Geoffrey Canada, a renowned educator and advocate known for uplifting tens of thousands of at-risk students through Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, sees the post-pandemic era as the most challenging time for young people in America in the last five decades.
The traumatic and resounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be seen in state academic achievement data, classroom behavior and the discipline system — the kernels of a crisis waiting to happen, he said during keynote remarks at the ninth annual regional education forum presented by the San Antonio Report.
“Our children are in deep, deep trouble, and we need to do something extraordinary if we are going to save them,” he said. “Our children have gone through something just devastating, and what we know about trauma and toxic stress leads us to know that this is going to be a generational challenge for us to deal with.”
The educator, known for his appearance in the “Waiting for Superman” documentary, sees a glint of hope ahead, but the path there will not be easy. Just this week, an analysis by the think tank Texas 2036 found that more than half of students are below grade level in math statewide, even though only one in 10 parents believe their child is performing below grade level in math.
In a separate assessment, the national report card, also known as the NAEP, found a 21-point decline in the percentage of Texas eighth-grade students at or above basic math since 2011.
Without decisive and systematic action, Canada envisions a future marred by a hobbled workforce, overflowing jails and a mental health crisis. “And they will say, those are the COVID kids,” he said.
That is, unless something is done to reverse course.
“Here in San Antonio, you have an opportunity to make history — and I really mean that,” he said. “There’s never been a city in this country that has made a decision that we’re going to save our children at the number that you all are talking about, and that pulled this thing off.”
Others have lacked resources, leadership and time to commit to such an effort, he added, with San Antonio so far maintaining all three of those aspects.
A path forward
Looking to the lessons of his Harlem Children’s Zone Project, where he said students traditionally seen as at-risk ultimately excelled, Canada added that with intentional investments, outreach and collaboration, teachers can reach children.
An example of that potential is already underway at the local level, he said: Future Ready Bexar County, a partnership of more than 90 local youth-serving agencies and nonprofits collaborating with the goal of increasing the number of high school students entering postsecondary education from about half to 70% by 2030.
That goal got a boost last year in the form of an investment of about $114 million spread over the next seven years steered by the nonprofit UP Partnership, which is the convener of the Future Ready initiative.
Since he last visited San Antonio one year ago, “what has happened here is remarkable,” Canada said. “There are not really places where I can go into and say they’ve raised over $100 million to support young people.”
The initiative has the potential to “set the high watermark of what it means to deal with children in this county,” he said.
But Canada also said the other 30% of children are likely the most in need of intentional outreach.
Helping every child
If partners across the city are able to reach talented children who can, with support, lead extraordinary lives, along with average students whose teachers and other adults can show their true potential, Canada said, they will likely clear the 70% mark.
“Those are not the kids that I’m the most worried about,” he said. “It is the still struggling kids. It’s those kids growing up in places that they just haven’t had a fair shot, … all the kids and schools and neighborhoods that people know have failed year after year. Those are the young people that you’ve got to make sure they don’t get lost in the averages.”
The Future Ready plan, Canada said, needs to be on the lookout for every child.
Looking back at the Harlem Children’s Zone, he pointed to the 20% of kids with special education needs, who might not typically be expected to attend college. The project emphasized college for those students, too, he said — and it worked.
“No, no, no, those kids are going to college too,” he said. “We’re holding everybody responsible. And you know what happened? They go to college.”
Pathways to college
Many systemic and historical barriers are being attacked locally in the name of paving a path for all students to make it to college.
One major set of initiatives that have steadily expanded are “promise” programs, which have provided tuition- and fee-free college for all students to attend Alamo Colleges, as well as top students to attend UTSA and Texas A&M University – San Antonio. UTSA also has partnerships guaranteeing top students admission without even applying, and transfer opportunities tuition-free for students coming from Alamo Colleges.
A similar relationship is going to be launching in the coming months between TAMU-SA and Alamo Colleges.
Ryan Lugalia-Hollon, the CEO of UP Partnership, pointed to those examples as well as the innovative model of CAST schools, which includes career specific high schools at districts across the region, as successful aspects of the partnership so far.
“CAST schools is pushing us past the false binary of ‘Hey, we want to do this innovative thing or this innovative thing?'” he said. “[They are] saying no, no, no, our young people need all of the innovative things.”
After the keynote address, education leaders from across the region participated in roundtable discussions to discuss how to tackle the most pressing issues in education, joined by Canada, who milled between tables.
Before that began, Canada implored the room of leaders, philanthropists and educators to be the change in order to save the next generation.
“When we say we want to save every kid, we’re gonna save every kid,” he said. “Who’s going to do that here?”
“When you come up with the plans, I hope you constantly ask yourself, ‘Where are our kids struggling the most? And what is our plan for those kids? And how are we going to ensure that those kids are successful?'” he said.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly characterize the analysis of math scores by Texas 2036.
