The Afternoons with Amos PODCAST For Thursday, October 22, 2015. (Entire Show Is Open Lines Including More Community Reaction To Moves By IPS To Move Nearly All-Minority Schools In Favor Of High Performing Mostly White School In Meridian-Kessler). Listener and community outrage and concerned continued to be expressed over the announcement that the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) plans next year to move the successful magnet arts program out of School 70 and move it to the current Key Learning Center, whose outstanding academic program will be eliminated by the district., During the discussion as part of an Open Lines day on Afternoons with Amos, it was revealed the quality of the schools that IPS has put into turmoil with the sudden news to parents about the move.
Mary Nicholson IPS School 70 At 46th & Central
Currently the Key School is three schools in one. An elementary, middle and high school. According to State Department of Education records, the Elementary school earned an “F” Accountability grade from the state last school year (2013-2014). Bu the Key Middle School and Key High School both earned “C” Accountability grades from the State. School 70 earned a “B” Accountability grade from the state in 2013-2014. Rarely has IPS moved a school with a quality high achieving program to a different location. Especially with a lack of warning to parents and students. The sudden announcement, especially since School 70 is 94% minority and the Key School 87% to 88% minority has raised concerns that the moves are designed to create another high performing Center For Inquiry School (CFI) school in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. A school that would be majority-white as two of IPS’ current three CFI schools are.
Dr. Michael Lomax, UNCF President & CEO
(Interview With UNCF President/CEO Dr. Michael Lomax Starts At 1:01:06 Mark On PODCAST Media Player). The problems African-American college graduates have in getting jobs came out in an exclusive Afternoons with Amos interview with Dr. Michael Lomax, President/CEO of the United Negro College Fund, or UNCF. A couple of weeks ago in an announcement virtually ignored by mainstream Indianapolis media, UNCF announced the second largest grant in its 71 year history. A $50 million grant from Lilly Endowment, the mega endowment begun by the Lilly family; a foundation based here in Indy, allows UNCF to launch the UNCF Career Pathways Initiative. Through this initiative, UNCF will award competitive grants to four-year historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs) to help students gain the knowledge, preparation, insight and skills needed for meaningful employment in a technology-driven, global economy. In the interview, Dr. Lomax explained how the program will serve as a model of best practices to solve the unemployment and underemployment crisis among recent college graduates. Lomax said that evidently in today’s economy, college students need both the knowledge and soft skills to compete in the global economy. But too many students are having difficulty finding good jobs after graduation, according to Lomax who says UNCF’s goal with this seven year mega grant, the second biggest in UNCF’s history, is for UNCF to work with students, faculty, colleges, alumni, and employers to better connect the student experience with the jobs of the future. Especially with the percentage of recent African American college graduates that are underemployed has soared to 56% according to government statistics. Dr. Lomax was asked whether Martin University, Indianapolis’s only Predominantely Black institution (PBI) was involved in the UNCF grant effort, but unfortunately the university is not. For More Information About this new UNCF Career Pathways Initiative Click Here: The Afternoons with Amos PODCAST For Thursday, October 22, 2015. Runs 92 Minutes. ©2015 WTLKC/Radio One. PODCAST Starts After Brief Video Ad.
