From the Washington Post:
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced a plan Wednesday to invest $20?million in new support programs for black and Latino male students in the District, including opening an all-boys college preparatory high school east of the Anacostia River.
Henderson said her decision to invest heavily in the specific needs of boys of color has everything to do with ?mathematics.? Black and Latino boys make up 43?percent of the students enrolled in D.C. public schools. By almost any measure ? reading and math scores, attendance and graduation rates ? their performance is lagging.
?Far too many students are not benefiting from the progress we are making,? Henderson said at a news conference at the remodeled Ballou High School in Ward?8. ?It?s a very real, very urgent problem.?
The push is part of a citywide effort under Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who took office this month, to improve equity and increase opportunities for young men of color. The effort also reflects work by President Obama to secure private funding to help keep male minority youths in the classroom and out of prison.
Read more at the Washington Post.
