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Students exploring school options
More blacks are leaving their assigned schools to find a better fit at a charter, private or public alternative.
Monday, February 19, 2007
TROTWOOD — For high school senior Carson Byrd, finding the right place to prepare for college meant passing on Dayton's public schools and shunning private schools.
A talented football player, he chose Trotwood-Madison, which has the high minority enrollment, academic standards and standout athletic program Byrd was looking for.
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West Dayton native Kaiesha Webb tried Dayton and Trotwood schools before enrolling in a Jefferson Twp. charter school.
Finding a comfortable educational home is half the battle in achieving academic success for many black students.
"These folks are simply doing what is in their best interests," said Robert Moore, interim dean of education at Central State University. "A lot of this boils down to what that person desires in their education and life."
For a segment of the population that traditionally has had fewer education choices, black Americans more than any other race are taking advantage of their options in education.
Nearly 77 percent of black students attended their assigned public school in 1993, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Ten years later, the figure dropped to 68 percent.
"For me, it was important that I was accepted as a student, not just an athlete," said Byrd, who accepted a full scholarship to play football at Hampton University in Virginia this fall.
"I had to do what was best for me," he said.
Coming from an educated family, Byrd said he realized from an early age the exponential opportunities that would be open to him with the right education.
With a long family history tied to Dayton Public Schools (his grandfather taught in the district for more than 30 years and his grandmother founded a Dayton charter school), Byrd started high school at Stivers School for the Arts, a Dayton magnet school.
"What I learn at school is just a bonus to what I learned at home and from my life experiences," Byrd said.
At Stivers, he starred in basketball and majored in theater.
"I wanted to be Denzel (Washington)," Byrd said, referring to the Academy Award-winning actor. But when he discovered his prowess on the football field, he realized he could go to college for free.
Byrd and his mother, Rhonda Rhea Byrd, scouted private schools with strong football programs such as Carroll and Alter, but the social climates didn't suit the athlete.
Byrd transferred to Trotwood-Madison just before his junior year. Since the transfer, he has maintained a 4.2 grade point average. More than 15 Division I colleges and universities have offered him scholarships. This month, Byrd, 18, joined a half-dozen of his teammates in accepting scholarship offers at a signing-day ceremony.
"Students like Carson are absolutely the kind of kids we're trying to attract here," Trotwood-Madison Principal Gerald Cox said.
Moore said school choices should help black families.
"I think we're finally starting to do (education) right," Moore said. "The only way for these schools to attract top black students is... putting out a high-quality product."
Dayton is one of the nation's hottest charter school markets, with 33 charter schools enrolling nearly 7,000 students.
Webb, 18, was unhappy in Dayton Public Schools and considered Trotwood before she enrolled at General Chappie James Leadership Academy, a charter school in Jefferson Twp.
Webb said she there she discovered her talent in science. She has since graduated and is focusing on a career in forensic science at ITT Technical Institute.
"Most of these kids have absolutely amazing ability in the classroom," said Chappie James administrator Portia Venlong. "We as adults just have to take time to sit down with them and let them know they're capable."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2263 or rfox@DaytonDailyNews.com.
