Business

Closing Education Gap Would Boost U.S. Economy

Published

9 years ago

July 23, 2015

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaking at NAACP convention in Philadelphia
(Photo by Abdul Sulayman/Philadelphia Tribune)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Men of color would earn $170 billion more a year, if they reached the same education level as White men, according to a new White House report.

The report examined “opportunity gaps facing youth of color” and found stunning correlations between the educational and employment success of young men of color and how that success can directly impact the national economy.

Not only would closing the education attainment gap result in higher annual earnings for men of color 25-64 years-old, it would also increase the gross domestic product, the value of the production of goods and services, by 1.8 percent in the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that GDP decreased by an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

The high school graduation rate for Black students is 17 percentage points lower than their White classmates and only “28 percent of Blacks have a college degree by their late 20s, compared to nearly half of White men,” the report said.

The report said that youth of color encounter a number of barriers to opportunity at higher rates compared to their White peers.

“For example, while 20 percent of all children under age 18 live in poverty, 38 percent of Black children and 30 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty, compared to 11 percent of non-Hispanic White children,” stated the report.

Poor students often don’t have access to early childhood education, increasing the likelihood that they will start school at considerable disadvantage to their more affluent peers. When young students fall behind in their reading skills, it makes it harder for them to catch up to their peers in later grades and increases the chances that they will drop out.

When young Black men disconnect from school, they are more likely to connect to the criminal justice system at considerable expense to the rest of society.

“The cost of incarceration is far substantially higher than investing in education or other programs to increase opportunity, even before one takes the returns to the investments into account,” the report said. “The cost of incarceration for a single juvenile is over $100,000 – twice as high as tuition at the most expensive college in the country or a year of intensive mentoring.”

And even though crime is down in recent years, spending on corrections at the federal, state and local level is $80 billion, according to President Obama.

A history poverty, lack of access to early childhood education and early interaction with the criminal justice system can follow a young Black man deep into adulthood and contribute to an early death or a lifetime of missed employment opportunities and lower rates of employment compared to White men.

“Even when there is little difference in the likelihood of committing a crime, individuals of color are much more likely to be arrested,” stated the report. “For example, a black individual is nearly four times as likely as a white individual to be arrested for marijuana possession, even though black and white individuals reported using marijuana at similar rates in 2010.”

The report continued: “In 1984, the majority of State and Federal prisoners were White. In 2011, the majority of the more than 1.5 million prisoners were minorities, including 930,000 prisoners who were Black or Hispanic (61 percent).”

“Among adults 16 and older, Black men are nearly 15 percentage points less likely to be employed than White men,” stated the report.

And because the labor force participation rate only tracks people who are either employed or looking for work, more than 1 million Black men languishing in American prisons remain unaccounted for in the labor market artificially narrowing the employment chasm between Blacks and Whites until they return home.

“The relationship between economic opportunity and crime is not wholly clear-cut. For instance, crime fell throughout the most recent recession. Nevertheless, experience of past decades suggests that improving economic opportunity can also help lower crime rates,” the report said.

The report noted that the Chicago-based Becoming a Man (BAM) program has achieved success at steering disadvantaged young men away from the criminal justice system by taking a different approach

Rather than offering targeted job opportunities, the report said that BAM, which primarily serves young Black and Latino men, teaches their members how to make better decisions “in high-stress situations through in-school sessions focused on making participants more aware of their automatic responses and on thinking about the appropriate response to the situation at hand.”

BAM not only reduced violent crime arrests among program participants from 2009-2010, the young men also got better grades. An evaluation of the program during the 2013-2014 school year showed a 31 percent decline in the likelihood of arrests for BAM members.

The White House report said that scholarships and one-on-one coaching can also help low-income students graduate from college.

The high costs of mass incarceration, coupled with the increased awareness about the militarization of local police forces and the controversial practices of the for-profit prison industry have driven lawmakers to reconsider tough on crime policies in favor of smarter sentencing guideline, restorative justice and community-based rehabilitation programs.

During her keynote address at the NAACP’s annual convention in Philadelphia, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch noted the launch of the Smart on Crime initiative and it’s impact on mandatory minimum sentencing and investments in rehabilitation and reentry programs.

“The early results of these efforts have been extremely promising,” said Lynch. “I am not just hopeful, but excited about where these reforms will lead us in the years to come.”

Making the criminal justice system more efficient, more effective and more fair on the federal level will require broader reform efforts bipartisan support in Congress, said Lynch, adding that those efforts have to involve repairing the relationship between young people and law enforcement.

“Ultimately, we need children to see possibilities for themselves beyond the cycle of criminality and incarceration that has too often become a tragic and familiar fact of life,” said Lynch. “America is a land of second chances – but it must also be a land where we give opportunities to young people who haven’t gotten a chance at all.”

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Related Topics:childhood education education disparity educational bias Men of Color opportunity gaps

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State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”

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Business

Black Business Summit Focuses on Equity, Access and Data

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship. Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA), answers questions from concerned entrepreneurs frustrated with a lack of follow-up from the state. January 24, 2024 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Lost Angeles, Calif. Photo by Solomon O. Smith

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship.

Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA) was a guest at the event. He told attendees about his department’s efforts to increase access for Black business owners.

“One thing I’m taking away from this for sure is we’re going to have to do a better job of connecting through your chambers of all these opportunities of billions of dollars that are coming down the pike. I’m honestly disappointed that people don’t know, so we’ll do better,” said Omishakin.

Lueathel Seawood, the president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of San Joaquin County, expressed frustration with obtaining federal contracts for small businesses, and completing the process. She observed that once a small business was certified as DBE, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, there was little help getting to the next step.

Omishakin admitted there is more work to be done to help them complete the process and include them in upcoming projects. However, the high-speed rail system expansion by the California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a goal of 30% participation from small businesses — only 10 percent is set aside for DBE.

The importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in economics was reinforced during the “State of the California Economy” talk led by author and economist Julianne Malveaux, and Anthony Asadullah Samad, Executive Director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Assaults on DEI disproportionately affect women of color and Black women, according to Malveaux. When asked what role the loss of DEI might serve in economics, she suggested a more sinister purpose.

“The genesis of all this is anti-blackness. So, your question about how this fits into the economy is economic exclusion, that essentially has been promoted as public policy,” said Malveaux.

The most anticipated speaker at the event was Janice Bryant Howroyd known affectionately to her peers as “JBH.” She is one of the first Black women to run and own a multi-billion-dollar company. Her company ActOne Group, is one of the largest, and most recognized, hiring, staffing and human resources firms in the world. She is the author of “Acting Up” and has a profile on Forbes.

Chairman of the board of directors of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, Timothy Alan Simon, a lawyer and the first Black Appointments Secretary in the Office of the Governor of California, moderated. They discussed the state of Black entrepreneurship in the country and Howroyd gave advice to other business owners.

“We look to inspire and educate,” said Howroyd. “Inspiration is great but when I’ve got people’s attention, I want to teach them something.”