Gerard Robinson: An Environment for Children where Opportunities Abound

Gerard Robinson

Gerard Robinson, Executive Director, Center for

Advancing Opportunity, writes:

Any discussion about society, poverty or class is  incomplete without education as a fundamental marker.  Today’s debates over violence, budgets, jobs, and  national security are hollow without recognizing that  absent a quality education, no American has a chance  to impact these issues, or benefit from policies designed  to solve the most pernicious issues of the day. I know. Growing up in Los Angeles were three avenues  one could follow toward the future: violence,  academics, and sports. Although my parents  wanted the academic path, I had other plans. Sports  was going to give me the life I wanted for myself  - athletic scholarships that would pay for my college  education and provide opportunities for me to  become a professional athlete bringing the literal  fame and fortune that I desperately wanted. Then I got hurt my senior year of high school. And like  so many of us, my best laid plans were  interrupted. The opportunities I wanted were  suddenly gone. Because I was focused on sports  and not academics in school, I was stuck. My  indifference to school and learning, no real knowledge,  skills or proficiencies of any type, all proposed the   proverbial question of “Now what?” For me, the answer was El Camino Community  College in Torrance, California. I worked as a box boy at  Ralph’s Grocery Store and started classes at El Camino  where I promptly failed the math and English placement  exams. (One could argue I should never have  graduated high school in such a condition… many of us  still do).  It was a struggle. I was academically far  behind many classmates. In essence, I was doing high  school as a college student. So there I was - a statistic. A black man in college  but not prepared at all for the academic rigor higher  education presents us. I watched my peers not struggle  through freshman year. I watched them participate  in class discussions with background knowledge that I  didn’t even know existed. The knowledge gap was real. But El Camino offered me exactly the opportunities I  needed to improve myself at exactly the time I needed  them. California’s community colleges happen to  have been strong at that time. The grit I  developed by persevering and the remedial  coursework allowed me to get my Associate of Arts  degree in three years. Without that, I would not have  had the opportunity to move to Washington, DC  to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard  University. And without my BA from Howard, I would  not have had the chance to earn a Master of  Education from Harvard. I do not offer this up as an “If-I can-do-it-anybody- can” Horatio Alger tale – although if it serves that  purpose, too, fine with me. I offer it, more importantly,  to point out that so much in life, and virtually  everything in education – from young children in  elementary school through adults in need of new skills  training – comes down to opportunities; opportunities  they need to access a high-quality education. For elementary and secondary school students,  that means ensuring quality learning opportunities  within and outside of our traditional schools and school  districts. Magnet schools, dual enrollment programs,  and career and technical learning centers in the  case of the former; charter schools and scholarships  for private schools latter. The beauty of charters is that  they offer opportunities for learning to many students  placed at-risk that are often desperately needed and do  not exist in some traditional public school districts.  Perhaps access to a charter school would have  ensured I mastered the learning I needed in high  school and accelerated my course. I was lucky. Millions  more are not. The parental choice ecosystem --  scholarship tax credits, education savings accounts,  and virtual learning opportunities -- all must be on the  table to ensure that all educational opportunities are  available families that need them most. I believe we must also ensure greater access to new  kinds of educational pathways which ensure new  skills and training, apprenticeship and workforce  programs, both publicly and privately funded.  There are community colleges that offer the kind of  accessible, affordable learning that opens innumerable  doors to future success. We must ensure that the  great ones thrive, and insist that those that fail to  deliver on solid outcomes improve. The same is true  for all post-secondary institutions. That is why I am focused today on faculty and  students at Historically Black Colleges and  Universities (HBCUs) by supporting the research,   scholarships, campus conversations, data, and  convening thought leaders, activists and students  at an annual summit. As such, we have successfully  invested in and launched three research centers --  one each at Winston-Salem State University,  Texas Southern University, and Albany State  University -- to develop research-based solutions  to the most challenging issues in education, criminal  justice, and entrepreneurship. We believe our  constituency is people living in fragile communities  and they are members of all races, ethnicities, and   religions. Our work is part of creating an  environment where quality education is available  and accessible from preschool through   post-secondary institutions, where opportunities  abound, so that every student can achieve their  dreams.