Nicholas Cianciolo
Econ 398 Term Paper Rough Draft/Outline
Education, Racial Unemployment Gaps
and Reform Alternatives
According to the latest jobs report, the unemployment rate of African
Americans is nearly double that of white Americans at 13.4%, compared to a rate of
only 7% for whites. This disparity is shocking and points to fundamental problems
within our society that result in such adverse situations for a large minority in this
country. Another uncomfortable truth for our society is the broad gaps in
educational levels of whites and blacks. In 1983, 66.9% of white students
nationwide at age thirteen could read at an intermediate level. For black students of
this same demographic, the percent that could read to at least an intermediate level
was a paltry 35.3%.1 It is a well-accepted fact that urban schools perform at much
lower levels than their suburban counterparts. Dropout rates for urban school
districts, which are heavily populated with black students, approach 40 and even
50% in some major cities. These are rates that would cause extreme uproar in
heavily white suburbia. Kansas presents a more recent example of the differences in
education that confront black youth. A state-wide report, released September 2012,
1
Hill, Edward W, and Heidi Marie Rock. "Race and Inner-city Education." Trans. Array The
Metropolis in Black & White: Place, Power, and Polarization. . 4th. Rutgers: Transaction
Publishers, 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.
<http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jWxS-jrIeX0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR15&dq=Hill
Race and Inner-City Education&ots=c8A_2h2mIG&sig=dWzSHf0oCd__uEzv6SCpHUvG0OU
#v=onepage&q&f=false>
shows the percentage of students meeting the standards in math and reading skills
dropped for the first time since 2000. For all students, there was a 1% drop in math
and a 1.9% drop in reading skills. However, black students bore the brunt of this
decrease. They saw a drop of 8.2% in reading skills and a drop of 5.3% in math.2
The stark difference in unemployment between blacks and whites begs the
question of what is the underlying cause and what can be done about it? I propose
the primary cause of racial differences in unemployment is that blacks tend to have
lower education levels than whites. Increased educational level and attainment
directly leads to an increase in likelihood that a given person will be employed. Any
attempt to correct the unemployment gap must first implement educational reforms
that increase the education levels of blacks. Multiple ideas are touted as the best
way to improve education levels for those who struggle. They range from decreased
class size, to vocational or charter schools, and even voucher programs. Each of
these theories has their merits and literature that bolsters their side.
There are several reasons this issue should concern all Americans. First and
foremost is the notion of equality of opportunity. This idea has spurred American
exceptionalism and been fundamental to the pursuit of the American Dream.
However, we cannot claim to be providing an equal opportunity if the results are so
skewed. Another reason, this one being ulterior, is that there are massive social
benefits to increasing black employment. For example, if there is less government
2
Tobias, Suzanne. "Drop in test scores by African-American students alarms Kansas
education officials." . The Wichita Eagle, 21 2012. Web.
<http://www.kansas.com/2012/09/21/2498739/drop-in-test-scores-by-african.html>.
expenditure on social welfare or fighting urban crime, there will be more money for
government to invest in the economy or let people keep for themselves via tax cuts.
Over the course of this paper I will explain the theoretical foundations and
provide evidence as to why increased education leads to a better chance that
someone will be employed. Next, I will present the geo-spatial argument for
employment gaps. Contrary to many economists’ theories, I believe the geo-spatial
argument is at least partially correlated to education levels and thus fits the theory
that educational reform can decrease the employment gap. This reinforces the
primacy of education reform in any attempt to correct racial unemployment gaps.
After establishing the importance of education I discuss several of the reform ideas
mentioned previously with a review of the literature and a theoretical explanation
of whether this will work. (* I have not yet figured out which of the reforms I will
discuss. I plan on examining class size thanks to Alex’s paper and most likely
vocational schooling. If I do a lit review and theory based discussion on these two
reforms, will this be sufficient to meet your expectations of the paper, or would you
propose adding a third reform?)
Outline

Framework for increased education level is negatively correlated with
unemployment
o Sources:

Mincer, Jacob. "Education and Unemployment." NBER Working
Papers Series. NBER, n.d. Web.
<http://www.nber.org/papers/w3838.pdf?new_window=1>.


Provides much of theory and some data
Danzinger, Sandra; et al. "Barriers to the Employment of Welfare
Recipients." Population Studies Center. University of Michigan, n.d.
Web. <http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr02-508.pdf>.


Provides data/results
Barrow, Lisa; Rouse, Cecilia Elena. "The economic value of
education by race and ethnicity." Economic Perspectives. Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago, n.d. Web.

Provides some data/results that will be used in different
parts of the paper and an interesting aside on personal
ability that may frame the analytical approach I take
towards different educational reform plans

job training model used to explain why some of Mincer’s
argument is correct

Geo-spatial Argument
o Dawkins, Casey J., Qing Shen, and Thomas W. Sanchez. "Race, space and
unemployment duration." Science Direct. Journal of Urban Economics, n.d.
Web. <http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0094119005000136/1-s2.0S0094119005000136-main.pdf?_tid=6d548140-224e-11e2-bc6e-
00000aab0f02&acdnat=1351573281_71d95edcc3dd93e363ef99615648
2402>.
o Human capital investment models explanation of why people would
invest in education and correlates the geo-spatial argument to education

Educational Reform via Vocational schools
o Neuman, Soshanna, and Adrian Ziderman. "Can vocational education
improve the wages of minorities and disadvantaged groups? The case of
Israel." . Economics of Education Review, 30 2001. Web.
<www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev>.

Educational Reform via Smaller Class Sizes
o Alex’s paper by Mosteller
http://home.wlu.edu/~gusej/econ398/articles/MostellerClassSize.pdf
Overall Flow of Paper (in case this is bad enough that you cannot tell):
Education differences is primary driver of unemployment gaps other theories
actually fit education primacy theory lit review and theoretical discussion of
potential education reforms.