MACKINAC ISLAND – A nationally known educator who has developed a pioneering school in Harlem said the United States will destroy itself if it fails to take full notice of demographic trends and educate children to meet the challenges those trends will mean.
Geoffrey Canada, president of Harlem Children’s Zone, said that by 2040 the country will become a majority-minority country, but the majority of minority children are not being educated to ensure they can be employed.
Now is the critical time to ensure those children are educated to meet the employment needs of the future, he said, otherwise many of those kids will end up in prison. And the United States already incarcerates more people on a percentage basis than any other nation in the world, Canada said.
He also chastised business executives for not recognizing that technological developments, while improving life in many ways, also means fewer people without college education and specialized training have jobs.
Canada’s program has gained national attention, but also some controversy because it’s focus is to ensure that every child enrolled gets into college.
While many people have argued that there are thousands of jobs that do not require college education, Canada said, “I always tell people when in doubt, do what the rich people do. And if you have a rich fellow with three kids, he isn’t going to say, ‘Okay, you go to Harvard, and you go to Princeton,” and to child number three, ‘Okay, you go to beauty school.'”
Schools have to be geared to educate all children to college level, he said, and when dealing with at-risk children have to stay in contact with them all through college.
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