On today's program, we're bringing you highlights of our special event entitled, “Too Important to Fail.” Recorded live on September 23 at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference at the Washington Convention Center in DC, we assembled a group of respected leaders to wrestle with one of the most disturbing aspects of the education crisis facing America today—the increased dropout rate among teenagers, specifically among Black teenage males.
Before the start of the discussion, listen to excerpts from the Tavis Smiley Reports PBS TV special “Too Important to Fail” and hear from Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West as he shares his thoughts on America's education system.
In part two of “Too Important to Fail”, Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and Rebecca Pringle, secretary-treasurer of the National Education Association, detail the complexity of issues facing young Black males today.
In this final portion of the program, Sonja Brookins Santelises, Chief Academic Officer of Baltimore City Public Schools, and James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the Department of Education, offers his insights on how education can be redirected to address the needs of young Black students.
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