What does racism fear the most? Education - and there is a San Diego school that demonstrates just how powerful a tool education can be in the fight against racism' ignorance.
For the third year in a row, Newsweek has identified the Preuss School in San Diego as the top transformative high school in the country. Nearly all (99.6%) of its student body is defined as economically disadvantaged (disadvantaged is measured by the number of students eligible for free or lower cost lunches). Yet these students from low-income families will be the first in their families to graduate from college; nearly 100% move on to higher education.
Preuss also tops the list of 25 gold medal schools in the United States compiled by U.S. News and World Report.
Motivation - whether it' encouraged by parents or led by the student' own determination - seems to make all the difference. Consider Alejandrina Franco' explanation in a guest post at the online "Cooperative Catalyst" (July 20, 2012). In it, she speaks of her immigrant parents who lived in poverty but told her repeatedly that a good education was the only way out of poverty. Living her life by this motto, she knew she had to work hard in school. The hard work in the low-income high school she attended meant enrolling in honors classes and maintaining a high GPA.
While acknowledging the difficulties and disadvantages poverty can impose on those who wish to learn (as well as those who don't), Franco regards herself fortunate to be as strong as she is. Her hard work has paid off - she is now a certified teacher at Valley View Elementary School in Arizona.
Young as she is, Franco reflects the wisdom expressed by older and more recognized figures. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the 54th Governor of Louisiana and the first woman elected to that office, shares an opinion that parallels Franco'. "Think about it," she urges. "Every educated person is not rich, but almost every educated person has a job and a way out of poverty." Blanco regards education as a fundamental solution to poverty.
The kind of hard work Franco has done all of her academic life is the bolt cutter that will free anyone who hopes to escape poverty' chains - and gives the lie to the racist idea that poor immigrants are only responsible for crime and mayhem.