Stories

Earlier this year, Paulette Wiley revived the Education Brain Trust, a group founded in 1982 by African-American educators and activists in Des Moines. The group — then and now — had grave concerns about the education of black students in the Des Moines School District, particularly the disproportionate number of blacks who are suspended, expelled [...]

Some states have used the standardized test scores of fourth-graders to predict future prison population. Worries abound in Des Moines with just 42 percent of African-American fourth-graders this year reading at grade level — and the results are getting worse as students advance through the Des Moines School District.

Paulette Wiley knows she may catch some flak for what’s she’s about to do, but the leader of the Education Brain Trust believes that African-American students in Des Moines are in an academic crisis.

A grass-roots group working to stop the academic decline of African-American students and hold schools accountable needs parents to join in the fight.

[Commentary] Each time I attempt to lose weight, I do the same thing. I restrict calories and consider exercising. I invariably fall off the wagon and lament another failed dieting attempt. That’s because I know that the nanosecond I even think about cutting calories, food becomes my raison d’

Concerns about the dearth of African-American principals in the state’s largest school district has prompted a black community activist to resurrect the defunct Education Brain Trust.

Paulette Wiley, who has worked with black youths in Des Moines for more than a decade, will hold a membership meeting for the group from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. [...]