House Clears Indian, Black Farmer Settlements : NPR

House Clears Indian, Black Farmer Settlements : NPR: The House of Representatives passed landmark legislation Tuesday to pay for some $4.6 billion in settlements with American Indians and black farmers who say they faced discrimination and mistreatment from the government.

Lawmakers voted 256-152 to send the measure to President Obama, whose administration brokered the settlements over the past year.

The package would award some $3.4 billion to American Indians over claims they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department for resources like oil, gas and timber. Another $1.2 billion would go to African-Americans who claim they were unfairly denied loans and other assistance from the Agriculture Department.

The settlements have broad bipartisan support but had stalled in Congress over costs until the Senate broke a stalemate this month.

Pennsylvania Museum Ordered to Return Alaskan Tribal Artifacts

Pennsylvania Museum Ordered to Return Alaskan Tribal Artifacts: A shaman’s owl mask. A brass Loon Spirit hat. A faded hide robe that memorializes ancestors of the Hoonah T’akdeintaan clan wiped out by a tidal wave in Lituya Bay, Alaska.

These items and dozens more belong to clan members, not the Pennsylvania museum where they’ve been stored for decades, a federal committee ruled recently.

Marlene Johnson, a T’akdeintaan elder, has been trying to return the objects to Alaska ever since watching a slideshow of the collection in the mid-1990s.

“As long as there’s one of us around, it belongs to us,” she said.

The decision comes on the 20th anniversary of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a federal law under which American Indians can claim human remains and cultural objects held by museums and federally funded agencies.

Swastika case another race issue for NM town

Swastika case another race issue for NM town: FARMINGTON, N.M. -- Three friends had just finished their shifts at a McDonald's when prosecutors say they carried out a gruesome attack on a customer: They allegedly shaped a coat hanger into a swastika, placed it on a heated stove and branded the symbol on the arm of the mentally disabled Navajo man.

Authorities say they then shaved a swastika on the back of the 22-year-old victim's head and used markers to scrawl messages and images on his body, including 'KKK,' `'White Power,' a pentagram and a graphic image of a penis.

The men have become the first in the nation to be charged under a new law that makes it easier for the federal government to prosecute people for hate crimes.

The Answer Sheet - Report: Number of 'dropout factories' declines

The Answer Sheet - Report: Number of 'dropout factories' declines: The number of U.S. “dropout factory” high schools declined from 2002 through 2008, a new report says, but close to 40 percent of minority students continue to fail to graduate with their class.

According to the report, called 'Building a Grad Nation” and being released today, the pace of improvement is too slow to meet a national goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020.

The number of dropout factory high schools fell by 261, from a high of 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008, a decline of 13 percent, the report said, and the actual number of students in these schools dropped by 15 percent.

Changes afoot for state colleges

Changes afoot for state colleges: A lawsuit pertaining to black colleges in regard to alleged discrimination by the state is in its fifth year, but its roots trace back to 1954 and 30 years of legal wrangling between Maryland and the federal government.

The lawsuit — set to go to trial June 27 — was filed in October 2006 by the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education and alleges the Maryland Higher Education Commission and other officials have not completely dismantled racially discriminatory policies against students at historically black colleges and universities.

The state Higher Education Commission, however, maintains it has brought historically black colleges and universities up to par with traditionally white institutions. The commission establishes and oversees policies for public and private colleges and universities in the state, as well as for-profit career schools. It also administers statewide financial aid programs.

The coalition maintains that historically black institutions of higher education in Maryland still are not equally funded, and that predominantly white institutions receive preferential treatment when it comes to degree programs and infrastructure.

NewsHour Extra:Spanish Student Reflects on Religious Tolerance | PBS

NewsHour Extra:Spanish Student Reflects on Religious Tolerance | PBS: Religious tolerance has been a hot topic in the news recently, and in many parts of the world, followers of the three major religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) struggle to coexist peacefully. But, in Andalucia, a region in Spain, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived side by side in peace for more than 700 years, creating a tolerant culture that was home to some of the most important artwork, philosophy and science of its time.

Nineteen-year-old Irene Dorado, who grew up in Andalucia, shares what religious tolerance means to her and how Andalucia’s rich religious past is reflected in its people and monuments.

NewsHour Extra: Student Voice | Homeless Youth Fights for Her Future | November 23, 2010 | PBS

NewsHour Extra: Student Voice | Homeless Youth Fights for Her Future | November 23, 2010 | PBS: Roughly 110,000 American youth experience homelessness in a given year, according to government agencies. While some homeless youth live with their families, others have been abused and neglected, or pushed out of the foster care system.

During National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, NewsHour Extra visited Covenant House in Washington, D.C., a sanctuary for youth who have no other where to live.

Vida, 20, came to the Covenant House in 2009. Below she shares her story and thoughts about youth homelessness in America.

Sullivan Seeks to Lead the University of Virginia at a Challenging Time

Sullivan Seeks to Lead the University of Virginia at a Challenging Time: In January, when Dr. Teresa Sullivan became the first woman selected to become president of the University of Virginia, expectations were that the noted sociology professor, provost and executive vice president for student affairs of the University of Michigan would ease into her job in bucolic Charlottesville.

When she took over in August, however, the scene was anything but peaceful.

New push planned for DREAM immigration act

New push planned for DREAM immigration act: Thousands of high-school and college-age student-immigrants are lobbying Congress, introducing themselves to citizens by scheduling meals together and performing acts of public service to draw attention to the DREAM Act - a measure that seeks to provide legal papers for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were children.

...The bill was blocked in the Senate when Reid introduced it before the midterm elections. Advocates and critics both say the odds of it passing in the next Congress are slim, given that a Republican majority in the House is expected to concentrate on immigration enforcement measures. And Republicans have vowed to block the new bill because they believe it would provide amnesty to lawbreakers and legal status to criminals.

Study Suggests Simple Fix to Help Women Succeed in Science | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS

Study Suggests Simple Fix to Help Women Succeed in Science | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS: A simple 15-minute writing exercise could help young women succeed in math and science classes, according to a study released Thursday by the journal Science.

