"Say Yes does not promote going to college merely for the sake of going to college. Rather, Say Yes provides an unparalleled, comprehensive support system to students and their families beginning in kindergarten, which makes college a choice that is available to all of Syracuse's children. Today, sadly, too often it is not. Fulfilling and meaningful careers are accessible by many paths, but U.S. Department of Labor data show that increasingly the fastest-growing fields and best-paying jobs require a college education. Alarmingly, U.S. Census Bureau data show that the fastest-growing demographic groups -- which predominate in urban schools, including Syracuse -- have the lowest college attendance rates. This is a tragedy for those talented students with each day that their talent goes unrecognized and untapped. But it also is a looming crisis -- not just for cities, but for society." Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas P. Biklen is dean of the Syracuse University School of Education and has made documentary films about autism.
Douglas P. Biklen writes: Say Yes program is far more than just scholarships
Crucial Support: Say Yes program is far more than just scholarships
Posted by Readers' Page July 19, 2009 5:00AM
By Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey and Douglas P. Biklen
In his letter to the editor July 5, Syracuse University Professor Bill Coplin raises several significant issues regarding job prospects for today's youth. We share his concerns about the vital importance of ensuring that public education aligns with employment opportunities. That's why dramatically improving the preparedness of Syracuse's children for the demands of the workplace is a core principle of the Say Yes to Education program. But we also know that quality education should also imagine that many students will go on to become inventors of new careers and forms of work.
Say Yes does not promote going to college merely for the sake of going to college. Rather, Say Yes provides an unparalleled, comprehensive support system to students and their families beginning in kindergarten, which makes college a choice that is available to all of Syracuse's children. Today, sadly, too often it is not.
Fulfilling and meaningful careers are accessible by many paths, but U.S. Department of Labor data show that increasingly the fastest-growing fields and best-paying jobs require a college education. Alarmingly, U.S. Census Bureau data show that the fastest-growing demographic groups -- which predominate in urban schools, including Syracuse -- have the lowest college attendance rates. This is a tragedy for those talented students with each day that their talent goes unrecognized and untapped. But it also is a looming crisis -- not just for cities, but for society.
Over the past 20 years, Say Yes has demonstrated clearly, through its work in urban schools in Harlem, Philadelphia, Hartford and Cambridge, that the persistent and well-documented "achievement gap" between urban and suburban youth is not an accurate measure of students' abilities or potential, but in reality is an "opportunity" or "access" gap and investment deficit. Too many urban students have not had the opportunity to take full advantage of the academic and social experiences and supports that their more privileged peers are afforded, which we know lead to success in school. This gap shows up not only in grades, but also in standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, access to curriculum and quality instruction, high school graduation rates, college admission, and college-completion rates. The Say Yes model levels the playing field.
Say Yes aims at reforming the urban school experience for students beginning in kindergarten, addressing academic rigor, health and social/emotional well-being and financial resources to remove barriers that historically have hindered academic success for urban students, regardless of their career path. In this way, all paths remain open so that when students make career and post-secondary plans, they are not limited by lack of academic preparedness.
The Say Yes Higher Education Compact provides scholarships to students who choose to pursue college, provided that they graduate from a Syracuse City School District high school and meet the existing admissions standards at one of the 23 private participating colleges and universities, along with SUNY and CUNY schools. The choices of institutions range from community colleges to some of the most highly regarded private universities in the nation. In this way, Say Yes provides the scaffolding of support and opportunities for all SCSD students to succeed on any path they choose.
Going to college does not guarantee a successful and rewarding career or life, but it does open paths to the best-paying and fastest-growing careers, while offering to open young minds to a diverse and increasingly interconnected world. Those are opportunities we cannot afford not to provide all of Syracuse's students.
Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey is president of Say Yes to Education Inc. Douglas P. Biklen is dean of the Syracuse University School of Education.
