Hardy Brown

One of the identified solutions is to recruit a workforce from the communities in the greatest need. The report states that people have a tendency to return, if the opportunity presents itself, to their own community if the pay, environment, facilities, housing, and continuing education are offered as in other communities. The University of California system has recognized that some way must be found to increase our enrollment into the existing schools of medicine, pharmacy and nursing. A way must also be found to increase Black student access to the proper science and math curriculum in our public schools. In another report released by UCLA this past week on the achievement gap of Blacks in California; they point out that Black students do not have access to the courses required for college in science or math. According to the California Basic Education Data System "African American students are less likely than their white and Asian counterparts to have access to college preparatory courses". They also found that even when they do have the curriculum the teachers are not qualified to teach them. They found this to be true in 107 of the high schools of which one half of the states Black students attend. On October 28th 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law AB428 authored by Wilmer Amina Carter of Rialto which require the districts to notify the students and parents on the status of their A-G requirement courses. These are the courses student take in preparation for our college system. Without these courses they cannot enter any of California's public universities of which Blacks pay taxes to keep open. Students from other countries have full access, but pay no taxes. Now all of the blame cannot be placed at the door of the policy makers, we too must become more aggressive and engaged with the system and increase the educational attainment of our young people. I know it is difficult with all of the things going against us including the Ward Connerly's of the world who want to remove all requirements for entrance that is racially motivated. The UCLA report clearly documents that race is a factor when it comes to Blacks, Hispanics and Native American Indians in California.

When you add to all of this the other component of healthcare coverage you can see our community is being treated like a third world country.

We must ask our local school boards to establish health care career magnet schools starting in kindergarten straight through graduation. The Dr. Howard Inghram Elementary School in San Bernardino was re-opened as such but has been discontinued. They even had a partnership with the program Community Hospital located across the street. The United Nurses Association of California even adopted the school as a project. During one of their open school sessions the student dressed as physicians and other allied health care workers which they learned about at the hospital. They had healthy food snacks which they learned from the dieticians at the hospitals. Now rumors float that the hospital will close and the health care careers have been replaced by an environmental focus, that is also important, but the district has some already. This school is located in the heart of the Black and Latino community. Now I do not have to tell any of you the salaries healthcare workers make. It is not below the poverty level.

I am saying to the Secretary of Education, State Superintendent of Education, California School Board of Education, local School Boards of Education, Book Manufacturers of California, Governor of California, Senate and Assembly of California, Health Care providers of California, Health Care Insurers of California, Hospitals in California, Educational Institutional of higher learning in California, parents and students in California, we have a problem that exists today but can be resolved if we tackle it with determination. It will not be solved by going out of the country and bringing in workers; you have done this in the past and it created language and cultural issues in the workforce and with patients.

We cannot point fingers but must place them around the plow and start plowing. Now after a Black, Latino or Native American Indian parent reads these reports you might ask yourself these questions: If I motivate my child to the point of seeking a career in the healthcare field, will the proper science and math classes be there? Will qualified teachers teach them? Will the university admit them? Will the major employers hire them? If they go into business of their own will the financial institutions give them a loan to start the business? Will there be office space in the neighborhood where the patients live? Will they be able to get insurance for the business? Even though you might have these questions you will still need to motivate your child.