Houston Schools Deal With Diversity And Drop-outs

At the end of June 2007 the Supreme Court made a split 5-4
ruling that limits the ability of schools to use race as a
factor in determining student participation in academic
programs like magnet schools. Around that same time, the
Alliance for Excellence in Education released a study out of
Princeton University that reports the cost of high school
drop-outs to the country over the next decade will be about $3
trillion.

Houston Schools will have to make some decisions in years to
come based on both of these results. The Supreme Court decision
has been brewing for decades. While Houston Schools do not use
race as admission to magnets, the specialized schools were
started for the purpose of desegregation. And the current
battle over the issue of achieving racially balanced schools by
using race as a factor is a tense one. Houston Schools won't
have to make changes to its magnets, as other schools in the
country will. But – the Houston Schools will still need to
focus on ways to address the huge racial achievement gap.

The Princeton study, conducted by Cecelia Rouse, a professor of
economics and public affairs, released some disturbing
statistics for both Houston Schools and the entire state of
Texas. Individually, every high school drop-out costs the
United States $260,000. In Texas, only 66.8% of high schoolers
make it to graduation. And a 2006 USA Today article reported
that less than 50% of Houston Schools students graduate on
time. In that same year the Princeton Study reported that
drop-outs cost the state of Texas over $31 billion.

What explains these numbers? Educators in Houston Schools
aren't surprised by the numbers. They have know for years facts
that the study cites from numerous sources; that high school
graduates in the Houston Schools (and the nation) are less
likely to become teen parents than drop-outs; they raise
healthier and better educated children; commit less crimes; and
use less public services (welfare, food stamps) and less
government healthcare. It's the cumulative cost of these
factors that make the drop-out rate so costly for Houston
Schools.

How is that affected by the recent Supreme Court Ruling? The
question is race. Houston Schools face a significant gap in
graduation rates between white and non-white students. In 2006
the racial breakdown of the percentage of students who
graduated on time from Texas Schools looked like this: Asians
83%, Whites 75%, African-Americans 60% and Hispanics 25%.
Houston Schools follow these numbers closely.

Although Houston Schools magnet programs aren't currently
affected by the new ruling, expect to see more changes on the
horizon. The ruling only prohibits schools from using race as
the single determining factor for admission to magnet programs.
It still leaves room for questions about- using it as one of
many factors, the role of charter schools, and the multitude of
ways schools try to achieve racial balance. The parents of
Houston Schools students are torn. Some are ready to scrap any
evidence of racial profiling for use in academics. Others fear
that the elimination of attempts to balance racial mix will
result in a return to largely segregated schools where minority
and low income students suffer in the worst areas, in crumbling
buildings, and with the least qualified teachers. The future of
Houston Schools' success at closing the achievement gap is still
murky. But the vision of further initiatives, court rulings, and
studies on the role of race in education is certain.

About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Texas/Houston/index.html

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