Rochester School Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and School Board President Van White were in Washington Monday, joining officials from 59 other urban school districts. They were there as part of an effort organized by a group called the Council of the Great City Schools, and they made a commitment to improve education outcomes for boys and young men of color.
Vargas says this is an important group of students to focus on, especially considering that African American and Hispanic males make up 43 percent of city school students.
“Our male black and brown and Latino students lag behind their counterparts and also the girls when it comes to reading. They lag behind when it comes to graduation rates, they also lag behind even in attendance.”
Vargas says in Rochester, that is a group that is particularly at risk this time of year.
“We know for a fact that we lose so many young men to the street, during the summer. That’s why we’re making such a strong effort to engage every youngster, every child, in summer activity, in summer learning.”
Vargas says it's critical that the district works to improve the reading level of this group of students, and he says that is something that the students' families, along with businesses and others in the community will need to be involved with if this effort is to be successful.
Vargas says nationwide, some big businesses have also committed to spending about 200 million dollars toward this effort.
