Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 9, 1995 TAG: 9506140016
SECTION: EDITORIALS PAGE: A-19 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES W. DYKE JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The report calls on Southern governors and legislatures to act immediately to eliminate the remaining vestiges of desegregation.
Virginia should be proud of the progress made over the past few years; however, more work remains to carry out the commonwealth's legal obligation to eliminate the disparity between black and white college-enrollment rates. For example:
During the '80s, Virginia doubled the number of black undergraduates in traditionally white institutions. Even so, by 1992 blacks made up only 10 percent of the enrollment in these schools, while 19 percent of Virginia's population is black.
Of all blacks enrolled in Virginia public higher-education institutions, 48 percent are in traditionally black colleges and 21 percent are in community colleges. Only 31 percent of blacks in public colleges attend flagship or traditionally white colleges.
Eleven percent of black adults in Virginia have bachelors' degrees, compared with 27 percent of white adults.
In 1991, just 8 percent of Virginia's public-college professors were black. When historically black Virginia State and Norfolk State universities are excluded, the number falls to 5 percent.
The importance of this failure by Virginia and other Southern states to fully desegregate our colleges is compounded because in this country a college degree is the ticket to a better life. Equal access to higher education is not only morally correct, but it also provides significant economic benefits to the entire society. Every additional African American who gains access to college is potentially a more productive taxpayer and revenue generator, a result that benefits all Virginians.
The central recommendation of the SEF report is that states should address this problem systemically, by (1) restructuring their entire educational systems from kindergarten through graduate school, (2) raising academic standards, (3) instituting tough accountability measures and (4) ensuring that all students, black and white, are provided with the necessary coursework to prepare them for higher education and for the work place.
These SEF recommendations provide an exciting opening to bring Americans together by expanding educational opportunity and job skills for every citizen, thus stimulating economic growth and job creation. This stands in marked contrast to the current debate on affirmative action, which has been fueled by opportunistic politicians trying to divide Americans by playing the ``race card.''
The SEF's bold approach to desegregation responds to several current national needs:
It would break down barriers that artificially limit opportunities for minorities.
It is consistent with the national crusade to raise academic standards, accountability measures and all students' job-preparation skills.
It will enhance our nation's ability to compete in the information-driven global marketplace of the 21st century.
It supports efforts to adequately fund higher education and to recognize its economic-development potential - as demonstrated by the significant role higher education played in Motorola's decision to locate in Virginia.
And it is right because it will permit all American students to achieve whatever potential their ambition, desire and hard work can produce.
To achieve these goals, and for states to carry out their legal obligation to eliminate vestiges of previously segregated school systems, governors and legislatures must assume strong leadership roles. Even though students have a responsibility to work hard and to make the best use of their opportunities and skills, we must place the responsibility for guaranteeing equal access, not equal results, on the institutions themselves and on the states that oversee them.
Moreover, we must make states and institutions accountable for producing results.
At flagship universities, that means more programs designed to support the needs of minority students. It means admissions policies that speak to students' potential, not primarily to their performance on standardized tests. It means making more of an effort to accept high-achieving students from community colleges.
But successful desegregation means more than change from majority institutions. It reaffirms the value of historically black colleges and universities, and recognizes their continuing role as gateway institutions for minorities. Traditionally black schools must also broaden their programs and expand competition for the highest-quality students of all races.
Accomplishing all this in tight budget times requires fiscally responsible state leadership that spends limited taxpayer dollars wisely and effectively on reordered priorities for education excellence. The federal government's role is to enhance resources for financial aid so that college is affordable for average Americans of all races. It's an investment in America's economic future that will pay huge dividends.
Many schools will resist change on the basis of protecting inherited tradition. Our answer must be that traditions which block equal opportunity for some must give way to new traditions which enhance opportunity for all.
More than most regions, the South has gone through wrenching transformations and upheavals. But we are also the stronger and better for it. This is a chance for the South to lead the rest of the country, and to ensure that no one is ever denied opportunity for reasons other than his or her ability to seize it. We will see the results in a stronger economy and in the pride of our people.
Virginians who believe that investment in our entire educational system must be our state's top priority must urge Gov. George Allen and the General Assembly to carry out their legal and moral obligations to achieve full desegregation in Virginia's education system. That would strengthen the moral fiber of our society and provide Virginia with a better-educated citizenry prepared to stimulate economic growth for our state.
James W. Dyke Jr.,, a former Virginia secretary of education, was a member of the Southern Education Foundation's Panel on Postsecondary Desegregation.
by CNB