ABCD curbs kids’ jobless, dropout rate

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/2016/03/abcd_curbs_kids_jobless_dropout_rate



ROUD DAY: Bruce C. Bolling Jr. and Joyce Ferriabough-Bolling, share a laugh during ceremonies dedicating the new Boston Public Schools headquarters in his father’s name.

ABCD curbs kids’ jobless, dropout rate
Joyce Ferriabough-bolling Sunday, March 27, 2016

When my son Bruce graduates from college next year he will be in rarefied company for an African-American male.

Today, tragically, there are more black and brown men in prison than in college. He has already beaten another statistic: He graduated from high school. Here in Boston, the Athens of America, high school graduation rates are getting better, but they are definitely not where they need to be. Currently the graduation rate for African-Americans is at 69 percent, and for Hispanics its 64 percent.

Unemployment in many cities, particularly among African-Americans, runs a 2-to-1 ratio to national and local averages, including here in Boston, where overall unemployment is well below the national average at 4.2 percent. Yet, black unemployment here is at 8.8 percent. Hispanic jobless numbers are at 5.5 percent, even though their population is comparatively smaller.

Most troubling is the rate of unemployment in the age 16-to-24 category, which is my son’s generation. This group runs double digits to national and local averages. Conventional wisdom has it that if a young person does not have a first job by age 24, future job prospects are dim.