Schools are to blame, not tests

In a previous column, I commented on the importance of the SAT, referring to a March 12 article in Time magazine. The article brings into question racial bias in the SAT. According to the article, blacks score about 120 points less than whites on the test, even when the black parents' education and income levels are the same as white parents'. Many have accused the test authors of implementing a white cultural bias in the questions. \nThese accusations are lazy and ignorant ways of justifying the racial gap in scores. \nThe argument of a cultural bias in the verbal portion of the SAT is feasible. After all, students come in the United States come from very diverse backgrounds and have different cultural perspectives. But the math portion? Give me a break! Since when is the square root of 64 a "white" question? \nThere is yet another problem with the bias theory. If the verbal portion is culturally biased, why is it that blacks score higher on the verbal portion than on the math portion? \nI believe the schools are to blame, not the test. Many black students across the country are receiving a shoddy education. A high school diploma represents a student's mastery of the subject material he or she has learned in high school. In other words, the student has proven his or her ability in the different subject areas.\nAccording to a Jan. 24 article in the Los Angeles Times, California State University reported that, of its black freshmen, 73 percent needed corrective math classes and 66 percent needed corrective English classes, double the rate of white students.The numbers represent a gross disservice to black high school students. A certified high school diploma states that, mathematically, the student is at least proficient in algebra and geometry. If, upon entering college, that same student has to take the most basic math classes for lack of skill, isn't his or her diploma inaccurate? \nPerhaps Richard Atkinson, the University of California president who wants to get rid of the SAT, should take a hard look at California high schools before abolishing the test.\nMany factors, such as bad neighborhoods, low-income families and outdated facilities are beyond the control of the school, but is it too much to ask that schools distribute accurate grades and valid diplomas?\nWalter Williams, distinguished professor of economics at George Mason University, has argued that black students are being defrauded. High school teachers are to blame if they are allowing black teens to float by without achieving the proficiency that a diploma represents. If schools are leaving the problem unabated, they are to blame also. Where is the accountability here? Why has no one taken these schools to court?\nThe educational slop has been revealed consistently in cities like Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles and Cleveland. The silence coming from the so-called black leadership is deafening. Oddly, the NAACP, fighting for the "advancement" of colored people, doesn't even address the issue. Black leaders don't even listen to the majority of black parents who want school choice -- a chance to better their child's education. \nIt seems as if there are sloppily misplaced priorities. In today's high tech world, nothing is more valuable than a quality education. The racist malarkey has got to stop and somebody needs to do something about the educational fraud being committed against black students.