The Schott Foundation for Public Education introduced the concept of “opportunity gaps” as a replacement for its commonly used alternative, “achievement gaps,” the No Child Left Behind era’s term, which blamed teachers and the public schools as solely responsible for disparities in standardized test scores. In a report released last week, Love is the Foundation for Life: Schott Report on Black Males in Public Education, the Schott Foundation updates its prior research on the complex causes that continue to deprive young Black men of lifetime opportunity. This is Schott’s sixth annual report.

Dr. John H. Jackson, Schott’s president and CEO, introduces the alarming statistics the report exposes: “(O)ver the last decade, quietly, more than 600,000 Black students projected to be in post-secondary education are missing—a number larger than any other racial group. Despite the fact that the population of Black people, ages 18-34 years old, has increased from 9 million in 2000 to nearly 11.5 million in 2020, the total undergraduate enrollment for Black students in community colleges declined by 26% and HBCUs by 16%, and there was no increase in enrollment at four-year colleges and universities in general. Even more concerning is the fact that data indicates that the majority of this enrollment decline is attributed to the decline in Black male enrollment.”

The new report identifies high school graduation as the best predictor of future opportunity: “High school graduation rates are a key indicator of well-being and the future success of our nation’s young people. Students who graduate high school are more likely to continue to post-secondary education and have consistent employment and higher wages. High school graduates working full-time have median weekly earnings of $749, compared to $606 for those without a high school diploma. The estimated lifetime earnings of high school graduates relative to those who do not graduate is approximately $300,000 higher.”

Why has the Schott Foundation chosen to examine the life chances of Black males? “There has not been a group of young people whose life expectancy has been more impacted by the negative societal outcomes that align with low high school graduation rates than Black males. Black male students represent a very capable group of learners. Yet, their vulnerabilities are systemic, and both socially and politically manufactured and inflicted. The existence of racial gaps in graduation rates impacting Black males highlights how existing social inequalities and racialized limitations can impact an individual’s future potential and create a drag on national outcomes.”

The new report explains: “Overall, females, regardless of race, are graduating at significantly higher rates than males across the states, while Black males consistently have the lowest graduation rate regardless of race or gender… (M)any of the low societal outcome indicators for Black families (post-secondary attainment rates, incarceration, homelessness, life expectancy, etc,), are driven, in general, by the poor outcomes of Black males…. Black students are most often in schools that are both racially and economically distinct from those that white students attend… More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated a range of academic disparities largely driven by health, economic and social inequities experienced by Black students and their families… Black male students are not themselves the problem. We remain dedicated to highlighting the need to prioritize leveraging public resources and systemic policies to create local ecosystems which create the conditions for Black male students’ long-term success.”

The report explores in detail the dismal Black male high school graduation rates across the 50 states and in 15 geographically diverse school districts. The community of Mobile, Alabama and its public schools produced “the highest Black male graduation rate at 88% and was the only district among the 15 selected with a four-year graduation rate for Black males above the national average graduation rate (86%)… Conversely, the school districts with the lowest Black male four-year graduation rates, Detroit, MI (54%), Philadelphia, PA (59%), Baltimore, MD (65%), and Minneapolis, MN (65%), also possessed the lowest four-year graduation rates for all male students.”

The Schott Foundation looks to the creation of “loving systems” for children in the schools and in the communities: “Loving systems have been defined simply, as a system of core supports that you would provide the children you love… The relationship between out-of-school living conditions and academic outcomes is well established. Research has consistently found that among the biggest drivers of racial gaps in academic performance are differences in family income and poverty. There is a vast array of specific social conditions associated with poverty that have been found to negatively affect student performance.”

One of the strengths of this report is a series of sections examining how family poverty and the absence of supportive community institutions deprive students of opportunity at school.  For example, “In each of the metropolitan areas where the 15 selected school districts are located, Black households had poverty rates that were two to three times that of whites… Similar to poverty, unemployment rates… served as an important indicator of the social and economic well-being of each community as well as the likely prevalence of social cohesion and networking opportunities for young people.”

Scott’s report identifies school discipline and other punitive correctional practices as key barriers to opportunity: “In 1970, the U.S. had approximately 300,000 citizens incarcerated.  By 2010, that number had exploded to 2.5 million… This increase in punishment even extends to K-12 education, most notably evidenced in student suspensions and expulsions… Black male students are more than three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white counterparts.”

Finally, families cope with housing segregation and the absence of affordable housing: “Research has shown that school segregation is associated with unequal access to a range of educational and economic resources which may impact academic outcomes for Black male students. Schools with high proportions of Black and Latinx students have higher shares of teachers with only one to two years of experience, lower numbers of school counselors, and worse physical facilities. Notably, teachers with less experience are primarily responsible for racial disparities in out-of-school suspensions, which has a disproportionate impact on Black male students, highlighting a path… by which segregation may negatively impact Black male graduation rates.”

“Housing in and of itself is also an education issue. Housing instability and homelessness is disproportionately experienced by Black students. The last several decades have been marked by dramatic increases in student homelessness in line with equivalent declines in housing affordability… Households paying high proportions of their family income for rent have fewer resources available for other important needs and are particularly vulnerable to experiencing housing loss. In almost two-thirds of our selected cities, half the renters are cost-burdened (paying 30% or more of their incomes for rent), and one in four renter households pays more than half of their income for rent.”

The Schott Foundation’s researchers conclude: “A ‘schools alone’ policy response that ignores how conditions outside of school… impact student learning, graduation, and college going rates will not serve young people well, especially Black males. Addressing these graduation disparities is not solely the job of educators or superintendents, but must include mayors, county officials, governors, judges, legislators, regional funders, and community partners.”  The report includes recommendations for all of these partners in addition to a section on the needed role of the federal government, which “has the greatest capacity to establish this as a national norm.”