In recent years, women have earned nearly 60 percent of the college degrees awarded in the U.S., but only about one in five of the degrees granted in physics, computer science and engineering. What's behind the gender gap? College administrators have looked for answers as they try to attract women to their science programs, and pundits have blamed stereotypes, societal pressure, and -- controversially -- a difference in innate abilities between the sexes.

Now, a new study suggests that the psychological effects of subtle stereotypes are at least partly to blame for the achievement gap -- and that a remarkably easy intervention could help more women stick with science. Social psychologist Akira Miyake and his colleagues at the University of Denver found that for women in an introductory college physics class, a simple writing exercise that bolstered the students' sense of self-worth helped raise their grades significantly, pushing many of them from a C to a B in the class.

Embracing The Africa In African-American : Tell Me More : NPR

Embracing The Africa In African-American : Tell Me More : NPR: 'I'm not Black or American, I'm an African.'

These were the words I proudly uttered, as a young adolescent sitting in the kitchen of our home. The response however, wasn't quite what I expected.

'You know, there are a lot of Africans who would resent you saying that,' my mother replied.

The Africans she was referring to, of course, were those born on the continent. But what I would come to realize, is that she wasn't so much discouraging me from defining myself as an African as much as she was challenging me to examine what made me African.

Fast-forward to a few days ago.

'Are you black Americans or white Americans?'

That was the question put to me and other African-Americans, in a junior high classroom in Accra, Ghana.

Report: For-profit Schools Likened to Subprime Mortgage Lenders

Report: For-profit Schools Likened to Subprime Mortgage Lenders: The embattled for-profit college sector took another hit Tuesday with the release of a new report that cites the industry for preying on low-income and minority students in a way that will ultimately lead to a financial catastrophe like the subprime mortgage collapse of 2008.

The report—produced by The Education Trust, a D.C.-based organization that works to address the nation’s achievement gap—essentially serves as a wake-up call for Congress and the federal government to advance with efforts to more heavily regulate the for-profit college sector. Many fear that GOP lawmakers, fresh off a victorious takeover of the U.S. House, may stifle or roll back such efforts.

“The developing showdown between for-profit colleges and the government is another example of how the aspirations of the underserved and the unfulfilled promise of the American Dream combine with lax regulation to make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer,” says the report, titled Subprime Opportunity: The Unfulfilled Promise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities.

San Jose State Dean Humanizes the Engineering Curriculum

San Jose State Dean Humanizes the Engineering Curriculum: As a college professor, Dr. Belle Wei concluded that, too often, engineers were trained only in technical skills without developing personal character. Teaching at San Jose State University since 1987, she observed this in her electrical engineering department and in counterparts such as computer and mechanical engineering. “This wasn’t new. My peers and I were educated the same way in the 1970s.”

So as SJSU’s Don Beall Dean of Engineering, Wei tries educating students broadly. She wants them globally informed and socially responsible. Wei encourages the more than 4,900 engineering students seeking bachelor’s and master’s degrees to take courses in the humanities and social sciences.

Civil Rights, Judicial Bias Surround Texas Drug Case : NPR

Civil Rights, Judicial Bias Surround Texas Drug Case : NPR: A legal drama has been playing out for almost three years in the Texas town of Clarksville of Red River County.

During that time, two black brothers have seen their lives turned upside down, and a white judge was recused from the case after allegations of judicial bias and criticism for pushing a drug case that just about everyone urged him to drop.

Clarksville was one of the first places settled in the state of Texas. After 190 years since its founding, the town of 3,200 retains a slightly dilapidated Southern charm.

In the town square stands a large statue of a Confederate soldier, Col. John C. Burks. What's strange is that the statue is not facing east toward Murfreesboro, Tenn., where Burks and many other locals lost their lives charging a Union battery. Nor is it facing south in honor of Burks' beloved Confederacy.

The Confederate colonel faces northwest, as if looking toward Idaho. But the way Vergil Richardson sees it, the statue is actually keeping an eye on the town's black neighborhood.

Lone Latina Senator in Mass. Defends Tuition Plan

Lone Latina Senator in Mass. Defends Tuition Plan: BOSTON – Massachusetts' only Latina state senator defended a state proposal Wednesday to grant in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants and accused critics of the plan of spreading “fiction.”

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. is misleading voters by saying such a plan would hurt taxpayers. She pointed to a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation 2006 report that said it would raise revenue.

“This fiction has gone on long enough,” Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat, said in a statement. “Leader Jones knows—or should know, before opining publicly on an issue—that in-state tuition is a reform that would actually generate revenue for the state at a time when we desperately need it.”

Perspectives: A Chat and a Tweet on Race

Perspectives: A Chat and a Tweet on Race: It has been more than a decade since Harvard law professor Lani Guinier, and, in her wake, former President Bill Clinton, called for a national conversation on race. Clinton’s initiative died after 15 months of town hall meetings, buried by media disinterest in an event about reconciliation, rather than rage.

With the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, a conversation on race began to re-emerge, albeit in a form that was more about an imagined “post-racial” state of affairs than any reality that most Americans encounter daily.

For simple reasons—the harsh facts of demographics and economics, if not for reasons of doggedly trying to better this country and ourselves—we ask that a serious conversation on race again be attempted. This time, we ask for a conversation with attention to the kind of depth and texture invited by Guinier, who grew up with a keen awareness of the need for bridge building across America’s ravine that we call race.

Colleges Showing Improvement on Hiring Minorities as Head Football Coaches, Survey Reveals

Colleges Showing Improvement on Hiring Minorities as Head Football Coaches, Survey Reveals: Major college football programs are making steady headway in selecting Blacks and other racial minorities for prized head coach positions, says a new survey of hiring practices issued by the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) association.

Still, it is easier to become a general in the U.S. Army than to become a major college football coach, says veteran former college football coach Floyd Keith, the group’s executive director.

