Parents and educators converged on Queen's Park Thursday to convince Premier Dalton McGuinty that supporting black-focused schools means helping more students make it to graduation, the same goal all educators should have for their students.

McGuinty recently criticized a plan by the Toronto District School Board to open a facility catering to black students, saying the creation of a parallel Afrocentric system is tantamount to segregation.

The group visiting the government offices today wanted to remind him that equality doesn't necessarily mean sameness, especially when black students aren't succeeding at the same levels as others in the existing system -- about 40 per cent drop out or fail every year.

Varying approaches must sometimes be taken to ensure everyone succeeds, they said.

"Children today suffer low self-esteem, self-awareness and self-confidence," Louis March of the African-Canadian Heritage Association told CTV Toronto's Janice Golding.

"They don't see themselves reflected in the current curriculum and we know the problems that result in that. Our program has given them a fighting chance to stand up and walk tall."

The controversial idea of creating such schools was approved by a narrow 11-to-nine margin last week after plaguing the public school board for months. It would open in September 2009 and eventually serve students from kindergarten all the way to Grade 12.

McGuinty has since vowed the province won't give the board extra cash for the project, and said he's prefer to convince them to drop the idea over forcing them to do so.

"We believe it's a matter of principle," he said Thursday. "The single most important thing we can do for our kids is to bring them together so they have an opportunity to come to know one another, to understand one another and to learn together and grow together. We think that is the foundation of a caring, cohesive society."

He says he'd rather make changes to the current curriculum to make it more inclusive, adding more units on black history.

The group gathered at his office today thought his solution was a good step, but not enough.

"The Band-Aid approach of having a class within a school within a school system does not do it," Donna Harrow, a community activist involved in the movement, told CTV Toronto.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Janice Golding