Why Do Our Youth Still Suffer Academically?

As the world’s technology advances and our information highways become revolutionized through the internet, information is easier to obtain now more than any other time in history. These days, teachers can easily incorporate different educational tools into their classroom routines such as websites, online videos, and PowerPoint presentations. With just the click of a button, or more popularly, a simple Google search, students can gain a seemingly unlimited amount of knowledge about whatever topic they wish to learn about.

Today, most children and young adults receive a great deal of information through our ever-changing forms of media. However, despite the overload of information and educational outlets supplied by the media, many Americans, particularly our youth, still struggle academically.

According to the US Department of Education, since 1983, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade with the inability to read at a basic level. During the same period, more than 6 million Americans dropped out of high school altogether.

A dilemma such as this is likely to make people question America’s commitment to education. How can a nation which provides seemingly unlimited educational information to its citizens have undereducated children?

As easily as most people would like to blame our country’s education issues on our school systems, inadequate government funding, or even an overall apathy toward the importance of education in this country we fail to realize that this problem is bigger than a blame game. There are numerous factors which play a role in a person’s academic development. We need to understand what factors develop the attitudes which cause students’ academic failures as well as success. … Continue Reading

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Marvin DeBose Jr

Students Compete To Win Organic Lunch Options At School

When I went to high school in Colorado my school had a 7-11 on campus as well as a choice of Chic-Fil-A and Dominoes pizza depending on the day of the week. We had vending machines that were filled with soda and candy, and a dessert selection of sugar and chocolate chip cookies.

Fast forward some years later and now schools across the country are competing to win organic choices over unhealthy lunch options for their school. I’m jealous!

The Organic Trade Association is hosting a national contest to award a lucky school with an organically grown garden or the option to have an organic vending machine on campus. The initiative “Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools” aims help schools access more organic food.

According to a survey by the OTA, more than half of the individuals polled feel that the best way to encourage children to make healthy food choices is by improving education about health and nutrition. A good way to start is by offering it!

So, if you want to enter your school to win a really cool organically grown garden or an organic vending machine, act now!

Visit www.OrganicItsWorthIt.org through May 1 and enter your school’s name and address when you sign up for an electronic newsletter to win. Similar to a petition, your school must receive at least 1,000 newsletter sign ups to win.

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Krysten Hughes

Poor Teachers Or Poor Funding To Blame For Education Crisis?

Newsweek recently posted an article titled “Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers”. The article cites that “what matters more than the class size or the textbook, the teaching method, or the technology or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher.”

The article also points out that “as the population of disadvantaged students grows, overall scores continue to sag.” Thus, as long as communities continue to be stripped of funding which provides assistance for things such as social services, housing and the creation of new jobs, there will continue to be a widening achievement gap between privileged and poor and minority students.

What I found interesting is that there is a connection between the two. According to Newsweek, “the weakest teachers are relegated to teaching the neediest students, poor minority kids in inner-city schools.” Statistics often demonstrate that this does not always happen due to mere coincidence.

In the state of Nevada the relationship between these factors is no different. An annual survey by Education Week magazine ranked Nevada 50th in the nation for the quality of its public K-12 education, with Las Vegas receiving a letter D grade. Also, according to city data Nevada ranks third in unemployment. If Las Vegas was a state it would rank second behind Michigan. The unemployment in Las Vegas ultimately led to foreclosure where Nevada ranks worst in the nation, causing many displaced families. To top it all off, Nevada teachers are some of the lowest-paid employees in the state and are currently facing an additional 1.75% salary cut on top of the 10% across the board that has already been proposed by Republican governor Jim Gibbons, which would result in thousands of teacher layoffs and 50-student class sizes in high schools.

How do we improve education for all when faced with so many obstacles?

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Krysten Hughes

Rapper The Game: “Bullets Burn Hot and They Don’t Taste Like Apple Pie from McDonalds”

On this 99problems.org exclusive, Game tells students to think twice about the street life. There are other options out there.