“While we have made progress, is the task finished?” asks Keith, in a statement and telephone interview after the report’s release. “No, but we are headed in the right direction to eventually realize an acceptable ratio in the number of head coaches to the number of participants on the playing field,” says Keith.

Lost Boys of Sudan Regain a Bit of Their History - NYTimes.com

Lost Boys of Sudan Regain a Bit of Their History - NYTimes.com: PHOENIX — It has been 10 years since Malek Deng and thousands of other young men known as the Lost Boys of Sudan left war behind for new lives in the United States. But a new digital archive of their refugee records is taking Mr. Deng and the others back to the harrowing days of their youth.

Sitting in a community center in Phoenix, where thousands of Sudanese refugees have resettled, Mr. Deng recently examined documents about his war-torn childhood that he had never seen. They were based on an interview that field workers with the Swedish branch of Save the Children International conducted with him in 1989 at a refugee camp in Ethiopia. He was just a scared boy of about 14 at the time.
The papers said he was born in a village called Thur Kuol in the Bahr al-Gazal region of southwestern Sudan. The documents listed Mr. Deng’s relatives and recounted how he tended cattle before civil war drove him from his family. He had explained to the interviewers that he fled with other Lost Boys to avoid being kidnapped by soldiers from northern Sudan.

White supremacists on trial in explosives plot

White supremacists on trial in explosives plot: BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Two reputed white supremacists and a black associate collaborated on a plot to sell grenades and guns to a member of a national white supremacist group, according to prosecutors who put the men on trial this week.

But the buyer was really a government informant who often wore hidden video and audio recording equipment, producing hours of what prosecutors say is incriminating evidence.

Jurors, who have watched some of the videos and listened to audio excerpts during the federal trial, are to return to court Monday and Tuesday, then take a break until Nov. 29 because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Senate approves $4.5B payment to Native Americans, black farmers

Senate approves $4.5B payment to Native Americans, black farmers: After months of hang-ups, the Senate unanimously approved Friday two multibillion-dollar settlements that will rectify long-standing claims against the federal government for discrimination and mismanagement.

The vote essentially brings closure to the two cases, which have each been litigated for more than a decade.

The House, which has twice endorsed the deals, must still do so one more time, an action that is expected after Thanksgiving. Senate approval, however, has been a huge hurdle for Native Americans, who sued the government over poorly handled individual Indians' trust accounts, and black farmers, who were for years unfairly refused loans by the Agriculture Department.

'Black farmers and Native American trust account holders have had to wait a long time for justice, but now it will finally be served,' Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement after the vote. 'I am heartened that Democrats and Republicans were able to come together to deliver the settlement that these men and women deserve for the discrimination and mismanagement they faced in the past.'

NCAA President Discusses Ways to Curb Violence

NCAA President Discusses Ways to Curb Violence: INDIANAPOLIS — Mark Emmert is taking a look at what the NCAA can do to help prevent violence against women.

Two representatives from the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes said they spent nearly 90 minutes meeting with the NCAA's new president Wednesday, imploring him to send a strong message to the nation's college athletes that violent acts would not be tolerated.

'I'm encouraged by it,' Kathy Redmond, president and founder of the group, said after the meeting. 'I told him we would be in contact and we would love to help him build a program around this topic.'

U.S. Education Department Reviewing Complaints About Inequities in K-12 Discipline, Supportive Services

U.S. Education Department Reviewing Complaints About Inequities in K-12 Discipline, Supportive Services: The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has received a record 7,000 complaints and is conducting 54 compliance reviews — the vast majority of which concern elementary and secondary schools. Experts, however, say the implications for such cases reach much farther, impacting minority students’ aspirations and access to college.

At the top of the list of complaints are allegations that African-American children, boys in particular, are disciplined far more harshly than their White peers. English language learners, disabled students and children with other special needs aren’t getting the supportive services that they need, according to complaints. School districts that are found to be in noncompliance with civil rights laws risk losing their federal funding.

The Answer Sheet - Report: Rise in college applications hurts low-income students

The Answer Sheet - Report: Rise in college applications hurts low-income students: A new report concludes that the dramatic increase in college applications over the past 15 years is creating a rise in selectivity that will reduce opportunities for more low-income, first-generation students in all levels of higher education, including community colleges.

“Putting the College Admission ‘Arms Race’ In Context,” being released today by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, says public and private not-for-profit, four-year institutions experienced overall growth in applications of 47 percent and 70 percent, respectively, between 2001 and 2008.

Hispanic-serving institutions had a 111-percent increase in applications during that period, with an annual average increase of 12 percent, which is not surprising given that Hispanic students are the fastest-growing segment of high school graduates.

Ernest Cole’s Photographs Exhibited in South Africa - NYTimes.com

Ernest Cole’s Photographs Exhibited in South Africa - NYTimes.com: ...In exile Mr. Cole’s life crumbled. For much of the late 1970s and 1980s he was homeless in New York, bereft of even his cameras. “His life had become a shadow,” a friend later said. Mr. Cole died at 49 in 1990, just a week after Nelson Mandela walked free. His sister flew back to South Africa with his ashes on her lap.

Mr. Cole is at last having another kind of homecoming. The largest retrospective of his work ever mounted is now on display at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, built in the neo-Classical style almost a century ago in an era when South Africa’s great mining fortunes were being made on the backs of black labor. It is a collection of images that still possesses the power to shock and anger.

Printable version: When minorities are the majority

Printable version: When minorities are the majority: For the first time, Latino students are a majority of the state's student population. Numbering more than 3.2 million, the Latino student population of California is larger than the individual student populations of every state in the Union except Texas. And when Latino students are combined with Asian, African American, Pacific Islander and mixed-race students, the 'minority' students in California make up 73 percent of all students.

Clearly, when it comes to our public schools, the old notions of majority and minority have been turned upside down. One would imagine that this demographic shift would be accompanied by a similarly dramatic shift in the perspective of the policymakers in charge of our public schools. Unfortunately, our political and educational systems have a long way to go before they catch up with the needs of the new majority.

