Teaching solutions for black students

Teaching solutions for black students
Austin talk show host spearheads effort to improve graduation rates, academic performance.
Click-2-ListenAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFSunday, April 01, 2007
Patrick George — Michael Lofton isn't happy with how black students are doing in the American public education system.
The Austin cable access talk show host is frustrated that black students lag behind white students in high school graduation rates. Nationally, just over 50 percent of black students earn regular diplomas, compared with 75 percent of white students, according to a 2006 Harvard University study.
But blaming the schools alone, Lofton said, won't solve the problem.
"It will take the whole community to figure out what needs to change," he said. For this reason, he created the African American Men and Boys Conference, the 10th of which was held Saturday at McCallum High School in Austin.
Lofton's goals for the conferences, which are held each month, are to bring parents and teachers together to find solutions to problems plaguing black youths and to expose students to black community leaders.
Lofton pays for conference expenses with his own money, and the Austin Independent School District provides space for the events. The conferences include daylong workshops to teach conflict resolution skills, good study habits, and ways to improve parent and teacher relationships.
"A lot of teachers don't understand African American students or their culture, and they have lower expectations for them," Lofton said. He said he wants to set higher standards for all black children.
Carroll Thomas, the conference's keynote speaker and Beaumont school district superintendent, addressed about 100 students on the importance of saving money and setting short-term goals.
"We need to challenge adults in their responsibility to children," Thomas said. "Not just their own kids; they're responsible to help every child."
Lofton said more than 700 people attended one conference in February. That inspired him to plan a conference for women and girls, which was also held at McCallum on Saturday.
"I like that they encourage kids to go to college and provide resources for problems and assistance," said Tina Walker, who attended the conference with her daughter Kiki, an eighth-grader at Ojeda Junior High School in Austin. "I'll definitely be back and bring my sons for the men's conference."
Students such as Chris Henry said they enjoyed learning about issues facing black men.
"There are a lot of good ideas here about black rights," said Henry, a sophomore at Crockett High School. "I can't wait to come back."
Lofton said his program is being expanded into several in-school and after-school sessions, and he hopes to assemble an African American community task force of parents to address problems in some Austin schools.
"AISD gets a lot of feedback from parents, but what about the students who don't have an advocacy base at home?" he said.
"What about the kid whose mom is on crack or whose dad is in prison? Of course, that's not everyone, but I can't just forget about those kids."
For now, he's happy he's been able to reach students.
"Once you connect with them and hit that moral fiber they all have, they have a different look on their face, like they have the answers," he said.
The next conference will be April 28 at Connally High School.
pgeorge@statesman.com; 445-3851