CNN Black in America Program Highlights Educational Trends

Today CNN Student News posted an online news segment that examines how two specialized schools in New York are targeting the dropout rate of African-American students. CNN's Black in America project examines what it means to be black in America today, and education is a huge topic. I am definitely interested in this because of the charity work I do, which is featured in my website http://www.roccobasile.com/. There is a big disparity between black and white students.

The CNN news piece talks about one of the schools -- The Baldwin School -- a new public school with small classes, which has a 94 percent graduation rate. One student drops out every 26 seconds in America. Many of the New York students were failing before coming to Baldwin, and they are now doing better than most students in the New York public schools. age three blacks fall behind.

A Harvard study found that black students fall behind by the time they are three years old, and 3/4 of the one million New York students are a minority, with 70 percent impoverished. Schools like Baldwin are fighting to change this, proving that smaller schools and mentoring is what is doing the trick. They are beating the odds by focusing on a student's individual needs.

This is no surprise to me -- because the charity I work with, Children of the City, which has been proving this since 1981. We have been getting kids off the streets and into the classroom, helping to dramatically improve the students grades who live in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn New York.

In other CNN news segments, the news is grim about dropouts. One students drop out every 26 seconds in America, and for African-Americans the number is in (Source: American Alliance) or one million dropouts a year.

That's why well known and recognized African Americans like David Tyree, started volunteering at Children of the City, winning the football hero the charity's Children’s Champion Award at the charity's annual fundraising Benefit.

For more information on how you can support, go to http://www.childrenofthecity.org/.

--Rocco Basile