Too many California students fall through gaping holes in our college and career pipeline. On average, only six of 10 African American and Latino students graduate from high school. Last year, there were more Latino 12th-grade dropouts than Latino freshmen on a UC or CSU campus. For those African American and Latino students who get into our California State University system, less than four of 10 graduate in six years.

Black Colleges Look to Increase Online Education Presence

Black Colleges Look to Increase Online Education Presence: ...It's one of many historically Black colleges and universities that has yet to enter a booming cyber education market that could be particularly lucrative for Black colleges.

Blacks comprised about 12 percent of total enrollment in higher education in 2007 but were 21 percent of students at for-profit institutions — many of which are online, according to an American Council on Education report released this year.

Tom Joyner, a syndicated radio host with a largely Black audience, also sees the market's potential. The longtime historical Black college and unversity booster and philanthropist has invested about $7 million to start HBCUsOnline.com, an educational services venture run by his son.

Academic Hiring Freeze Looms as Obstacle to Faculty Diversity

Academic Hiring Freeze Looms as Obstacle to Faculty Diversity: Dr. Christopher Tudico, who in the spring received his doctorate in the history of education from the University of Pennsylvania, says he’s realistic about his chances as he launches a search for a tenure-track position.

“I think in all honesty there’s about a 50 percent chance that I get placed because there are so many applicants and not enough positions. It’s impossible for everybody to have a position,” he says. “I think I’m a very strong candidate, but it may not work out.”

It’s a tough time to want to be a professor or try to climb the faculty ranks, particularly for minority faculty, as Tudico, a Mexican-American, and others are finding.

1 Cop Fired, 3 Suspended In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Black Man That Led To Nearly A Year Of Protests, Tension

1 Cop Fired, 3 Suspended In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Black Man That Led To Nearly A Year Of Protests, Tension: PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland police officer was fired and three others were suspended in connection with the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer, officials said Tuesday.

The discipline follows nearly 10 months of protests and tension between police and black leaders over the death of Aaron Campbell, 25, who was shot in the back Jan. 29 as he ran away from police.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called Campbell's death an 'execution.'

Educate black men now, or we'll all pay later - USATODAY.com

Educate black men now, or we'll all pay later - USATODAY.com: As I read the Council of the Great City Schools report on the problems of black males in urban schools, my mind raced back to a day in the fall of 2006 when I took my then-13-year-old daughter to her piano lesson.

Arriving early, we stopped at a Friendly's restaurant to get ice cream. When the young black male who waited on us said the cones cost $3.32, I handed him a $5 bill. But as he tried to input this payment, his cash register malfunctioned and wouldn't tell him the correct change.

The young man's eyes glistened as he mumbled barely audible sounds of his struggle to manually compute the difference. Then, as customers in line behind us began to voice their frustration, my daughter threw him a lifeline. 'You owe us $1.68,' she said softly.

Union meeting with Filipino teachers raises questions - baltimoresun.com

Union meeting with Filipino teachers raises questions - baltimoresun.com: The Baltimore Teachers Union has waged an aggressive campaign to win support for a landmark contract to be voted on Wednesday, sometimes addressing concerns of specific interest groups in an effort to bridge the more than 400-vote gap that led to an earlier defeat of the agreement.

But one of those meetings has raised questions among some who attended. Earlier this month, union officials held an information session with about 300 Filipino teachers. During that meeting, teachers also asked questions that led to discussions about the school system's efforts to assist international teachers with immigration applications and expedite visas to secure U.S. citizenship.

Union officials said the session was no different than others it has held with teachers in 198 schools across the city.

'There were some meetings where we didn't even talk about the contract; we said, 'Let's talk about what you need,'' said Aileen Mercado, a member of the union's executive board who is Filipino.

Rogie Legaspi, president of the Filipino Educators in Maryland, acknowledged that a strongly worded invitation he sent may have contributed to a misunderstanding about the intent of the meeting.

Even short-term poverty can hurt kids' health – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

Even short-term poverty can hurt kids' health – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs: Being poor for even a short period of time can have lasting health implications for children, according to a new report by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 15.5 million children are living in poverty in the United States, that's one in five children according to the Census Bureau.

Researchers looked at data surrounding four topics: Health, food security, housing stability and maltreatment. They examined each in relation to past and present recessions. During childhood, the body is growing quickly and researchers say even a brief period of poor nutrition could lead to lifelong issues.

21 percent of all households with children were estimated to be 'food insecure,' according to the report data. 'Food insecure' is when a family doesn't have access to enough nutritionally adequate food to meet proper dietary needs. 'The numbers illustrate that even a one-time recession can have lasting consequences,' says Dr. David Rubin a co-senior author of the study.

Illegal Immigrants Can Get Reduced Tuition, California Court Rules - NYTimes.com

Illegal Immigrants Can Get Reduced Tuition, California Court Rules - NYTimes.com: LOS ANGELES — In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday that illegal immigrants can be eligible for the same reduced tuition at public colleges and universities as legal residents of the state.

The ruling is the latest in a series of high-profile battles about state immigration policies. In addition to Arizona’s strict new immigration law, which the United States Department of Justice has challenged in court, nine other states have laws similar to California’s, with lawsuits pending in Nebraska and Texas.

Currently, students who attend at least three years of high school in California and graduate are eligible for in-state tuition at public schools, which can save them as much as $12,000 a year compared with students who come from other states.

Illegal immigrants remain ineligible for state or federal financial aid.

'Racist' Name Calling Misses The Point : Tell Me More : NPR

'Racist' Name Calling Misses The Point : Tell Me More : NPR: ...Many of the city’s residents think they have part of the answer. Through agencies like the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and membership groups such as STAND with Dignity, both the black residents who were pushed out as well as the immigrants brought in for the rebuilding, have united around the terrible conditions that affect both of their communities.

