to get her kids into a better school but they aren’t having much luck in my DC Lottery – they are on the seed list for several schools.
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Elaine told me: “I have to teach my kids every night. “We do homework for hours, and I don’t make a lot of money from my job as a nonprofit director. But if my kids need tutoring or outside help, I’m sure they get it.”
I told Elaine that she sounded like one of those wishy-washy parents Sowell said she got so much from the old fisherman. “I know!” Elaine said. “We had everything back then. Now we have the same rebuild of this school from 2008 that cost $100 million, but it looks good – but where’s the stuff, the meat on the kids’ bones?”
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Before I went on my way, I asked him where he read about Sowell. He exclaimed, “YouTube! My university! I softened it in ‘school choice,’ and he heard other people talk about his story of Dunbar – and that’s when they really want at home we still have a lot of people here.
We must fix this broken system to free these people so they can achieve and succeed. “
Amen.
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