Disagree OP, even with the tragedy f this school, this shows that some adults who believe in discipline and rules need to be in place to make things better. All removing pblic education would do is make things worse. The parent(s) of many of thses kids obviously don´t care...do yuou think these kids will send themselves to school?

I too disagree with OP. Most of our citizens and their forebears are products of the public education system and turned out very well. It depended upon the quality of the teachers and local administrators and the parents who saw to it that we students did our part. Education is not injected or implanted into students. They have to work at it, too.

I´m not sure that labelling a school the way they did with this controversial person´s name was a good way to go. They just created further division, which is not a good thing for education.

Amen #1, it´s the parents who are the bottom line here. Most of these kids are being raised by single mothers who were children themselves when the child was born.

Poster 1 and anyone else who thinks the students are animals because of the school staff lacking discipline, you are dead wrong. I have worked in schools like these and the students are uncontrollable. Blacks have the highest suspension rates. That´s the strongest form of discipline a school can engage in. You think the kids care about being suspended? Not at all! They are happy to be off from school. These students are absolute criminals. A teacher can scream, demand, negotiate and pull every trick in the book, it´s all meaningless. These students hate any form of authority and are taught by their abusive parents to never let anyone disrespect them. Schools are ALWAYS a reflection of the parents!

#4, president zero, back in July, issued an executive order, making the discipline given out in school to be in proportion to race. That is, if whites are disciplined at a particular rate, blacks cannot be disciplined at a higher rate than that of whites.
And one additional point - many of the families, with a single momma and teenaged children, are involved in the illegal drug trade. So when the article cites the poverty level by looking at the median family income of $36,000, that does not include money earned for dealing drugs.
So poverty of money is not the problem. It is poverty of the soul.
(And, by the way, $36,000 of median family income goes up at least twice that when considering all of the welfare benefits available.)

I read the entire article, tedious in its emphasis on sports at the expense of actual education, with some lip service to trying to get kids to college:

"Certainly it´s taken steps in the right direction," she said. "We´ll have to do even more work to support a total vision of success. I would say we´ve put in place the building blocks, but we still have a ways to go before Shabazz is a school that puts kids on the pathway to college."

While I admire Mr. Grant´s persistence and his emphasis on trying to make the kids feel loved and part of a family, I have little hope for this school and for Mr. Grant´s well-meaning attempts. Because of the black culture and the near-impossible odds of bucking the tide and going against it, kids will almost always yield to peer pressure. Gangs rather than grades. Sports rather than English skills. Getting noticed rather than learning.

Early in the article, it mentioned the improvement in language skills, yet every time Mr. Grant or the kids are quoted, the English grammar is horrendous. Where is this "improvement in language skills"?

The black culture in the inner cities like Newark make those cities hellholes. One of the main reasons is because of liberals´ insistence on the welfare state as it is. Until the black culture changes from the pulpit and from the parents, Mr. Grant´s wrong-headedness (using sports as bait) will fail.

I do wish him luck, but have little hope for any long-term success unless the entire black culture cleans itself up.

Socialism never works. Government schools are socialist. Got it?

It starts in the home. Kids whose mothers are only 14 years older than they are. No self respect. Mom will sleep with anyone who knocks on the front door. No fathers. Most probably don´t know who their fathers are. Education is not important because they can milk the system for all it´s worth and more. Work is not necessary (if they can even find a job in this economy), It is their culture but no one wants to admit that it is the downfall of the black community. They are their own worst enemy. I am sure there are some kids who want to do something with their lives, to value education and want to have a good life. But the 97% that don´t get all the attention and the 3% get lost.

It was a great place to grow up in the 50s.

Give credit where credit is due. Mr. Grant is a role model for all the other educators in the inner city. He installs discipline, hard work and the need for an education in kids who don´t get that anywhere else. He is inspirational and these kids are lucky to have him.

Having worked in Newark and seeing this city and it´s people first hand, the lack of respect for authority is rampant. What was going on at Shabazz a few years ago is what is going on all over the city. Decent families have nowhere to turn for help. They are victims of the culture. The gangs have taken over and decent people fear for their lives every day.