They seem to realize that racism is institutionalized and systemic and that it hurts us all, recent arrivals and longtime residents alike, regardless of color.

As the child of a white mom and a black dad, that makes sense to me, having seen this issue from a few sides.

So rather than branding some people as “good” or “bad” when it comes to racism, let’s do two things: first, let’s own up to the fact that we are all deeply affected by this system. Second, let’s focus on the system itself.

Record Number Of U.S. Households Face Hunger : NPR

Record Number Of U.S. Households Face Hunger : NPR: The number of Americans who struggled to get enough food last year remained at a record high, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More than 50 million Americans lived in households that had a hard time getting enough to eat at least at some point during 2009. That includes 17 million children, and at least a half-million of those children faced the direst conditions. They had inadequate diets, or even missed meals, because their families didn't have enough money for food.

"Household food insecurity remains a serious problem across the United States," says Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.

He says there's a reason the hunger numbers hit a record high in 2008 and stayed there in 2009: a struggling economy.

James Bonard Fowler Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Death That Sparked Selma March

James Bonard Fowler Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Death That Sparked Selma March: MARION, Ala. — A former state trooper took a plea deal Monday in the 1965 slaying of a black man that prompted the 'Bloody Sunday' march at Selma and helped galvanize America's civil rights movement.

Indicted for murder more than four decades after the fatal shooting, James Bonard Fowler, 77, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to six months in jail.

It was a mixed victory for civil rights era prosecutions. The prosecutor and Jackson family members did not get the murder conviction they sought, but the jail time and an apology from Fowler seemed to help close a painful chapter in U.S. history.

Bloody Sunday helped lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson was an integral part of that story.

A diversity deficit

A diversity deficit: REVELATIONS ABOUT the dwindling number of African American and Hispanic students at Fairfax County's acclaimed Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology have sparked debate about achievement vs. diversity. It is a false choice. Surely a school system that is seen as among the nation's best should be capable of readying - and recruiting - a broader spectrum of its students for the rigorous academic demands of the selective school.

The lack of diversity at TJ, as the school is known, is not a new issue. The county school board created a blue ribbon committee in 2004 to come up with a plan for diversification. But, alarmingly, the number of African American and Hispanic students admitted to the school has declined since then - from 5.54 percent during the 2005-06 school year to 3.5 percent in 2009-10. This year's incoming class, The Post's Kevin Sieff reported, has just four African Americans and 13 Hispanics of the 480 students admitted. The numbers are all the more disappointing since the school is able to draw students from most of Northern Virginia, an area with richly varied demographics. African Americans and Hispanics comprise a third of the enrollment of the systems TJ draws from.

Illegitimacy and the achievement gap -- baltimoresun.com

Illegitimacy and the achievement gap -- baltimoresun.com: A report on big city schools was released this week with The New York Times reporting it under this headline: 'Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower than Expected.' Expected by whom would be a fair question, but we find no answer to that in the story.

Data mined from the National Assessment for Educational Progress, and focusing on black male students in the fourth and eighth grades, shows only 12 percent of black fourth-graders are proficient in reading, compared to 38 percent of white fourth-graders.

Only 12 percent of black boys in the eighth-grade were proficient in math, compared to 44 percent of white boys.

'Poverty alone,' says the Times story, 'doesn't seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.'

Though racial achievement gaps have remained intractable despite massive efforts to narrow them, the scope of the gap shown by this report is stunning.

Baltimore educators recognize official who started black schools - baltimoresun.com

Baltimore educators recognize official who started black schools - baltimoresun.com: It has taken 142 years, but Baltimore's first school district leader will finally take his place in the superintendent's suite of city school headquarters.

The Rev. John Nelson McJilton received a long-overdue recognition Friday, when city school officials paid homage to the first leader of the district, whose legacy has been ignored for more than a century after his decision to educate black children after the Civil War.

Judge Thomas F. Upson, the great-great-grandson of the Rev. John McJilton — who served two years as superintendent beginning in 1866 — presented a commemorative photograph and history lesson on his ancestor Friday, ending a months-long attempt to have his ancestor's name and reputation restored.

Donning a 'Believe in Baltimore schools' pin, Upson presented the gold-framed, restored photograph of McJilton, which Upson believes was taken when McJilton was on the verge of taking over the school district.

Perspectives: True Picture of Oppression Left Out of Social Studies Classes

Perspectives: True Picture of Oppression Left Out of Social Studies Classes: ...I loved social studies.

We learned all the dates and names. We even learned about things like context and perspective. I left high school knowing who Nat Turner, W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes were. I recall experiencing a version of the famed blue-eyed-brown-eyed segregation exercise in elementary school. Though I think we were divided by shoe color or some other arbitrary thing. We memorized Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech. I think this is where we all missed the point. By “we” I mean all the White people.

The one thing my class was missing was Black people. In fact, my whole school, city and state lacked them. This happenstance of geography and time is not unique in this respect but common in America. What I’m not sure was common was how we thought we cared about things like equality. We were taught it in school and church. We, again that would be all of us, were Mormon.

NYU Center Dedicated to Asian-American Health Disparities

NYU Center Dedicated to Asian-American Health Disparities: For years, New York health-care providers treated Asian-Americans afflicted by serious, even life-threatening illnesses with ever-increasing frequency. Many doctors in the nation’s largest city agreed that Asians seemed particularly at risk for specific health problems just like any other racial group, but there was neither research nor statistics supporting physician observations.

Enter New York University’s Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), which emphasizes community-based participatory research and problem solving. Established in 2003, it is perhaps the only center of its kind at a U.S. academic medical center dedicated solely to evaluating public health issues of this racial group. Among other things, CSAAH:

Develops and conducts research to address and eliminate health disparities.

Jury Selection Begins For Civil-Rights Cold Case

Jury Selection Begins For Civil-Rights Cold Case: Jury selection begins Monday for a 45-year-old civil rights case in Alabama.

A former state trooper is charged with murder in the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a black protester who was killed in 1965. Jackson's death united civil rights leaders across the country and led to the historic Selma-to-Montgomery march.

