NAACP event steps up for Youngstown students

By Sean Barron

news@vindy.com

GIRARD

The Youngstown City School District still struggles with a variety of systemic problems – including being the lowest academically performing school system in Ohio – and an uncertain future, but one high school remains committed to getting at the root of some of those challenges.

“We cannot continue to do the same things over and over and expect something different to happen,” said Jennifer Merritt, superintendent of Mahoning County High School, which opened in 2008 to help students who have been expelled from or dropped out of their home high schools. “We must meet the kids where they are.”

Merritt spoke Friday night during the NAACP Youngstown branch’s 97th annual Freedom Fund Banquet at Mahoning Country Club, 710 E. Liberty St., about several programs her school has implemented to ensure the success of those who otherwise likely would not graduate.

About 300 business and community leaders, clergy, elected officials and others attended the dinner, themed “Supporting and Empowering Families Advocating for Educational Excellence.”

In its seven years, more than 200 struggling students have graduated from Mahoning County High School, Merritt said, noting that many districts’ zero-tolerance policies have unintentionally resulted in “an epic number of dropouts.”

Other ways to tackle some of the district’s systemic challenges include providing added help for young parents, reading more often to children, visiting the schools periodically and trying to shatter the notion that most black parents are indifferent to their children’s education, noted Wanda Coleman, co-president of the district’s Parent Student Union.

The keynote speaker was Atty. Victor Goode, the NAACP’s national interim education director.

Goode cited the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was a component of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The law recognized that “equal education is vital for a child to have a productive life,” Goode said, noting that the law offered grants to districts that served low-income students, among other things.

The ESEA also addressed disparities in resources for wealthier school districts, compared with poorer ones, he continued.

A variety of internal and external forces continue to challenge many districts nationwide, including Youngstown, he said. They include racial disparities in test scores, draconian disciplinary procedures and funding problems, he contended.

Nevertheless, many schools are working to promote greater racial understanding in ways such as developing multicultural curriculums, increasing funding for magnet schools and better coordinating public policies and resources, he said.

Despite such progress, efforts need to continue in those directions, Goode said.