Last night I facilitated a panel before the Portland School Committee of
current and former students of Portland and Deering High Schools on race and
education. This was the second panel in a series that is part of a
collaborative effort between the ACLU of MAINE and the NAACP. We have asked the School
Committee to explore how race impacts education. Four inspiring young people
-- Jean Paul Kamanzi, Joseph Perez, Kelsey Phillips, and Alfred Jacobs --
shared their personal reflections on how race impacts education. The Press
Herald covered the event:
“Students on the panel described a variety of educational experiences – some
successful, some not.Alfred Jacob, a 26-year-old Sudanese immigrant, said he
felt ill-prepared for college when he graduated from Portland High School in
2003. Portland High was exciting and diverse, he said, but teachers had lower
expectations for students who were learning to speak English. When Jacob learned
enough English to take regular classes, the lower expectations persisted, he
said, so he took only one college-prep course. He graduated and went to college
but dropped out after a year. “Teachers expect students to succeed (in high
school) but not much further,” said Jacob, who now attends the University of
Maine at Presque Isle. “I didn’t have the necessary skills to survive in
college.”
It’s not
okay for young people to feel that our schools are not meeting their
expectations. Thankfully, both the School Committee and Superintendent Jim
Morse are eager to address the challenges of race and education. Portland is
lucky that both young people and adults in Portland schools are taking steps to
meaningfully address racism. Check out the full Press Herald article
here:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=289669&ac=PHnws