Marion, Ala., 1965

In the Deep South of 1965, segregation was the law of the land. Anyone who protested against the system was met with violence.

Not far from Selma, Ala., in Marion, a group of African Americans was gathering in a church at night. Alabama state troopers, including James Bonard Fowler, were called in to break up the meeting, and using billy clubs, they began beating protestors, including 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson.

Fewer Latinos in Ariz.; law, economy cited - The Denver Post

Fewer Latinos in Ariz.; law, economy cited - The Denver Post: MEXICO CITY — A new study suggests there may be 100,000 fewer Latinos in Arizona than there were before the debate over the state's tough new immigration law earlier this year.

BBVA Bancomer Research, which did the study, worked with figures from the U.S. Current Population Survey. The study says the decline could be due to a new law that would allow police to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, which partly took effect in July. It may also be due to Arizona's difficult economic situation.

The study also cites Mexican government figures as saying 23,380 Mexicans returned from Arizona to Mexico between June and September.

U.S. census figures from 2008 say about 30 percent of people living in Arizona are Latino, or about 1.9 million.

UT Austin, Alumna Heal Racial Wounds

UT Austin, Alumna Heal Racial Wounds: It should have been Barbara Conrad’s shining moment.

It was 1957 and the University of Texas at Austin student won the lead role of Dido in the college’s production of “Dido and Aeneas,” a story of two lovers. But after receiving racist threats and phone calls because her leading man was White, school administrators yanked her from the opera. The decision sparked a national firestorm.

“It was a terrible day,” recalls Conrad, now an opera star living in New York. “That would have been a crowning moment for a girl who’s never been in an opera.”

In the 53 years since, Conrad and the University of Texas have worked toward healing the rift. And now the mezzo soprano is getting another chance to perform for her school, this time as the voice for five new television ads promoting the school.

Report Notes Lack of Diversity in Leadership at FBS Schools

Report Notes Lack of Diversity in Leadership at FBS Schools: African-Americans make up 51.3 percent of the players on Football Bowl Subdivision teams, coaching and other key leadership positions at the schools and organizations that oversee those teams are “overwhelmingly” held by White men.

Those are the finding of a new report released Thursday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, titled The Buck Stops Here: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference Leaders for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools in the 2010-11 Academic Year.

The report found that overall, Whites hold 334 (91.8 percent) of the 364 campus leadership positions. White women hold 60 (16.5 percent) of these positions, while only 17 African-American men and one African-American woman hold campus leadership positions at the schools.

Singer John Legend Urges Howard Students To Consider Teaching

Singer John Legend Urges Howard Students To Consider Teaching: In an event that commingled star power and the power of the federal government, President Obama’s Education Secretary and soul singer John Legend visited Howard University Wednesday as part of a national teacher recruitment campaign aimed at making America’s teaching ranks as diverse as the nation’s students.

“There’s a growing imbalance between what our teachers look like and our students,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said at the TEACH campaign event, a national effort that features speaking tours and a website—TEACH.gov—meant to attract more students to the field of education.

While the discussion focused largely on raising the esteem of the teaching profession, it also heavily touted the need to get more individuals from minority groups, particularly men, to become teachers, especially in areas of education where such groups are typically underrepresented. The Education Department says, while African-American and Latinos represent 17 and 21 percent of the student population, respectively, they each represent only 7 percent of the nation’s teachers.

“Our young boys, young boys of color, need great role models,” Duncan said. “Not just at the high school level but the elementary level.”

Black College Association and Alabama Firm Team Up on Fundraising Program

Black College Association and Alabama Firm Team Up on Fundraising Program: The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) and an Alabama-based insurance and financial services company are launching a life insurance program that is expected to help raise funds for the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).

The initiative, which is known as the “Insuring the Dream” program, is a life insurance program that will enable HBCU and PBI supporters to choose the school of their choice as policy beneficiaries. The program offers a vehicle for these higher education institutions to secure support from administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, family as well as to an extended circle of friends who have been an undertapped resource as potential donors, officials said Wednesday.

Title IX complaints filed for 12 school districts

Title IX complaints filed for 12 school districts: NEW YORK -- The National Women's Law Center filed complaints against 12 school districts Wednesday alleging they failed to offer equal opportunities for female athletes.

NWLC officials say they believe statistics from 2006 indicate the districts violated Title IX, the federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in federally funded education programs. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will investigate the complaints.
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The school districts are Chicago; Clark County, Nev.; Columbus, Ohio; Deer Valley, Ariz.; Henry County, Ga.; Houston; Irvine, Calif.; New York City; Oldham County, Ky.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Wake County, N.C.; and Worcester, Mass.

Education Week: Disability-Rights Groups Spar Over Special Ed. Restraints

Education Week: Disability-Rights Groups Spar Over Special Ed. Restraints: A Senate bill that would prohibit restraint and seclusion from being used to control students with disabilities is causing a split among some disability-rights advocates.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., and Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., would place an absolute ban on certain restraining techniques, such as holds that impede breathing or mechanical and chemical restraints. Other types of restraints and seclusion could be used only if a student was a serious danger to himself or others and less-restrictive interventions would be ineffective.

But the measure does allow restraints or seclusion to be included as a planned intervention in a student's individualized education program if the student has a history of dangerous behavior.
Exception Stirs Concern

That IEP exception has thrown some groups that were once united in favor of a federal ban on restraint and seclusion into conflict. Some advocates say that school personnel will default to those techniques if they are an option.

The exception gives the techniques 'a false sense of legitimacy,' said Denise Marshall, the executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates in Towson, Md. The Council For Exceptional Children, a professional organization of teachers, administrators, and parents in Arlington, Va., also opposes the bill.

Trying to close the circle on race

Trying to close the circle on race: Fourteen parents sat in the cafeteria of a Silver Spring elementary school last fall talking about race. The discussion had been mostly light-hearted, until Teresa Murray brought up O.J. Simpson.