The pulpits will never change their message because they like dependency of the black culture ala Rev. Jackson and Al Sharpton. The responsible parents try to protect their kids by sending them to charter and catholic schools but they can´t protect them from being victims on the street.

It is a very sad state of affairs. I credit Coach Grant for at least trying to save the kids he does. We need many more role models like him.

Corey Booker needs to shut up about gun control and forget about running for higher office until he makes his streets safe for these kids.

Fundamentals of of a successful education system, most important first (IMHO):
1. Willing students.
2. Willing parent(s) or guardian(s).
3. A community that values education.

(if 1, 2, and 3 are not in place, 4, 5, and 6 will not matter)

4. Effective teachers (experience is nice, but not the operative word).
5. Strong curriculum.
6. Adequate resources.

The real problems are not at the level of this particular school or its programs, the merits or faults at this level.

The problems are things like "professional educators" [and that everything they "know" is wrong]; the Left´s growingly-successful program to stamp out personal responsibility; the Left´s endless tentacling into every corner of our lives [and pockets]; the endless, growing blood-sucking of Leftist gov´ts [did you know that 80% of the billion-dollar "Farm Bill" is for food stamps?].

When "welfare programs" produce 3, 4, and more generations of unsocialized takers in dependency, the product isn´t improving anyone´s "welfare."

But then, the real purpose of any gov´t bureaucracy isn´t results, but growth.

Right off the bat, the school is named Shabazz.

Teaching values in school is seen by the left as some variation of religious indoctrination. Wee already know that parents don´t even teach the most basic values anymore like saying please and thank you.So kids wind up getting their value system from slightly older already lost, kids.

I would agree with the OP if the word "union" replaced "free".

"Malcolm X Shabazz"? Well, there´s your problem.

Public education as currently constituted is a dead end.

In populous areas, general-curriculum public schools are an expensive redundancy. Demand would ensure that private schools would increase and flourish (even if publicly-funded scholarships were provided). Students would have to decide at an early age if they are pursuing academics or a trade and any public schools would be geared toward trades and specialties.

In rural areas, public schools have, incredibly, become vehicles for bringing the ills of the city to the country. Curriculum and standards all cooked up by urban liberals are imposed on people who neither want nor need them. Consolidation has taken a community hub away from countless small towns under the rubric of improved facilities and offerings. In reality, consolidation is simply a means to increase the chunks of pork awarded by state and federal legislatures to teachers´ unions.

Many conservatives have a soft spot for public education because they have kids in school or have teachers as friends or relatives. But the problems remain, especially at a school named for Malcolm Bleeding X.

It´s news stories like this that cause readers to think racist thoughts. Black high school, black students out of control, no discipline, lots of crime... racist racist racist.

Do we think these thoughts because we are racist or because failed liberal policies have turned black american citizens into uncivilized criminal animals?

Barking-There are no racist thoughts, nor are these problems caused by liberalism. This is the reality of Newark and every other like city in the country. It´s a inner cultural problem and starts in the home. Schools can´t fix family problems, nor should they have to. Teachers beg and plead for the kids to study at home, behave in class, and do homework. The students just refuse, even the nicer kids. If someone does not value education, there is nothing that can be done. The government can keep pouring in the millions, nothing will change. Trust me, the teachers care very much. They get abused at work.

Name a school after a racist thug, get thugs I suppose.

Yep! All we had to do was stop naming schools after dead, white slaveholders and we all lived happily ever after.That´s why there are so many liberals - it´s just so easy.

So, we are just to throw these kids away? Because they don´t have a chance because of a neighborhood too dangerous to walk home from school? Grant is doing something amazing and more rich black people need to get involved in this ghetto culture. Help with the single mothers, help with after school programs and I don´t mean "throw money at them". They (leaders like Mr. Grant) will need money, but get it from the corruption kings that run (ruin) these cities. Get involved personally. I am shocked and appalled that many people, including folks like Ophrah, don´t try to help. The school is named after Malcolm X, because he is one of the few famous blacks that everyone knows who made it out of the ghetto. And for the first time I see a little value in Obama getting elected, it gives these pitiful kids someone to look up to. His politics don´t matter to them, but the fact that he is black does matter. I taught in an elementary school like this and believe me, there are many children worth saving!