Kentucky’s public schools are failing minority and economically disadvantaged children to an extraordinary degree, that’s what the chairman of the Kentucky Charter Schools Association told a panel of lawmakers in Frankfort on Monday (Nov. 10).
Wayne Lewis is a University of Kentucky professor but was not speaking for the school. He says the results of recent proficiency tests in mathematics for elementary students in Fayette County underscore his point.
Lewis says they show just over 61-percent of white students testing at the proficient or distinguished level in Fayette County, while 26-point-nine percent of African-Americans did likewise.
“So, the only way you can take these numbers and not get fiery mad like I am, is if you say to yourself, well that’s just how black kids perform.”
Lewis says the numbers make it clear, traditional public schools are failing students of color.
