States of Emergency
State by State Graduation Rates for Black Male Students
The educational inequities in graduation rates and achievement gaps impacting Black males are national and pervasive. As Table 1 indicates, the ten states with the lowest graduation rates enroll more than 1,600,000 Black male students, which represent 40% of the Black male public school population.
Table 1: Ten Lowest Performing States for Black Males
|
Lowest Performing States |
Total Black Male Enrollment |
Graduation Rates 2005/06 Cohort |
Gap* |
|
|
Black Male |
White Male |
|||
|
41. Wyoming |
608 |
41% |
72% |
32% |
|
42. Georgia |
308,716 |
40% |
58% |
18% |
|
43. Illinois |
216,782 |
40% |
82% |
41% |
|
44. Nevada |
23,553 |
40% |
55% |
16% |
|
45. New York |
285,694 |
39% |
75% |
37% |
|
46. Florida |
326,757 |
38% |
60% |
22% |
|
47. Louisiana |
147,030 |
38% |
60% |
21% |
|
48. South Carolina |
142,496 |
38% |
59% |
20% |
|
49. Wisconsin |
46,379 |
36% |
87% |
50% |
|
50. Michigan |
174,790 |
33% |
74% |
41% |
The worst problems are concentrated in a few large metropolitan areas. Specifically, New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Dade County fail to graduate the great majority of their Black male students with their peers. Districts such as these, in which Black students are concentrated, tend to have racially segregated schools that are demonstrably inferior educational institutions; very few children do well in these schools. There and elsewhere, schools attended mostly by Black students do worse on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), suspend and expel disproportionately more Black male students than White male students, and assign more Black male students than White male students to special education using procedures open to abuse. In these settings and under these conditions, Black male students are substantively prevented from receiving a high school diploma in four years with their peers.
Table 2: Ten Lowest Large Districts for Black Males
|
Lowest Performing Large Districts |
Black Male Enrollment |
Estimated Graduation Rates 2005/06 |
Gap* |
|
|
Black Male |
White Male |
|||
|
54. New York City (NY) |
159,555 |
32% |
57% |
24% |
|
55. Milwaukee (WI) |
26,818 |
32% |
46% |
14% |
|
56. Buffalo (NY) |
10,666 |
31% |
50% |
19% |
|
57. Baltimore City (MD) |
38,996 |
31% |
37% |
6% |
|
58. Richmond County (GA) |
12,091 |
31% |
43% |
12% |
|
59. Pinellas County (FL) |
11,319 |
30% |
50% |
20% |
|
60. Rochester (NY) |
11,270 |
29% |
36% |
7% |
|
61. Norfolk (VA) |
12,672 |
27% |
44% |
17% |
|
62. Detroit (MI) |
59,807 |
20% |
17% |
-3% |
|
63. Indianapolis (IN) |
11,593 |
19% |
19% |
0% |
* Gap numbers are rounded