African American children are often told by the white establishment that “education” is the way to obtain equality yet, at the same time, black children are not given equal educational opportunities.

They are told to get a quality education at the same time their schools are underfunded, have old textbooks, and have overly stretched teachers, says Ray Freeman, vice-president of the Warrensville Heights School Board in Northeastern Ohio.

The “achievement gap” is evident, according to Freeman and Judge Gayle Williams Byers of the South Euclid, Ohio Municipal Court.

Black students with the same years of schooling do not perform overall as well as whites.
But, it’s not the black child’s fault.

They are told to succeed but not given the tools to succeed. Freeman adds. They are short-changed in many different ways on their educational experience.

Freeman is a midwestern regional member of the National School Board Association and travels the country visiting schools, especially in impoverished neighborhoods. He says the achievement gap is nationwide and not just regional.

Black children just are not given equal opportunities for success, Freeman and Byers note.

Often black children are given low expectations by whites for academic acumen equal to their white counterparts. There also is the expectation of the pipeline to prison for many black men instead of academic success.

Black young men and young women are not “expected” by white culture to have equal academic prowess to whites, says Freeman. But he contends that is so wrong.

Therefore, black students are not given many of the same opportunities. Freeman and Byers are firm believers that co-curricular activities in predominately black schools are lacking. Little is offered beyond sports.

Freeman suggests that there should be an array of co-curricular opportunities in black schools that would spark academic interests and a desire to succeed. He says that these activities are just as important as the rigor in the academic classrooms.