New education program announced in D.C. for minority boys

Public school leaders in D.C. stated they will spend $20 million on an educational program intended to help black and Latino boys succeed. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced the program on Wednesday. The funds will go toward building a brand new all-male high school, recruiting mentors for the students and grants to individual schools. The program is meant to address the achievement gaps in District schools between white students and their minority peers. Black and Latino youth make up 43 percent of enrollment in city schools. Henderson said that addressing the achievement gap is the school system’s “greatest need.” Nearly half of the black and Latino boys are reading below grade level by fourth grade, a problem that the volunteer mentoring program is meant to address and eventually solve.