Some
of these facts are scary, and some can make us mad. But they show us
the need for diverse schools where tolerance and
understanding can be cultivated. Schools where we support and provide equal
opportunity and care for everyone.
Did you know:
Schools are more racially segregated now than they were in 1970.
African-American
and Latino students are three times more likely than their white peers
to go to a high school where graduating is not the norm.
African American children are more than twice as likely as a white child to be behind grade level.
Teachers
with less than 3 years of experience teach in schools where the
majority of students are people of color twice as often as in schools
where the majority of the students are white.
African American young people are almost 50 times more likely to be jailed for drug offenses than their white peers.
Children
of color lag behind white children in almost every health indicator,
including infant mortality, immunizations, asthma, dental care, lead
poisoning, and obesity.
Since 1979, almost 100,000 children and
teenagers have been killed with guns in the United States -- more than
twice the American deaths in the Vietnam War. More than half of those
kids who were murdered were African American.
In the United States:
* Every four seconds a public school student is suspended.
* Every 20 seconds a child is arrested.
* Every 35 seconds a child is born into poverty.
* Every five minutes a child us born without health insurance.
(sources: Children's Defense Fund, Advancement Project, Opportunity Agenda)
If you read these facts and want to find something you can do, start by clicking here. And you can always let us know what you think at rollback@nylpi.org.
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