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Detroit education in spotlight

During 2-hour live MSNBC show, experts discuss expectations, problems in schools

By CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

   The tone was optimistic and the interaction spirited Sunday as MSNBC presented a national show about public education live from Detroit.

   About 400 metro Detroiters gathered at the Detroit School of Arts in the city’s cultural center for the two-hour broadcast of “A Stronger America: Making the Grade.”

   The discussion, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, took place within the Detroit Public Schools district that has drawn national attention during the past few years as the city experienced historic reform efforts and state intervention because of low test scores, high deficits and school closures. Panelist Wes Moore, best-selling author of “The Other Wes Moore” and a U.S. Army veteran, said the most nefarious gap in America is “the expectation gap.”

   The need to raise educational expectations became an often repeated theme for the afternoon.

   A panel of experts from around the country, flanked on stage by local parents and politicians, took on the huge topic of American education’s problems. Panelists included DPS emergency manager Roy Roberts, Telemundo anchorman José Díaz and comedian and filmmaker Robert Townsend, who recently released “In the Hive,” a movie about an alternative school in North Carolina.

   Led by MSNBC anchorwoman Tamron Hall and Jeff Johnson, contributor to Grio   .com  , the panel took questions on everything from early childhood education, higher education and teacher accountability to parental involvement.

   Panelist Ben Chavis, former director of the high-performing American Indian Public Charter School in California, fired up the energy in the conversation when he said the documented disparity between test scores and graduation rates by race — known as the achievement gap — is “BS.”

   “There’s no achievement gap in America,” he said. “There’s a preparedness gap.”

   The discussion turned to teachers, and Nefertari Nkenge, a 15-year teacher in New York and native Detroiter, moved Hall and others to a standing ovation with a passionate plea.

   “I want respect for teachers!” she said.

   At the end of the discussion, audience members said they hoped America learned something.

   “I hope that this is a catalyst,” said Lakshmi Ramachandran, a recent Northwestern University graduate who will teach this fall at Winans Academy charter school as part of Teach for America. “To encourage more conversation, encourage more action.”

   • CONTACT CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY:

   313-223-4537 OR CPRATT@FREEPRESS.COM  

Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts participates in “A Stronger America: Making the Grade.” Journalist Jeff Johnson, left, and author Wes Moore were panelists, too.

SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press