African American Solutions Summit Set for Monday

Gov. Bill Richardson

Gov. Bill Richardson will host the first of a three-part summit series aimed at closing the achievement gap and increasing graduation rates for New Mexico students on Monday at the Hotel Albuquerque.

At 8:30 a.m., Richardson will deliver welcoming remarks.

The African American Solutions Summit is co-hosted by Education Secretary Dr. Veronica C. García and Executive Director Dr. Harold Bailey of the Office of African American Affairs.

“This is unlike anything we have ever done before, in that, it is 100 participants brought together to be a community think tank to ignite effective action and dramatic impact,” Richardson said. “We looked all over the state for individuals who were recommended by their communities and colleagues as innovative, collaborative, and creative. At least 25 percent of the participants will be students because youth must have a voice at the table to help shape their own future.”

Nearly 9,000 New Mexico public students are African American.

The percent of African American students scoring proficient in math increased in every grade except 7th in 2009 with third grade posting a 14 percent gain and 6th grade a 10 percent gain last year alone.

Over the last five years, the percentage of black students proficient in math more than doubled in 5th, 6th and 8th grades.

“While I acknowledge that progress has been made; the growth has not been large enough nor has it come fast enough. This summit is different in that it engages students and hands-on practitioners to truly listen to their perspectives,” García said.

The participants will take part in the one-day summit facilitated by the non-partisan public policy non-profit New Mexico First.

Together, students, teachers, parents, community resource providers, community health workers, and spiritual leaders will work to come to consensus on out-of-the box solutions to address the achievement and graduation gap.

They will produce three kinds of recommendations out of the one-day summit:

• What can be implemented in the classroom immediately,
• What can be implemented in the community, and
• What can be considered for legislative action.

They will hear from keynote speaker Executive Director Quentin Lawson of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and a youth panel to hear both nation and local perspectives.

“This African American Solutions Summit clearly demonstrates Gov. Bill Richardson’s commitment to engage the community in the framing of solutions that will address educational achievement gap issues.  This event is the first of its kind and a history making event for the black community,” Dr. Harold Bailey said.

As part of his promise to improve education in New Mexico, Richardson committed $9.4 million of the discretionary stabilization stimulus funds to efforts to close the achievement gap.