The new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education, “Black Males in Public Education,” looks at ways in which 15 large school urban districts across the nation are addressing disparities in high school graduation rate and academic support, with a focus on outcomes for Black male students. One of those districts is Newark Public Schools. 

While there have been notable improvements nationwide during  2012-2020, the period studied, Black males still graduate high school—a key benchmark for post-graduate achievement, earnings, stability, and even life expectancy—at a lower rate than white, Asian, and Hispanic boy, as well as Black girls. Newark Public Schools (NPS) is no exception.

Of the city districts studied, Mobile, Alabama had the highest rate of high school graduation for Black males, 88%, even higher than the state average. While New Jersey as a whole had the fifth highest graduation rate for Black males (86%),  in NPS only 72% of Black male students graduated on time, lower than the rate for white, Hispanic, and Asian students, male and female.

According to the state database, in 2023 Black students attending NPS, who comprise 37% of Newark students, had a high school graduation rate of 82%. (The state doesn’t break down ethnicities by gender, but in NPS girls had an 89% graduation rate compared to 82.7% of boys.)

Other sections of the Schott report look at various factors that could affect the relatively  poor outcomes of Black males. Black poverty rates in Newark City are 18%, with Hispanic rates slightly higher at 20% and whites and Asians much lower. The Black unemployment rate in Newark is 13%, slightly higher than Hispanics. Of the fifteen cities studied, Newark had the highest residential segregation rate. “Chicago,  Newark, and Philadelphia school districts,” the analysts say, “are all within cities with extreme levels of residential segregation and particularly low levels of Black male high school graduation rates.” Newark is also burdened by the high cost of housing and scores poorly on the “Environmental Justice Index.” 

The report does not delve into differences among states in graduation requirements. NJ is one of only nine states where state law requires students to pass a high school-qualifying exam in 11th grade to receive a diploma (although there  multiple alternative pathways). A bill proposed by Senate President Teresa Ruiz, introduced in January, eliminates that requirement but maintains academic standards.

NPS’s 2020-2030 strategic plan, “The Next Decade,”  does not contain specific strategies regarding the academic growth of Black male students.