Murray recounted how, as a second-year student at George Washington Law School, she was in class watching as the jury foreman in the 1995 trial read the 'not guilty' verdict. She and the other black students cheered, she recalled. The white students were upset. Heated words were exchanged. Class was suspended.

'It was at that moment I said, 'Oh, my God, this is still here, even with educated, liberal whites,' ' Murray said during a meeting of parents to deal with issues of race in Montgomery County schools.

As she spoke, Brian Egan's cheeks turned red. 'Did you really think he was not guilty or that he was getting screwed?' he asked calmly. 'What I really want to know, as a white guy: Were you really cheering for justice?'

The school cafeteria where Murray and Egan had gathered with other parents was so quiet that cicadas could be heard through an open window.

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Struggle To Put Food On The Table, Survey Finds

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Struggle To Put Food On The Table, Survey Finds: WASHINGTON -- A staggering 18 percent of Americans surveyed last month said there have been times over the past year when they could not afford to put food on the table, recent Gallup data shows. This number is slightly lower than it was in September 2009, despite persistently high unemployment levels and record participation in the food stamp program.

Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, said in a press conference on Tuesday that the declining hunger numbers are a testament to the effectiveness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which boosted monthly benefits for recipients about 13.6 percent in April 2009.

Student in Ohio Says Headdress Led to Ouster from Game

Student in Ohio Says Headdress Led to Ouster from Game: OXFORD, Ohio – A student at Miami University of Ohio says an American Indian headdress he wore to show school spirit got him thrown out of a home football game.

Victor Kopen, a senior at the southwest Ohio university, said he was not at the Oct. 23 game “to make a political statement of any kind, just to support the football team,” Cincinnati's WCPO-TV reported.

University trustees, citing respect for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, voted to drop the name Redskins as its athletic nickname in 1996 after the tribe approved a resolution saying it could no longer support use of the nickname. Trustees adopted the RedHawks name the following year.

Although the university does not have a written policy addressing American Indian attire, it is discouraged by staff at athletic events, university spokeswoman Claire Wagner said.

Researching Obesity’s Complexity and Impact

Researching Obesity’s Complexity and Impact: As thousands of brainiac kids from around the globe began descending on the University of Tennessee for a week of Destination ImagiNation’s creative problem-solving summer camp, researchers in health and nutrition on the Knoxville campus couldn’t help noticing that scarcely any overly plump children were in that bunch of campers.

On average, they were less sedentary than their peers elsewhere. “And leaner than the kinds of kids you see going to Wal-Mart, especially in Tennessee, where the obesity rate is extremely high,” says Dr. Naima Moustaid-Moussa, co-director of UT’s multidisciplinary Obesity Research Center, one of several campuses with obesity projects associated with and partially financed by the National Institutes of Health.

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected - NYTimes.com

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected - NYTimes.com: An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.

But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known.

Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys.

Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.

Medical School Association Diversity Chief Talks Health Care Reform

Medical School Association Diversity Chief Talks Health Care Reform: Dr. Marc Nivet joined the Association of American Medical Colleges in June as the chief diversity officer, tasked with developing a strategic vision for AAMC’s diversity efforts and overseeing programs designed to improve diversity in medical education and promote equity in health care. Here, Nivet talks about the benefit of health care reform to communities of color and his plans to work with historically Black medical schools.

CareerWISE Web Resource Offers Ph.D. Guidance for Women in Science

CareerWISE Web Resource Offers Ph.D. Guidance for Women in Science: Women have made great professional strides in the workforce but continue to face obstacles related to their gender, such as sexism and challenges related to balancing home and work. In fact, data show that at least half of all women in graduate degree programs drop out or consider dropping out of their Ph.D. programs. According to the Council of Graduate Schools, gender is the strongest predictor of doctoral degree completion in STEM fields, and the rate at which women complete their Ph.D. programs in these fields is 7 to 10 percent lower than their male counterparts.

Arizona State University researchers have created and launched an online, personal resilience training resource for women in science, technology, engineering and math fields that aims to increase their persistence in STEM doctoral programs. The CareerWISE web site was funded with a $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

ADA Apologizes For Tolerating Discrimination In '60s : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR

ADA Apologizes For Tolerating Discrimination In '60s : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR: In a historic move, the American Dental Association has apologized for not taking a stand against discriminatory membership practices.

In an open letter, Dr. Raymond Gist, who became the ADA's first African-American president in October, said the dentist group should have done a better job in making sure minorities could join affiliated state and local organizations before the mid-1960s.

"[I]n looking forward, we must also look back," Gist wrote. "Along with acknowledging past mistakes and to build a stronger, collaborative platform for future accomplishments, the ADA apologizes to dentists for not strongly enforcing non-discriminatory membership practices prior to 1965."

Michael Battle — the immediate past president of the National Dental Association, which represents more than 6,000 black dentists — says the apology gives NDA members who had been discriminated against in the past some feeling of release, and it helps both organizations move forward.

"We feel it's a great step in the right direction," he says.

White ex-transit officer's sentence sparks protest

White ex-transit officer's sentence sparks protest: OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Friday, some breaking windows and knocking down fences, after a white former transit officer was given the minimum possible prison sentence of two years for fatally shooting an unarmed black man on a California train platform.

The case against defendant Johannes Mehserle has provoked racial unrest at every turn, and police in Oakland, the scene of the killing, were on alert for more problems following a sentence many thought was too light.

Police in riot gear arrested 152 Friday night after a rally billed as a tribute to the victim, Oscar Grant, turned into a march through the downtown area, where demonstrators broke car and bus windows. Some carried a banner reading 'Justice for Oscar Grant.' Police helicopters hovered above, shining spotlights on the crowd.

University of New Hampshire Aims to Boost Revenue, Diversity With Program

University of New Hampshire Aims to Boost Revenue, Diversity With Program: The University of New Hampshire is hoping to boost both revenue and the diversity of its student body by partnering with an outside company to recruit and support international students.

