CONGRESSMAN HANK JOHNSON
Georgia's Fourth Congressional District

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Education forum transcript summary

Posted by: Office Staff (May 14, 2008, 11:56 AM)

Congressman Johnson’s March 29 education forum featured two panels.  The first approached the issues at hand – black males, education, and the achievement gap – from the micro perspective.  The second approached from a macro perspective.  These summaries are derived from transcripts taken at the event.

Micro Panel (LINK):
  • Why isn't education a priority among some black males? (GO)
  • How can we market education to young people? (GO)
  • How can we encourage involvement in after-school, extracurricular, and mentoring programs? (GO)
  • How should families and communities provide the foundations for a child’s education? (GO)
Macro Panel (LINK):
  • How do we begin a discussion of black men and education at the macro level? (GO)
  • How can we inspire and encourage young people to pursue and value education? (GO)
  • Education and educational institutions can provide young Americans with a sense of inclusion. How important is that and how can we promote it? (GO)
  • Audience question: Most people drop out because of difficult tests like the graduation test and the SAT. They leave school once they realize they won’t pass these tests. Some say the tests have no purpose. Why should we have them? (GO)
  • Audience question: What does it take to become a CEO? (GO)
  • Audience question: My son is so bright but he cannot pass standardized tests. The mentality of failing is devastating our kids. It is killing a generation of males. They would rather walk away and be cool than take the test and risk failure. (GO)
  • Roland Martin’s closing comments (GO)


MICRO PANEL, hosted by Ms. Karla Winfrey

* Karla Winfrey, host – Emmy-award winning television journalist
* Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta
* Dr. Anthony Tricoli, President of Georgia Perimeter College
* Judge Greg Adams, fmr. Chief Judge, DeKalb Cty. Juvenile Courts 
* Malik Salaam, social activist & artist 
* Orie Ward, President of Phoenix Enterprises 
* David Schutten, President of Organization of Educators 
* Keisha Hansen, Prevention/Intervention Specialist at Lakeside High School 

Q: Why isn’t education a priority among some black males? 

* Many high school seniors do not believe post-secondary education is accessible to them.

* Some black males don’t see the benefits of education.

* Even those who are aware that college is accessible may not be connected with the right role models. We need a mentoring program that reaches into middle school.

* We desperately need more mentors. We have to challenge every male to go into a school to mentor younger men.

* 93% of youths in DeKalb County stay out of legal trouble. Let’s not forget to focus on the fact that most kids are choosing to do the right thing.

* Kids are discouraged. They have low GPAs and feel like they can’t compete. They get stuck in a mentality of failure.

 Q: How can we market education to young people?

* Kids will never believe in the system until they see that the system believes in them. We have chronic shortages of educational resources. It is hard to market the notion that there are opportunities when there are not.

* We have to give voice to people who understand that education is possible and valuable. We should involve the entire university system in a mentoring program to get young people who are succeeding in touch with young people who need guidance.

* Young people respond when we communicate on their level. Kids detect insincerity, and they will only respond to the words of their elders if they are approached by a role model who has a respectful, open mind. 

Q: How can we encourage involvement in after-school, extracurricular, and mentoring programs? 

* Mandatory community service programming is a huge plus.

* The home environment is critical. Parents have to encourage involvement and service and get themselves involved in their children’s education.

* Some of the kids most in need of these programs have already been in trouble. We have to welcome kids who have had trouble back into the schools. Einstein was a terrible student as a child.

* We all have to get involved. We have to own this effort ourselves. The jail on Memorial Drive has 3600 beds, and the majority of those sleeping there are dropouts. We need to take ownership and responsibility for our own people, our own communities. 

Q: How should families and communities provide the foundations for a child’s education? 

* In a community with fewer resources, we can promote the idea of manhood. That’s a foundation that can only be built for young men by other men.

* Education for black Americans cannot be discussed without a discussion of the black family. Women are critical. Many of the most successful social movements in our nation’s history were pioneered by women, and we won’t make the changes we want until women get the respect which is their right.

* Take ten minutes a week to mentor a child.

* Everything starts at home. Read with your child. Emphasize the importance of education. We have to follow our words with participation and action, or nothing will change.

 

 MACRO PANEL, hosted by CNN’s Roland Martin

* Roland Martin, host – CNN host and commentator, syndicated columnist
* Kevin Liles, Executive VP, Warner Music Group; fmr. President, Def Jam Recordings 
* Frank Ski, V-103 WVEE Radio 
* Armstrong Williams, syndicated columnist and radio host 
* Dr. Walter J. Broadnax, President of Clark Atlanta University 
* Roberta Shields, President of the Ludacris Foundation 
* Shelley Winter, radio host, WAOK 1350AM Atlanta 

Q: How do we begin a discussion of black men and education at the macro level? 

* A good education depends upon a solid family unit. We have an obligation to provide that foundation for our children, but we also have an obligation to provide that foundation as a community for children whose parents aren’t as supportive as they need to be.

* Young men need to understand the criminal justice system – how to interact with law enforcement and the nature and extent of our rights as citizens. Young men need to know that they will be tried as an adult at 17. What seems like harmless mischief will land you a hefty sentence.

Q: How can we inspire and encourage young people to pursue and value education? 

* Following the civil war, freed slaves walked to Atlanta to pursue higher education. They understood its value and what it could do to improve their futures and the futures of their families. Strong, mature men led these charges.

