PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new report found it isn't just urban schools that have racial achievement gaps, but also districts across the suburbs.
The report from Public Citizens for Children and Youth looked at 61 school districts across the suburban counties and found in all but one, Black and Hispanic students tested lower than white students.
"The data that we’re releasing really shows that the conditions in school districts whether their urban or suburban are what are causing Black and Hispanic students to not be able to hit the same achievement rates as their white peers," said PCCY executive director Donna Cooper.
PCCY K-12 education policy director Tomea Sippio-Smith said funding is a major issue, as the report found that districts where more than half the students are Black or Hispanic have the least to spend on instruction. However, she said it isn't the only issue.
"The achievement gap looms large in every county. On average, it's about 22 points between white and Black students and about 15 percentage points between white and Hispanic students in reading alone," she explained.
One of the findings was that in most suburban districts, there are fewer than expected Black and Hispanic students in advanced placement classes. Sippio-Smith attributed that to decreased access for those students.
"In 92% of the suburban school districts," she noted, "fewer Black and Hispanic are enrolled in AP classes than one would expect given their share of students in the district."
Strath Haven High School sophomore Collin Woodland, an African American, said he saw that firsthand.
"I had to fight to make it into these AP courses," he said, "because no one in the school was looking out for me. I sat with guidance counselors and administrators for hours to convince them to give me the best chance to succeed in their own schools."
Another concern in the report was that Black and Hispanic students are disciplined much more harshly that white students.
Funding is also an issue as the report found that districts where more than half the students are Black or Hispanic have the least to spend on instruction.
The report lists more than a dozen recommendations like including implicit bias and racism training in teacher and administrator certification or continuing education, and examining codes of conduct for racial or ethnic bias.