The Education Superhighway and Jail Time for Parents of Failing Students?

The Education Superhighway is a newly created weekly television show that focuses on education and which is hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton with Jane Nolar. The debut of the program was Oct 10, 2010 in more than 160 U.S. markets.

Today we will discuss the first broadcast and discuss education as a civil right as suggested by Rev. Sharpton and others.



We will also discuss the proposal by a Wayne County, Michigan prosecutor to jail the parents of failing students. If parents of students performing poorly in school do not attend at least one Parent/Teachers conference, should they face three days jail time as proposed by Wayne County (Detroit) Prosecutor Kym Worthy unless the parent/parents have health issues?

The True Costs of Educating Our Children

There is a education debate going on across the country and none is more contentious than in a couple of counties in North Carolina where the NAACP has gotten involved.

With the economic downturn and so many people out of work, there has been a decrease in the amount of tax revenue municipalities take in and there many school systems have had a hard time meeting their budgets and have had to make cuts.



The much publicized education documentary "Waiting for Superman" cites that some of the most successful charter schools like SEED charter school spend about $35,000 per student to get its great academic results.

Yet some successful schools like Harding University High school in Charlotte, NC do not spend nearly that much per student and yet has comparable success.

What is the true cost of education our children and is spending more money always the answer? What time in the time that parents spend in participating in their child's development.

Money should never be a hindrance to learning so lets look at this problem and discuss some solutions.

Black Disposable Income Up, Black Male Student Scores Down

Studies show a dramatic increase in spending power. "African-Americans Revealed" study, based on a BET survey of 80,000 black consumers over 18 months, showed a 10 percent increase in America’s black population between 2000 and 2008 and 55 percent increase in black buying power over the same period. Black buying power is estimated now at about $913 billion and is projected to increase to $1.2 trillion by 2013.

A similar study released in November by the Selig Center at the University of Georgia estimated that black buying power would be about $1.1 trillion by 2014, with current spending power for blacks at about $910 billion.” Poor academic performance among Black children has traditionally been linked to poverty, but a new study showing that poor white males do better than poor Black males. An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another. But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known.

Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys. Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches. Black America needs to have an honest discussion about how is it that we can spend so much money on good and services but yet it seems we are not investing in our own children’s future.

Do Black People Really Care About Education?

With Black voter turnout being very poor across the nation for the mid-term elections and with the apparent problems in our communities especially in education, who are Black people going to blame?

When we think elections, most of think about the Congressional races, but what about the election of local school boards? What about the superintendent or those who appoint them?

It seems to us that the biggest problem in the Black community is the Black community. When a crisis hits like school closings in our neighborhoods, Black people will express outrage and scream racism but where is the outrage for those who do not show up to the polls where your opinions matter most?