The same thing happened in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a sense of purpose, of challenges that needed to be met. When we talk about fraternity membership, we’re talking about meeting challenges. When we talk about achieving a college degree, we’re talking about meeting challenges. We have to return to the fundamentals. Meeting challenges – rising to the occasion – is what it means to be a man. We have to rejuvenate that ethic.

* Many young people today equate money with success. While we should remind them that happiness and fulfillment are not tied exclusively to material wealth, they also need to be aware that, if wealth is their goal, education is the surest means to it.

* A lot is made of the connections between hip-hop music, youth culture, and the prevalence of delinquency and criminality among young black males. Artists and record labels do have some responsibility to provide role models with values beyond women, money, luxury, and the “thug life.”

The other side of the same coin: today’s young people connect so strongly with music because they are so open. Today’s kids communicate rapidly, constantly. Just check out MySpace or Facebook. They put their expressions out to the world, like musicians. They want to communicate, not just receive lectures; we have to talk with them, not at them. Take a step back and let them tell you who they are.

Q: Education and educational institutions can provide young Americans with a sense of inclusion. How important is that and how can we promote it?

* Many black men who arrive on college campuses are looking for a deeper form of inclusion. Faculty and staff reach out to create relationships, and a new kind of family forms on campus. That’s the kind of supportive space all young adults, male and female, need as they take their first steps to complete independence. Professors and administrators are like surrogate parents to these kids.

* The Junior College system was created to provide more young adults – even those who have struggled as adolescents, either disciplinarily or academically – with that supportive academic environment. 

Audience question: Most people drop out because of difficult tests like the graduation test and the SAT. They leave school once they realize they won’t pass these tests. Some say the tests have no purpose. Why should we have them? 

* Challenges frighten us. But if we can get over the hurdles, at the end of the day that is a victory, that makes us stronger people. Life is a challenge.

* The real world tests us every day. Be proud of who you are and become determined to succeed – don’t run away from a challenge. There’s nowhere you can run where you won’t be faced with tests of one kind or another. 

Audience question: What does it take to become a CEO? 

* Success in any field is about hard work, not just your degree. Some of the richest people in the United States dropped out of school. We can make mistakes and come back strong -- it’s about getting to work early and leaving after everyone else.

* Find a mentor. Apprentice yourself. Prove that you’re worthy of the industry.

Audience question: My son is so bright but he cannot pass standardized tests. The mentality of failing is devastating our kids. It is killing a generation of males. They would rather walk away and be cool than take the test and risk failure. 

* But the reality is that the test is there. Let’s focus on passing it. Our concern cannot be just the school system’s failure. Our primary concern must be taking control of the education of our own children.

Roland Martin’s closing comments: The story of Nehemiah comes to mind – when he had the vision to rebuild the wall. He did not do it himself; he told the people to build with their left hands and keep their right hands on their weapons. He told the people to rebuild the wall only in front of their own homes, so, after all had done so, the wall would be complete.

Our challenge, at the end of the day, is to rebuild the portions in and in front of our own homes. Don’t leave here asking what someone else will do for you. Ask, “What have I accomplished?” There are more people in this room right now than sat in the basement of the church that created the Montgomery Improvement Association. What are you prepared to do?

 

 

 

Posted in Education, The District | 0 Comments | Permalink

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The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act

Posted by: Hank Johnson (May 13, 2008, 12:40 PM)

FRIENDS: Last week, my colleagues in the House of Representatives and I passed the most comprehensive response yet to the ongoing mortgage crisis. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221) responds directly to the crisis currently faced by middle-class Americans and provides financial authorities and the federal government the tools to prevent such a meltdown in the future.

U.S. families are expected to lose more than $2.6 trillion in housing wealth between 2007 and 2009. As home prices continue to fall, homeowners' debt on their houses has exceeded the equity in their homes for the first time since 1945. I have heard from hundreds of constituents – many of whom are credit-worthy but cannot refinance – who are agonizing over this housing crisis. It is estimated that over 7,000 homeowners are losing their homes daily and an additional 40 million neighboring homeowners could see their property values decline as wealth is destroyed throughout entire communities.

H.R. 3221 combines a number of bipartisan proposals, including measures to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and reform “government-sponsored enterprises” such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These reforms will provide crucial liquidity to our mortgage markets today and strengthen future regulation and oversight.

The housing package will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and facilitate the recovery of communities damaged by the housing crisis. Generally, provisions include:

  • establishment of an FHA program to refinance loans at risk of going into foreclosure;
  • assistance for states to purchase, sell, and rent foreclosed homes to stop neighborhood values from plummeting;
  • tax credits for first-time homebuyers;
  • an expanded foreclosure grace period for veterans and personnel returning from active duty;
  • and more reverse mortgage opportunities for seniors.

These measures will not fully solve any of our problems. Only time, during which home values can settle to their natural level, will allow us to move on. But this aggressive action will reduce the pain felt by ordinary Americans who have been unfairly harmed by a crisis rooted in the irresponsibility of a few borrowers and the greed of a few lenders.

If the most powerful banks in the world – some of whom were complicit in the trade of reckless and fraudulent mortgages – are to receive federal assistance, as they have, so should ordinary American homeowners who are just trying to make ends meet during a time of declining home values, rampant foreclosures, and rising prices at the store and the gas pump.

Posted in Economy, Housing, My Legislation | 3 Comments | Permalink

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