Finding Ways to Better School African American Boys

Brooks said task force members believed it was important to consider solutions that challenge conventional thinking.

The report also calls for recruiting more black male teachers, noting that "black males make up 19 percent of the public school population but less than 5 percent of its teaching force." The task force recommends developing a teacher preparation program to help black men work toward certification.

Task force members said African American male students lag behind their peers academically and are more likely to be put in special education classes. Even those who graduate and enroll in college face challenges. African American men make up only 8.5 percent of Maryland's college population, and only one-third of those who enroll ultimately graduate, the report says.

A. Skipp Sanders, deputy state superintendent for administration for the Maryland State Department of Education, said some of the recommendations -- such as increasing the number of students taking PSATs and AP courses -- have long had the support of state education officials.

"I don't want this to be another report that winds up on the shelf," said Sanders, who also served on the task force.

The K-16 Leadership Council, which includes educators from Maryland's public school and university systems, is expected to outline a plan for implementing some of the recommendations at its June meeting, said Bill Reinhart, spokesman for the state office of education. It is up to this group, chaired by state school Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, to come up with an action plan.

The task force, which started work in 2003, was originally slated to spend a year studying the issue, but Brooks said the complexity of the problems required more time. Though the report was completed in early 2006, task force members opted not to release it until after the gubernatorial election.

"We didn't want it to become a 30-second talking point in someone's campaign," Brooks said.

The task force included parents, teachers, administrators and community members. Montgomery County School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast was a member, as was Ronald A. Williams, the former president of Prince George's Community College.

Brooks said it is up to education officials and politicians to move the recommendations forward.

"We have to generate the political will," he said. "This is too large a segment of our workforce to basically write them off. And the social ills of not well educating our population are significant."