The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his life to issues of justice and opportunity. He taught us how the lack of education meant the potential of millions of children could never be realized. King often referred to education as the great equalizer.
As an educator, I know that education is the best equalizer. Education serves as a bridge between despair and hope. It allows everyone, regardless of their background, the opportunity to achieve on the basis of merit. And those opportunities increase with the amount of education a person can access and obtain. College graduates earn almost twice that of high school graduates, have greater purchasing power and produce higher tax revenue.
We have made great strides in providing opportunity through educational access, but we still have a long way to go. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said it herself in May: “In too many of our cities, the reality faced by minority and low-income kids is shocking.”
In high schools, white students tend to be concentrated in well-performing schools in the suburbs, while urban school districts, filled with lower-income students and those of color, are deteriorating. At the postsecondary level, white students crowd the more selective state flagship and research institutions.
According to the Education Trust, high school graduation rates are dramatically lower for students of color than for white students: 91 percent of white kindergartners graduate from high school, while only 87 percent of African-American and 62 percent of Latino kindergartners ever finish high school.
Meanwhile, if they go to college at all, students from traditionally underserved backgrounds often attend institutions with less stringent admission standards and lower retention and graduation rates, including community colleges and urban colleges and universities.
National trends show that out of 100 students entering college, 33 white, 18 African-American and 11 Latino students will graduate. And, graduation by the age of 24 is seven-times greater for high-income students than it is for low-income students.
Colorado is a prime example of this disturbing paradox. While we rank in the top five per capita for college-degree holders, we’re importing our college graduates. Colorado is near the bottom in the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds who go to college.
A recent National Center for Higher Education Management Systems study demonstrated that Colorado institutions with high enrollments of students of color — such as Adams State, CSU-Pueblo, the community colleges and Metro State — were some of the lowest funded.
Obviously, we’re not living up to the progress that King envisioned. It is time for change. Achieving the great equalizer — education — is an economic necessity. More education means more income, less unemployment and more civic participation. A recent study conducted by the MetLife Foundation found that high school dropouts cost the Colorado economy $4.2 billion a year in lost wages.
As an educator, I have a special obligation to try to make a difference in this area. Metro State is poised to meet the social and economic imperatives to educate more students of color. We will continue to build on our already solid foundation of community programs focused on improving K-16 education for these students.
King inspired Americans to think beyond themselves, look past differences and strive for equality. I encourage you to get involved and turn your concerns into actions.
We must confront these disparities in education and make sure these gaps are not so significant that they, all on their own, predetermine the future of our children.
We must keep King’s vision alive for the next generation. If we each do our share to not only push our society to succeed at educating all children, but to demand it, then we have a real chance to see his dream come even closer to reality.
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