ABSTRACT

The problem of educating Black children in America is as old as the presence of Blacks within this country. This complex issue has been the topic of discussion by many notable scholars. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Janice Hale, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a host of others have all asserted that an effective education is of fundamental importance in the progress of African Americans. However, the abundance of reports that indicate the systematic and rapid rate at which African Americans are filtered into lower educational tracks suggests that the dominant culture within U.S. society has a different definition of effective than these notables. Existing inequities and suggested contempo-

rary solutions (e.g., the current voucher debate and the No Child Left Behind legislation) cause me to wonder about the future of public education.