The university recently became the fifth U.S. campus to sign an agreement with Navitas, a for-profit Australian firm that sets up and manages international pathway programs. About two dozen students are expected to arrive on the Durham campus in May for a year of English-language classes and modified academic courses. Those who succeed will be eligible to continue their studies at UNH alongside their American peers.

Hispanics in Washington are the most affluent in the nation

Hispanics in Washington are the most affluent in the nation: ...According to census statistics, people from Central America or their descendants make up almost half the Hispanics in the region. The biggest share, about 230,000, comes from El Salvador. In addition, there are almost 100,000 who trace their heritage to Mexico, about 50,000 each from Puerto Rico and Guatemala, and more than 40,000 each from Peru and Bolivia.

'There's a big difference between Latinos who reside in Maryland from the rest of the Latino population in the U.S.,' said Jessy Mejia of the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs. 'You have a higher percentage of Latinos in Maryland who are citizens or legal residents, who are studying here, getting not just bachelor's but master's degrees.'

UT-Knoxville Chancellor Says Diversity is a Goal

UT-Knoxville Chancellor Says Diversity is a Goal: KNOXVILLE Tenn.— The chancellor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville says there is slow progress diversifying the faculty, which is mostly made up of White men.

In 2005, about 15 percent of tenure-line faculty were nonwhite. That has risen to about 18 percent now. The percent of women faculty has risen from 29 percent to about 31 percent over the same period.

'When students come here to school, they want to see role models like them,' Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said. 'So it's our job to make sure our faculty are more reflective of the people of the state, and that might have more diversity than where they came from.'

Cheek told The Knoxville News Sentinel the issue is partly generational. The professors who have been in Knoxville the longest are mostly White men.

Doll with racial slurs written on it is found hanging from noose at black church in Laurel

Doll with racial slurs written on it is found hanging from noose at black church in Laurel: Laurel police were trying Monday to determine who hung a doll from a noose in front of an African American church on Laurel Park Drive late Saturday or early Sunday, authorities said.

A maintenance man found the doll, which was hanging from a tree in front of the City of Zion Church, about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, said Gregory Strong, the pastor. Someone had written racial slurs on the doll, along with references to President Obama, he said.

'This was meant to rattle our congregation,' Strong said. 'Very disturbing, very disturbing.'

Strong said he called police, and the doll was removed before congregants arrived for services. He said he thought the doll was meant to scare congregants in the days before Tuesday's election.

'This was not coincidence,' he said.

Anti-affirmative Action Campaign Expected to Win in Arizona

Anti-affirmative Action Campaign Expected to Win in Arizona: A ballot initiative to end affirmative action in Arizona has been overshadowed by other state issues, and its opposition has lost much of its funding and steam, a situation that appears to be paving the way for an easy victory today for anti-preference champion Ward Connerly.

“My sense is we’ll win and win handily,” Connerly said in a telephone interview during an October campaign swing through the state, hastening to add there are still some unknowns. “Arizona is really spread out and we’re not doing much polling. The one imponderable is early voting. I don’t know how that plays out.”

Perspectives: Affirmative Action May be Needed — for Men

Perspectives: Affirmative Action May be Needed — for Men: When the Arizona Republic announced its support for the anti-affirmative action Proposition 107 last week, it declared in its opinion editorial headline: “Affirmative Action is No Longer Needed.” On Election Day, voters in Arizona will vote on Proposition 107, the so-called Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, which will amend Article II of the state constitution. The language of the initiative reads, in part:

“This state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”

This is a creature of Ward Connerly, the former University of California Regent who spearheaded Proposition 209 that ended affirmative action in that state. Similar anti-affirmative action initiatives were passed in Washington State, Michigan and Nebraska.

APLU and Other Organizations Establish Partnership Between Afro-Columbian and Historically Black Land-grant Universities

APLU and Other Organizations Establish Partnership Between Afro-Columbian and Historically Black Land-grant Universities: WASHINGTON — The Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Asociacion Columbiana de Universidades (ASCUN) and Phelps Stokes have established a collaborative partnership to promote educational and cultural exchange programs between Afro-Columbian serving universities and historically Black land-grant universities in the United States. The presidents of each organization signed a memorandum of understanding Friday during a special ceremony at APLU headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The purpose of the agreement is to promote and expand student and faculty exchange programs, joint researchers and activities, and community and leadership development among students, faculty and administrators, explained Dr. Lorenzo Esters, vice president of APLU’s Office for Access and the Advancement of Public Black Universities. It also aims to position members of APLU’s Council of 1890 Universities to take a leadership role in preparing minority students to develop what Esters described as “the global critical thinking essential to contributing as citizens of the world and competing in the international marketplace.”

Desegregation Offers Lessons for Gay Troops Debate

Desegregation Offers Lessons for Gay Troops Debate: ...The stories of Woods and other Black veterans who served among the military's first desegregated units during the Korean conflict may bear lessons at a time when Americans are debating an end to “don't ask, don't tell.'' The 1993 policy that bars gays from serving openly in uniform has been challenged by a federal court and President Barack Obama and is under review by the Pentagon.

Though the military may now seem to lag behind America's acceptance of gays in civilian life, the armed forces led the charge in ending racial segregation in the 1940s and '50s.

Efforts to integrate the ranks began right after World War II, culminating with President Harry S. Truman signing a 1948 executive order banning racial discrimination in the military.

Black, Hispanic students dwindle at elite Va. public school

Black, Hispanic students dwindle at elite Va. public school: When the Black Students Association at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology threw a pizza party in September for new members, every African American freshman on campus showed up.

All four of them.

They amount to less than 1 percent of the Class of 2014 at the selective public school in Fairfax County, regarded as among the nation's best. 'It's disappointing,' said Andrea Smith, the club's faculty sponsor. 'But you work with what you got.'

The count of Hispanic freshmen is not much higher: 13.

Years of efforts to raise black and Hispanic enrollment at the regional school have failed, officials acknowledge. The number of such students admitted has fallen since 2005.