WASHINGTON, D.C. – If today’s high school seniors aren’t better positioned to pursue a college degree, they won’t be able to fully enjoy the gains made during the Civil Rights Movement.
That was one of the key points made Friday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 41s Annual Legislative Conference during a panel discussion titled “The Class of 2012.”
Hosted by freshman U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and moderated by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the panelists hit on a variety of issues, from what they described as the inordinate emphasis placed on college entrance exams and standardized tests to the antiquated agrarian school calendar.
Contempt for charter schools permeated the discussion, while the applause that followed most, if not all, of the speakers’ comments suggested a certain homogeny of political thought, particularly over the state of public education.
Still, panelists agreed that, as a whole, public schools—under the current system—are not serving minority students well.
Dr. Henry Lewis III, president of Florida Memorial University, said one of the biggest needs in education today is for more students to get educated in the so-called STEM fields.
“I think one of the areas that we’re failing in our education system is in the STEM disciplines,” Lewis said. “I’m a scientist, a pharmacist by training, and I’m keenly aware that science-based training is what we got to have in this information age that we’re in.”
