A philosophy about the education of our children could not come at a better time. President Barack Obama has just announced sweeping changes to the No Child Left Behind act that hope to emphasize teacher quality, more academic standards and an improvement in the distribution of funds to schools who need them.

Hopefully, the president can make Dr. Rod Paige a part of that discussion.

The former secretary of education from 2001 to 2005, Paige was an advocate of education reform and instrumental in the creation of the current NCLB Act. His new book “The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is One of Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time,” is a manifesto on how improving black achievement improves our whole society.

Written with his sister Dr. Elaine Witty, an impressive educator in her own right, the two are more than qualified to contribute to the national discussion on the achievement gap.

“To be sure, the black-white achievement gap is not the only obstacle standing in the way of racial equality and social justice,” Paige says. “It is, however, the major barrier impeding progress for African-Americans and primary civil rights issue of our time.”

Chilling statistics that back him up. The National Assessment of Educational Progress says that black students start falling behind as early as kindergarten and never catch up. Black students are dramatically behind in reading and math proficiency – in both cases, less than 20 percent of the national average – and their high school graduation rate is almost 20 percent lower than that of white students. In SAT scores and in college completion rates, black students are falling far behind their white peers. Educational achievement - or the lack thereof - is almost directly linked to success in life. It has been proven that the more education you have, the more income you have, and if black men in particular had better high school and college graduation rates, there would be less of them in prison.

Page and Whitty’s book provides a clear-eyed look at the problems inherent in the educational system, as well as some ways to solve it. Given the wealth of their respective experiences, they have seen some schools and teachers improve the quality of learning for their students. These students become achievers and the world becomes a better place.

“The primary cause of the black-white achievement gap is that low-achieving students have been deprived of the educational essentials which support learning to high levels,” Paige says. “I believe that all children can learn at high levels when they are taught at high levels. Being taught at high levels means educational support from factors outside of the school. It involves the support and commitment from the entire education triad — home, school, and community. Children on the negative side of the gap suffer from educational deprivation. The gap persists because it has been allowed to.”

Paige offers a simple solution – that the community come together to find solutions. He believes that it’s not just the school system that bears the brunt of educating our children, but the proverbial village. “In this case, families, schools, and community leaders must prioritize this growing problem and come together to make a change," he says.
 
"Rather than continue the age-old controversy about the causes of the achievement gap and rather than continue to look outward and blame racism and discrimination, African-American leaders must look inward and move forward," says Paige. "My goal for 'The Black-White Achievement Gap' is to compel African-American leaders to work together and with educators to create a high level of school quality across America, and with service-oriented and faith-based organizations, corporations, policy makers and parents to implement [changes].

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