Over the last 25 years, the social, educational and economic outcomes for Black males have been more systemically devastating than the outcomes for any other racial or ethnic group or gender. Black males have consistently low educational attainment levels, are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups. On average, Black males are more likely to attend the most segregated and least resourced public schools.

Latinos occupy this position in at least four states. Latino male students, who may be of any race, graduate at an estimated rate of 57% nationally. California, which has the largest Latino population, had an estimated graduation rate of 61%, while the rates for Texas and Florida were at the 50% level. The highest Latino graduation rate for any state with a significant Latino population is New Jersey, at 70%; the lowest is New York, at 38%. (Immigration patterns make it difficult to calculate meaningful Latino graduation rates for a number of states, most notably Arizona, Utah and Minnesota.)

American Indian students who attend public schools are the major group condemned to the worst schools in two or three states. However, in most states, the stratification of school quality works to minimize educational opportunities specifically for Black students.

If Black students did poorly in all schools, we would plausibly seek solutions to the problem of their achievement among those students themselves. The same would be the case if, in schools with majority Black enrollments, Black students did poorly and the other students did well. But in reality, Black students in good schools do well. At the same time, White, non-Hispanic students who attend schools where most of the students are Black and their graduation rates are low, also do poorly. The crisis of the education of Black males sits squarely in the middle of the crisis America faces as we work to create a world-class public education system that will support and maintain the values of a fair and equitable democratic society.