Falling standards in Boston Public Schools

Barrow-Murray, Barbara · January 21, 1977

In this clip Leah Fletcher reports on the 900 page report prepared by the Boston School Department at the request of the school superintendent, Marion Fahey, that states that reading and math scores for the city's children are well below standard, especially for Black students. Overall the program focuses on minority cultural institutions and whether they are destined to fail in the United States. Host Barbara Barrow speaks with Elma Lewis, Director of the National Center of Afro-American Artists about the limited existence of minority cultural institutions, what institutions serve Blacks in America, if the National Center is a stable institution, the role of donations and individual giving in the economic viability of an institution, and the difficulty in getting grants (due to the fact, as Lewis states, grant monies are distributed to perpetuate a culture rather than develop marginalized populations). Additional segments include the "Say Brother News" with reporters Leah Fletcher, Eric Sampedro, Justina Chu, and WNAC TV arts critic Tanya Hart, the "Third World Connection" (in which the mixture of African, Chinese, and Eastern Europe people is discussed), and the "Community Calendar." Produced by Barbara Barrow. Directed by Conrad White.