Last year, 12.5 percent of black males in grades 3-8 were proficient in reading and math.

That is correct – 12.5 percent.

The NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) contends that the state “raised the bar” by implementing more rigorous standards and tests.  They say that these test results accurately show who is and is not on track to be prepared for college or career.  If that is the case (and I am still not convinced that it is), then North Carolinians been lulled into thinking that our public schools were making magnificent progress.  After all, the percentage of black males in elementary and middle school who were proficient in reading and math reached 45.6 percent last year.  But those were not rigorous standards, apparently.

You can’t blame this on “evil Republicans.”  Most of these children had been in school long before North Carolina had a Republican legislature and governor.  But if you are looking for blame, look no further than those advocacy groups who claim to champion the interests of these children.  Most of them spent a number of Monday evenings traipsing in downtown Raleigh earlier this year.