Philadelphia Councilwoman Looking Into Why So Few African-American Males Go To College
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell plans to look into why Philadelphia's African-American males lag behind when it comes to college enrollment.
Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell calls it a civil rights issue: Why so few African-American males in Philadelphia attend college. She plans a resolution to hold hearings.
"All of us feel that we're not doing our jobs when we don't have all of our students competing."
She made her announcement at Boys' Latin Charter High School, where founder David Hardy outlined Philadelphia's problem.
"Black males who make up 25 percent of the enrollment in the school district finish college at about a three percent rate."
Hardy says he expects the hearings to find that employers have to look outside Philadelphia for qualified workers.
"I think she's going to find that when you have this low of a college completion rate, it leaves a hole in the economy here."
Blackwell says it's an issue that traditional district and charter schools need to tackle together.