Black Students

After years of dismal suspension rates for Howard County's black students, school officials will conduct a formal study of why black students are disciplined more often than white students.The analysis is prompted by the school system's annual suspension report, to be presented at today's school board meeting, which found that black students and males in general continue to be disproportionately suspended from schools."We need to ask some very pointed questions about that," said Associate Superintendent James McGowan.

It was the first time black teen-agers from over Anne Arundel County have been together since the '60s, when black students attended segregated Bates School in Annapolis.But a gathering Monday evening in Glen Burnie was far different, said county NAACP president Jean Creek. This first annual Awards Banquet was a time to celebrate the achievements of black young men and women from all county high schools.About 400 students, parents and community leaders met at La Fontaine Bleu, where 43 students were honored for having the highest grade-point averages among black seniors at their schools.

Carol Simmons and her friend Shirley Simmons are studying at a table in the McKeldin Center at Morgan State University when I join them."I'd like to get your reactions to the new book, 'The Bell Curve,' by Charles Murray and Richard J. Herrnstein," I say. "Have you heard about it?"Shirley and Carol look puzzled."You must have heard about it," I insist. "The authors argue that blacks are inherently less intelligent than whites and that this disparity in IQ explains why most of this country's elite are white while many of those mired in poverty are black.

The Annapolis city council voted 8-1 last night to approve a resolution supporting attempts to boost black students' test scores at Annapolis High School. The resolution originally offered the council's support for Principal Deborah Williams, who has been criticized by teachers and students for being confrontational. Many council members said they were reluctant to support a bill that focused on Williams, who works for the Anne Arundel County system. Alderwoman Cynthia A. Carter, the resolution's sponsor, amended it last week, taking out almost all references to Williams.

The head of the Howard County school system told a group of black parents last night that more needs to be done to resolve the problems facing African-American students, but he pledged that improvements will be made."

Some Howard County black high school students will gather at Hammond High School tomorrow for a leadership retreat that will mix academics with contemporary music and other elements of "hip-hop" culture."

For the second time in two years, a group of black educators and community members has fired off an anxious letter to Baltimore County school officials asking them to enact bold classroom and curriculum reforms to help black students succeed academically. Superintendent Joe A. Hairston - the recipient of the most recent letter, sent almost a month ago - has yet to respond, said Ella White Campbell, a retired educator and Liberty Road community activist who is chairman of the Minority Achievement Advisory Group.

A plan that would eliminate the county elementary schools' Black Student Achievement Program liaison because of budget cutbacks is drawing sharp criticism from parents, who say the decision would undermine opportunities and progress for black students.More than 80 parents have written letters protesting the proposal, and about a dozen of them say they will testify at Tuesday's school board meeting."We're incensed and outraged," said Walt Shears, a parent. "As far as I'm concerned, it would be better to cut material than individuals."

Suitland -- Pointing to statistics that black students are three times more likely than whites to be expelled from school, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson urged Suitland High School students yesterday to commit to school. "We have no control over our date of birth or our race or our gender," Jackson said at the school, whose student body is 97 percent black. "But we have control over the choices we make." Recalling the fight by black children to integrate white schools in then-segregated Little Rock, Ark., Jackson castigated students today who skip school or drop out altogether.

Howard County black students are being suspended in disproportionately high numbers, despite a two-year effort by the administration to reduce the suspension rate among blacks.This trend among black students occurs as the total number of suspended students is declining throughout the 33,000-student system, according to a Board of Education study to be presented at today's school board meeting.Bobbi Crews, head of the Black Student Achievement Program's Parent Advisory Council, blames the high black suspension rate on a clash of cultures between teachers and black students.