Philly’s Black teacher pool is drying up

The already shallow pool of Black teachers in Philadelphia schools is evaporating at an alarming rate. District officials, who understand that increasing the number of African Americans in the classroom is one – perhaps the only – surefire method of closing the achievement gap between Black and White students, are scrambling for solutions. When school began this year, The Philadelphia Daily News reports, the percentage of Black teachers in the city was the lowest it has been in decades. And some argue that the dearth of African American teachers has put the district in violation of an agreement it made with the federal Office of Civil Rights three decades ago to achieve a racially balanced teaching force, the News reports. In 1978, more than a third (36 percent) of the teachers were Black. Fast-forward to now, and the number has dropped to 29 percent. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the Black student body has remained 60 percent. While other school districts nationwide also have a paucity of Black teachers, Philly’s Black-teacher pool has shrunk by 739 over the past half-decade; the percentage of White teachers has grown from 62.5 percent to 65.4 percent over the same period. “Clearly, more must be done to recruit and retain African-American teachers,” said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT), told the News. Reg Weaver, who heads the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher union, with about 3 million members, said that, “While race doesn’t determine anyone’s ability to master and teach a subject, research does show that teachers of color have higher performance expectations for minority kids, which in turn can impact student achievement.”

Racists terrorize a girl in Idaho. Federal investigators want to know what would motivate two grown men would go through lengths to terrorize a Black girl in the Idaho town of Post Falls. On Monday, 15-year-old Rai Franklin said she woke up to dogs barking outside her family home. They had been aroused by two White men who allegedly threw eggs at her parents’ car and left fliers in the neighborhood telling Black people that they didn’t belong in the neighborhood. Rai said that one of the men grabbed her, punched her in the face and fled while yelling racial slurs. Post Falls is apparently a short distance from Hayden Lake, the home of a compound where members of the Aryan Nations, a violent militant White supremacist organization, used to meet. FBI officials say that if the me are caught, they could face federal hate-crime charges.

Texas university isn’t cheering this student on. It doesn’t matter that Jamie Burns has let the campus off the hook, that her doctors have cleared her medically, and that her mom has said to let her daughter do what she was recruited for, officials at Southern Methodist University say that she won’t be cheerleading. Find out why at BET.com/News.

Jamie Foxx says talk show queen helped refine him

Even though the new reality show he helped conceive is just “Flavor of Love: Charm School” with a new name, Jamie Foxx says it was inspired by personal experience. Foxx’s friend Oprah Winfrey helped groom the Oscar-winner before he started producing “From G’s to Gents,” which debuted on MTV last week. “Oprah Winfrey said, ‘Before they give the Oscar out, there’s a certain way you have to campaign and carry yourself,’” Foxx recalls. “Being a comedian, (I was) sort of looking at everything as like, ‘Oh, it’s a joke,’ and she said, ‘No, you really need to take it seriously,’ and she took me and introduced me to Sidney Poitier and all these other different actors. I had to change.” Foxx won the Oscar for his portrayal of singer Ray Charles in Ray.

Kanye West, Wyclef will perform in support of Obama

Rapper Kanye West and singer Wyclef Jean will join N.E.R.D. at the 2008 Democratic Convention to perform in support of Barack Obama. West reportedly appears on behalf of singer Bono’s One Campaign, while Jean and N.E.R.D. will co-headline a party thrown by MTV’s popular “Rock the Vote” effort. The convention will begin Aug. 25 in Denver, ending in the party’s historic nomination of the first Black presidential candidate three days later.

Soul singer’s estate auction generates less cash than expected.

A projected $1 million to $2 million payday from the late James Brown’s estate auction has landed only $857,688. Brown, who died on Christmas of 2006, owed significant tax debts for his home. The legendary singer’s offspring complains that the valuables, including clothes Brown wore and hair grooming items, should’ve been kept from auction. Adult children of the late singer hoped to create a museum for the Godfather of Soul.

Comedian creates awkward moment at Obama fundraiser
Comedian Bernie Mac is still a Barack Obama fan, though Mac didn’t get a fan’s welcome at an event for the presidential candidate. Mac, a long-time supporter, performed at a recent Hyatt Regency Hotel fundraiser for Obama in Chicago. Some at the $2,300-a-head event resented Mac’s jokes, which included: “My little nephew came to me and he said, ‘Uncle, what’s the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question? I said, I don’t know, but I said, ‘Go upstairs and ask your mother if she’d make love to the mailman for $50,000.’” Other jokes reportedly touched on promiscuity and women until one spectator shouted, “It’s not funny! Let’s get Barack on!” Obama followed the popular star of the “Bernie Mac Show,” saying, “We can’t afford to be divided by region or by class and we can’t afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you’ve got to clean up your act next time.” Although he later added, “By the way, I’m just messing with you, man,” Obama’s campaign rep later denounced the comedian’s choice of material, which also included a reference to ‘hoes,’ as “inappropriate.”

Jeffrey Wright arrested in incident involving W. star
Noted actor Jeffrey Wright, who plays Gen. Colin Powell in the filming of an Oliver Stone work on George W. Bush, titled “W.,” has been arrested and, later, freed from jail. Wright and Josh Brolin, who plays the president, were released after allegedly trying to impede police officers who were attempting to quash a brawl. Wright and Brolin were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly interfering with cops in the Louisiana bar incident.

Jamie Foxx to appear on “From G’s to Gents”
The film star who’s executive producing MTV’s “From G’s to Gents” reality series will also make appearances on the show. Jamie Foxx helped conceive the show that airs this week and will groom ‘hood cats into well-mannered young men. Host Fonzworth Bentley says he’s glad to be involved with the show: “It is cool to know how to treat a lady. It is cool to have faith in God. It is cool to go to college. It is cool to have respect for your seniors. I wanted to make sure that the show was edited in a way for that man that’s sitting at home, he can actually take notes.”