Are we settling when it comes to our black history? Are we content with the 28 days in which limited aspects of our culture are presented to us and our children? Are we fine with the fact that many of our children don’t know much about black history other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus? Yes, there are stamps with … [Read more...]
Yes You Can! Teach Your Own Kids By Homeschooling
Teaching your own kids by homeschooling is something many parents have considered. A few years ago, we considered doing so. Four years later we are homeschooling our twelve and seven year old children, while our three year old is following right after them. In addition, we also serve as directors and tutors of a community of 15 homeschooling families. We had many concerns … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Senator Suggests Providing Welfare Based on Kids’ Grades
This past Thursday, Tennessee senator, Stacey Campfield, initiated a bill that would base welfare funding on the grades of the receiver's child(ren). The bill would reduce the amount of aid given to those whose children receive less than satisfactory grades in school. In an effort to make parents understand the importance of education, Senator Campfield believes that the … [Read more...]
Where Have All the Black Teachers Gone?
Brandon Johnson is an organizer for the Chicago Teacher’s Union and the leader of its Black Caucus. Recently he pointed out the fact that despite the growing diversity found in our nation’s population of school aged children, the pool of teachers fails to reflect the diversity. Instead, the opposite has occurred. The “teaching force” continues to experience an increase in white … [Read more...]
Is Educational Disparity Our Generation’s Civil Rights Issue?
This month Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke out about educational disparities among Hispanic and black children during a luncheon that was leading up the Inauguration of President Obama. While Mayor Villaraigosa is a Los Angeles mayor, the issue of racial disparity in education is present across state lines. Mayor Villaraigosa described this epidemic of higher … [Read more...]
Should Our Children Be Spending More Time in School?
Ah yes, the beloved winter, spring, and summer school vacations. Our children love them while oftentimes us working parents have mixed feelings about them. It’s not that we don’t want our children to get to have a vacation; it’s just that many of us don’t have the available time to take off from work and care for or be with our children. Instead, we are forced to find … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Self-taught African Teen Wows M.I.T.
15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz living in Sierra Leone who scours the trash bins for spare parts, which he uses to build batteries, generators and transmitters. Completely self-taught, Kelvin has created his own radio station where he broadcasts news and plays music under the moniker, DJ Focus. Kelvin became the youngest person in history to be invited to the … [Read more...]
Gift Cards Given Out As An Incentive For Parents to Get Involved – Right or Wrong?
Back in September, Chicago teachers went on strike to push the school system to meet their demands. Now, Chicago schools are giving parents gift cards in an effort to get them involved in their kids' education and academics. In exchange for picking up their child's report card and attending parent-teacher conferences, parents will receive a $25 Walgreens "Balance Rewards" … [Read more...]
“Colored School” Historical Monument for Civil Rights or Bad Memory of Racism
Almost 60 years ago, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" overturned the 1896 decision of Plessy v. Ferguson that allowed state-sponsored segregation. Before the ruling, there were schools for white students and schools for colored students. One of those schools still stands in Wilmington, Delaware. But it may … [Read more...]
NY Teacher Threatens To Sue After Being Kicked By First Grader
John Webster is a 27-year-old physical education and health teacher at P.S. 330 in Queens, NY. The 220-pound, former college football player says he's threatening to sue after being injured by first grade student, Rodrigo Carpio, the New York Post reports. Carpio, who has a history of violent behavior, kicked Webster in the knee and ankle causing damage that required surgery … [Read more...]
Mean Girls Better Leave My Daughter Alone
Raising a daughter is hard, especially when you know that one day they'll have to deal with the "mean girls" at school. Unlike the movies it doesn't just happen in high school, now it has moved down to elementary school--even invading my daughter's Pre-K class! If you know anything about girls, you know that instead of being blatantly rude there are several ways to be "mean" … [Read more...]
Towson State Student Wants a White Student Union: Offensive or Justified?
Things are a little tense on the campus of Towson University in Maryland as a student, Matthew Heimback is interested in starting a new organization on campus: White Student Union. Heimback says that white students deserve a club meant exclusively for them, and defends his reasoning in the university newspaper. "We want to replicate what every student union does on campus," … [Read more...]
Chicago Teachers Strike, No School For Over 400,000 Students
Inner-city Chicago youth are having an unexpected vacation as their teachers go on strike. The country's third-largest public school system lost their teachers to the picket lines this morning for the first time in 25 years. After failed negotiations over the weekend, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis announced, "We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent … [Read more...]
Is Your Home in “School-Year” Shape?
School buses...Backpacks..and TRAFFIC! Oh my!! It's that time of year again. Yes! Back-to-school time. Always a bittersweet moment for me. Yay!!! This means more structure and for lack of a better word..."order" in the house. Boo!!! For the homework woes and my husband and I realizing that neither one of is "smarter than a fifth grader". From a sentimental mommy perspective, it … [Read more...]
Losing Our Historically Black Colleges and Universities
"You can't continue to move forward unless you give back what you are given. It is our calling." These words were once spoken by Oprah Winfrey, who in 2003 stood at the center of a fundraiser for Bennett College during the "Revitalizing Bennett Campaign," which sought to raise $50 million for the school. There's has been word of Virginia HBCU, Saint Paul's College … [Read more...]