According to a new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education, the Rochester City School District graduates the lowest rate of Black male students in the entire country.
Michael Holzman is a senior research consultant for the Schott Foundation. He says one reason for the low graduation rate comes down to Black males being “locked out” in schools - meaning they’re not given the same resources as their white counterparts.
Holzman says in Rochester City Schools there’s twice as many white male students in gifted and talented programs than Black and Latino male students.
"Which would mean I guess that twice as many male white students are smarter than male black or male latino students if that's what's being said," says Holzman. "And of course that isn't true so what's going on is these kids are being locked out of opportunities to get the additional resources that are going to white kids."
For the 2009-2010 cohort in the Rochester City School District the report finds 9% of Black males graduated in 4 years, and 10% of Latino males. That’s compared to 31% of white males.
The Schott report also finds New York State ranks last in the country for graduation rates for black male students.
To view the Schott Foundation's full report, click on the link: