Douglas Alexander: “A half century after Brown v. Board of Education, education on equal terms still eludes too many African-American…”

“A half century after Brown v. Board of Education, education on equal terms still eludes too many African-American schoolchildren. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has called America's persistent racial achievement gap 'the civil rights issue of our time.' By the 12th grade, only one in six Black students and one in five Hispanic students are reading at their grade level. Math scores are equally as disturbing. Only 3 percent of Blacks and 4 percent of Hispanics test at proficient levels by their senior year. By another standard, about 60 percent of African-American children read at or below basic level at the end of the fourth grade while 75 percent of White students read at basic or above at the end of the fourth grade. There is still a huge achievement gap among African-American children and White children. The No Child Left Behind Act's system of standards and accountability is creating a foundation for closing the gap. But funding disparities between rich and poor--too often minority children attend poorer schools--school districts remain a stubborn contributor to inequality. Between 1996 and 2000, poor students fell further behind their wealthier peers in seven out of nine key indicators, including reading, math, and science.”