Sec. Arne Duncan to Visit HBCUs to Stress Importance of Black Male Teachers
BlackAmericaWeb.com has produced an interesting editorial on Sec. of Education Arne Duncan’s push to recruit more minority teachers into America’s school system. With a directive from President Barack Obama to resolve the nation’s education disparities and produce the highest graduation rates in the world by 2020, it’s an ambitious and much-needed task.
“And people ask why black males are struggling,” Duncan said in a recent interview. “I’ve talked to the first lady about it. I plan to visit black colleges and talk to freshmen and sophomores. I want to talk to them about a call to service.”
One of Duncan’s first opportunities to speak with black students will be at Xavier University in New Orleans, where he is scheduled to speak in May, his aides told BlackAmericaWeb.com Thursday.
Duncan’s plan to persuade young black men to teach for a living after they graduate college is an important initiative for the African-American community and may even silence some Republican critics who claim President Barack Obama has no fresh ideas.
Ultimately, this initiative will come down to expressing how lucrative and how rewarding a career in education can be. Given the growing-yet-still-paltry numbers of black males in college, to guide their attention to historically maligned jobs. Bad kids, low pay, little respect are some of the disconcerting reasons flung at men and women to not pursue educational careers.
But indeed, secondary education is in a crisis mode, and the hope is that Duncan, in tandem with community organizations and resources, can create positive cultures empower black males to believe they can change the system. They need to know that they are the role models children are seeking where there are none or insufficient ones at home. They should know that they can make money, and serve the community in education, and permanently impact lives along the way.
Short URL: http://www.hbcudigest.com/?p=6859
