Former Education Secretary William Bennett was there to shed some light, but it became clear as the afternoon progressed that whatever else this dialogue is about, it isn't about listening. On average, white students score significantly better than black students on every measure of academic achievement. This disparity is found in every region of the country and among all economic groups.
Blacks usually cite the disparity as evidence of continuing white racism.
Whites usually cite the difference as evidence of the need for education reform and family regeneration. It would have been bracing to hear someone on Clinton's panel respond to the facts Bennett put on the table. He noted that spending on minority students actually tends to exceed spending on white students in the United States today. The National Center for Education Statistics studied spending patterns across the country in the 1989-1990 school year. As Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom report in their book America in Black and White, the NCES found that the higher the percentage of minority students in a school district, the higher the level of spending, even after differences in costs of living and other variables were held constant.