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In response to the end of a 60-year affirmative action policy, former NBA great Charles Barkley recently made headlines by donating $5 million to “make sure black people always have a place in Auburn.”
From 2010 to 2020, black college enrollment fell 22 percent nationwide, and as of 2023, black Americans will make up just 5 percent of Auburn’s student population. There is an urgent need to address America’s widening educational disparity, but perpetuating racism through affirmative action is not the answer.
To fully understand the ineffectiveness of affirmative action, we need to ask ourselves two important questions: What is the impact and who benefits? During the Jim Crow era, when segregation began in 1965, education was seen as a key pipeline to success for the black community. This belief and commitment has led to historically high college graduation rates and thriving black-owned businesses, serving the nation’s fastest growing middle class. However, current data reveal declines in these areas, with black male college graduation rates as low as 40 percent, black business ownership at 2.4 percent, and lower black middle-class participation.
Affirmative action has proven to be a disastrous failure, with educational institutions benefiting financially while black Americans face insurmountable student loan debt.
Matt Weinburg: ‘Parents for Teachers’ Union’ Effort Fails
The federal student loan system is a burden to many historically disadvantaged people who are subject to affirmative action. The education industry benefits from this system as it allows them to demonstrate diversity and inclusion by simply ticking a black color box. These institutions recruit students from communities rife with substandard, poor, union-controlled public schools by lowering admission standards based on skin color. This perpetuates a “mild bias of low expectations” that results in graduates lacking basic literacy skills.
If the same “fairness” can be achieved by ignoring educational failures and simply mandating lower standards in colleges, why should we strive to raise grades and expectations?
Millions of minority students are unfairly trapped in subpar and poor public schools, ill-equipped for further education and future careers. Shocking data from a recent U.S. Department of Education study shows that 84 percent of her black students lack math proficiency and 85 percent lack reading proficiency. According to a 2023 report, 23 Baltimore schools had zero math proficient students.
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What are the consequences of implementing policies that base college admissions criteria on the color of a student’s skin, but failing to provide a proper education? Take a look at the 2019 Northeastern Illinois University study. There, only 11 percent of black students graduated within six years, five times less likely than white students to graduate. This system keeps young Americans in debt for life at predatory compounding interest, with no job skills, no degree, and no hope.
To fill this gap, an innovative solution is being considered, called educational freedom.
In America, a child’s race, income, or zip code does not determine the quality of their education. Giving parents the freedom to dictate the best choices for their children’s education is a beacon of hope because it puts students above the system, empowers families to make decisions that best suit their children’s needs, and gives millions of children a fair chance at the American Dream.
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New and needed opportunities enable at-risk students to have a fair chance of success. That’s why “Laws like the Educational Choices for Children Act,” which funds scholarship programs for more than two million students through charitable donation incentives that cover costs related to K-12 education, such as tuition, fees, and supplies, are so popular.
I will work with everyone to advocate for lasting change that creates a brighter future for minority students, but I cannot pave the way for racist policies that further divide the country. Education is a great equalizer, and we must ensure that every child, regardless of background, has a fair chance to unlock the American Dream.
Click here to read more from our representatives.Burgess Owens