We Are Failing Our Boys

The Sun Times has done an admirable job of drawing attention to the systemic bias against boys, as evidenced in the Chicago Public School system. This is of course, not unique to Chicago, but it is especially tragic here given the enormity of the problem--- thousands of boys denied the opportunity for a good educational start in life.

Earlier articles in the Sun Times and Tribune laid out the abysmal high school graduation rate, where barely a majority graduate and the small (6%) college graduation rate, which takes six years. See earlier post We Need Real Chicago School Reform Now. Here's the Sun Times story, which should be read in full, "In city's prep schools, girls rule".

The Sun Times editorial board also comes out in favor of charter schools. This is a step in the right direction, but why caps at all? Yes, we need charter schools to be successful, but Chicago Public schools are failing many students now. We need to ramp up dramatically the formation of charter schools or bring online earlier different models which allow school choice or a private-sector alternative.

There are long waiting lists of parents who want the best for their kids. While politicians dither, in the meantime, children grow older without the learning opportunities they need. And as we see from the Sun Times article, boys are admitted to the few charter schools there are in significantly fewer numbers.

For some boys there will be no second chance. If we don't help them early they will be lost.