News Details (Posted: November 22, 2007):

Black Parents Make Their Voices Heard, By Baxter Smith

Full Description:

EDUCATION Participants at a meeting called by Delegate Emmett C. Burns (D-10th) to discuss the plight of black students in the public school system. Baxter Smith/Staff photo. Participants at a meeting called by Delegate Emmett C. Burns (D-10th) to discuss the plight of black students in the public school system. Baxter Smith/Staff photo. BAXTER SMITH 31.OCT.07 Grasmick explains details of high school Bridge Plan Reacting to concerns of black parents and others, the state school superintendent last week spelled out details of her plan to help struggling seniors graduate from high school next year. Nancy S. Grasmick called her Bridge Plan for Academic Validation "a positive and workable step for students with special test-taking difficulties." Grasmick's remarks came in an Oct. 22 letter to Delegate Emmett C. Burns (D-10th), who has sought answers from school officials to give black parents trying to improve their children's educations. As part of the process, Burns convened a meeting last week of black parents and education advocates to air concerns over ways to address black students falling short on the High School Assessment exams. The tests, which are slated as a graduation requirement in 2009, have also sparked concern from parents of special education students and English language learners. Grasmick's information and Burns' meeting come as the state school board concludes two days of meetings examining the Bridge Plan and the high school exit exams. Although struggling students may retake portions of the assessment exam, some are clearly having problems. As a result, Grasmick proposed her Bridge Plan to allow those students to submit a senior-year project as an alternative. "Under the Bridge Plan, students will work with school staff to select one or more projects in the HSA content area(s) not yet passed," according to Grasmick. "The project(s) will be monitored by an advisor, then validated by a panel of independent educators upon completion." She noted that her Bridge Plan "has been embraced by all 24 local school superintendents and the Achievement Initiative for Maryland's Minority Students (AIMMS) Steering Committee, chaired by Dr. Barbara Dezmon. The Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals has also endorsed the Bridge Plan." Participants at Burns' meeting voted overwhelmingly to support the Bridge Plan. Burns was pleased. "Somebody has to do something," he said. "If we keep as we're doing without trying to apply some brakes, we're going to go downhill at a faster rate." Although parents at the meeting were aware of big performance gaps between black and white students, there were audible gasps when Burns read from a recent school system audit that predicted it could take up to 50 years to bridge the gap. Burns urged parents to become better advocates for their children. "If we sit back and do nothing what is happening to our people and our schools will be to our detriment," he said. He added that he has written and met with county school officials who are aware of parents' concerns. "We don't want to see African-American students get further and further behind," he said.