1788. The slave ship Africa set sail from the Gambia River, its hold laden with a profitable but highly perishable cargo�hundreds of men, women and children bound in chains--headed for American shores. Eight months later, a handful of survivors found themselves for sale in Natchez, Mississippi. On the slave auction block, one of them, a 26-year-old male named Abdul Rahman Ibrahima made an astonishing claim to Thomas Foster, the plantation owner who purchased him at auction: As an African prince, highly educated and heir to a kingdom, this bedraggled African�s father would gladly pay gold for his return. Foster dismissed the claim as a tissue of lies.
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Interesting perspective by an insider...By JILL SHACKELFORD, KCKPS Superintendent Published: Friday, January 18, 2008 10:22 AM CSTEarlier this week, I was reading a report from the Panasonic Foundation, which began with the following statement: �It is a disturbing truth that race and class are highly predictive of student achievement in our schools. It is almost as though the literal chains that restrained African slaves have been transformed into figurative chains that form an iron-clad connection between children�s social and economic circumstances and their prospects for success in school and life.� The author continued: �The links can and will be broken. It�s a matter of will, moral courage, strategic acumen, applied knowledge, and persistent work at every level of the system . . . To blame inequality of educational outcomes on the race and class of children and their families is to ignore extensive and ever-growing data revealing that, on the whole, public education is hardwired� consciously or not�to perpetuate the inequalities that children are born into.� Wow! I don�t know if I�ve ever heard it so clearly stated: Rather than being the great �equalizer� that many of us imagine education to be, schools actually perpetuate the unequal circumstances into which children are born. Or, if we turn it around and say it in a positive way, public schools could be the vehicle by which we break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness into which so many children, particularly children of color, are born. If this is true (and I believe it is,) then we must ask ourselves: �What would we need to change, in order to create schools where you couldn�t predict a child�s academic achievement by the color of their skin, the family�s income, the language the family speaks in the home, or how much education the parent had?� In other words: �What would it take to close the achievement gap?� Well, if I knew all the answers, I would write a book. But there are some things I do know: To close the achievement gap, we would have to decide that we had both the power and the responsibility to close the gap. Until we are willing to confront the idea that �public schools are hardwired to perpetuate inequality,� nothing will change. This is difficult to comprehend, especially for educators. None of us would be in this job if we didn�t believe we could make a difference, particularly for the children who need us most. None of us wants to believe that our actions, no matter how well intentioned, might actually perpetuate, rather than eliminate inequality. We would have to find a way to talk together without blame, but with each of us willing to shoulder our share of the responsibility to change how we do business. To close the achievement gap, it will take the entire community working shoulder to shoulder, over a long period of time. Our hands will be full with the work we have to do, and no one will have either the time, the energy, or even a free hand with which to point fingers. We would have to figure out how to talk in this community about race. As a society, we have fallen into what is essentially a collective silence about the issue of race, and its ongoing impact upon our communities. More ominously, we have left it to people of color to raise the issue, and frequently expressed annoyance when they do. The impact of race upon achievement is something we all would need to be willing to explore. My colleague Addye Hawkins is leading a group of district staff in �courageous conversations� about race. These conversations need to be continued, and expanded. Finally, we would have to believe that there is strength in diversity, and that equality of opportunity is something that benefits the entire community. We would have to believe that more opportunities will come to a community where all students are achieving at high levels, and that, rather than fighting over a piece of the pie, we could actually expand the size of the pie. I have heard it said that equality of educational opportunity is the civil rights struggle of the 21st Century. During a week when we pause to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I can think of no better tribute, than to work to make sure that our education system serves all children well, regardless of race, gender, language of origin or family income. Is anyone else willing to dream with me? Dr. Jill Shackelford is the superintendent of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District. http://kansascitykansan.com/articles/2008/01/18/news/news5.txt#blogcomments |
Big, comfortable office chairs face the 20 flat-screen computers arranged in circles. Nearby a couple of cafe tables stand next to big-screen TVs displaying job postings and special events on the wall. And in the corner there's a future coffee bar flanked by tall windows and a patio. The new Johnson County Workforce Center is a welcoming place to get help finding a job. It was designed to feel less bureaucratic and more inviting, not only for traditional job center clients who may be unemployed or lacking skills, but also for people who have a job and skills but want something better. 'We think we've got something to help out everyone,' says Scott Anglemyer, executive director of Workforce Partnership, which runs the center at 9221 Quivira Road. The center recently moved from 8417 Santa Fe Drive. 'The physical changes are a representation of a totally different way of doing things,' Anglemyer says. 'What you thought we were before, we aren't anymore.' Cosmetics aren't the only big change. The new center has five times more space -- about 24,000 square feet. The extra space will allow new and better services for both job seekers and employers. Rows and rows of private cubicles will house 'partners' from various workforce agencies in a single location, creating a one-stop career center. 'We identify what program and provider best suits them,' said Irene Brenon, project manager for Workforce Partnership. She says the goal is to provide multiple sources of service in a manner so seamless that 'a customer doesn't even know.' Some of the partners are well established, such as the state Department of Commerce, Job Corps and Kansas Rehabilitation Services. But there is also room for potential new partners such as the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, Anglemyer says. The center also has large meeting rooms with computers for training and testing groups of 10 or more. Job seekers can take aptitude tests or learn new skills. Businesses can attend workshops on hiring, labor law and other employment issues. 'We are an extension of their human resources, or we may be their human resources in a small company,' Brenon says. The workforce center also has space to bring employers and job seekers together right on site. One room is big enough for job fairs, with kitchen space for catering. Several small meeting rooms equipped with computers and phones are set up for employers to work. Anglemyer says some businesses don't have enough space or the right kind of space to conduct hiring, while others may be new to Johnson County and not yet have established office space. 'We really want to create an office away from an office for employers,' he says. In addition to the physical changes, a new nine-member Business Service Team has been established to reach out and involve businesses. 'Those staff will call on businesses to see what their needs are,' Brenon says. 'We're paying special attention to the employer community. That's something that was never in place before.' Increased communication with businesses will help provide balance in the center's services. 'If we don't serve employers well, we don't serve job seekers well,' Anglemyer says. 'We need to constantly focus on what the employers' needs are.' The new location and services are a result of a switch to private management at centers in Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties, which had been run by the Kansas Department of Commerce until last July. The centers are still federally funded but now are run by the Wisconsin-based Kaiser Group under the Workforce Partnership name. Kaiser manages the centers with oversight by a non-profit board of members from the business community.The Wyandotte center was expanded earlier this year, and a $285,000 mobile unit was purchased to serve the three counties. Remodeling to create the Johnson County center cost about $700,000. Anglemyer says the changes were needed: 'We just couldn't do the things that are ultimately going to make us successful.' New location The Johnson County Workforce Center has moved to a larger, newly remodeled location that includes more meeting space and expanded banks of public computers for job seekers to browse job listings and work on resumes. Location: 9221 Quivira Road, Overland Park For job seekers: Job search help, career advice, resume preparation, recruiting events, bilingual services, veterans services and a mature worker program. For employers: Candidate recruitment, proficiency testing, workshops, interview and meeting space, mobile career center. |
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