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Biko Baker

Rapper The Game is Frustrated with the School System

Last week, Game went on an extented Twitter rant about the American educational system. At one point he even said that he thought school was a “waste of time.” The rapper, who does a lot of behind the scenes community activism, expressed that he felt that public schools are often times little more than glorified “baby sitters.”

While the public school system definitely needs improvement, I think it’s important that Game understand that he has more power to change his local school district than 100 school board meetings. Maybe I need to holla at this brotha to get him involved with his local school board. Because if he stood up lots of things would change.

Check the Twitter rant after the jump.

spotted at rapradar.com
… Continue Reading

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DJWillieShakes

Census Rap Video from 1990 Sucks Really Bad!!

You prolly don’t know this because your high-school civics class most likely wasn’t worth sh#t, but every ten years the US government counts every human being within its borders. Over the next several months, we are going to be talking a lot about the 2010 Census because it’s pretty effin important. Billions of your tax dollars are spent on schools and other important community projects. And were not talking fake rich rapper money either; the census adds up to big paper for local communities.

Of course, most times young people and people of color don’t fill out the form.  Were too busy doing other cool sh#t like filling out unemployment forms or waiting in lines at the emergency room. That’s why the good folks at the Census Bureau spend so much money producing commercials that attempt to speak directly to our demographic.

We’re not sure if these commercials have always been successful because the one above sucks really bad.  Maybe were too young to remember, but its hard to imagine that dancing that hard in ugly clothes was ever cool. After the jump is an example of a census commercial from 2000 that is much less likely to make you want to punch someone in the face.

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The Editor

Krumpin’ Clown to the Rescue!

Clowning is no laughing matter for Tommy the Clown (born Thomas Johnson). Instead, it’s a way to combat deeper issues like gang involvement, boredom, hopelessness, violence, and inactivity.

Born in Detroit, T.J. moved to LA as a teenager, where he soon found himself in trouble with the law. He had plenty of time to reconsider his life’s direction while spending 5 years in jail, where he decided to turn his life around. He’s done that and more–he’s changed the lives of youth around the world.

How? By clowning. It started out as a favor for a friend’s kid’s birthday party, but soon evolved into a way to help at-risk youth, youth who were in danger of falling through the cracks the same way that T.J. had been. Young people were allowed to join his clown/krump/hip hop crew on the condition that they did well in school, stayed out of gangs, didn’t do drugs, and acted as positive role models. In 15 years, this has grown to become a world-wide phenomenon, with 60+ dance crews in LA, performances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and motivational lectures in schools across the country. It has also spawned a new form of street dancing (y’all know it as “krumping”) and even a 2005 movie by Dave Chapelle, called “Rize”.

Tommy is more than just a red-nosed, smiling face–he’s entertained millions, inspired thousands to get off the couch and off the streets, trained, guided, and helped countless urban youth, and spread a message of peace to us all: “You got problems? Don’t fight no more. Bring it to the dance floor.”

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Yolanda Clatworthy

Homeless Families Hit the Streets

Aren’t you glad summer’s finally here? The recent reemergence of the sun makes me crave days at the beach and nights spent camping. But the recession means that for many (hell, most of us) a vacation simply isn’t that feasible this year.

We should consider ourselves lucky if that’s the worst recession can do. It’s hit a lot of people a lot harder. Every year, the number of families who are homeless skyrocket at the beginning of summer. This year has been particularly bad. People from 10 000 families will become homeless in New York alone this summer, an increase of more than 28% from last year. At last count, that number had already hit 9420—9420 moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and children on the street in one city. That’s A LOT of people—so many, that if you wanted to meet them all, one a day, it would take you more than 27 years.

But numbers are just statistics. They don’t tell the whole story. People do. Like 11 year old Arielle Figueras, who completed fifth grade one day and was in a shelter with her family the next. Or the Dixon family, who were evicted in April, have been separated in various homes since then, and are now reunited on the streets. Families who had found short-term solutions—like staying with relatives or asking the landlord to temporarily take pity on them—are booted out now that the weather is warmer and the kids are out of school and underfoot.
… Continue Reading

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Yolanda Clatworthy