Thursday, August 16, 2018

Sacrificing a Child's Education on the Altar of Diversity

The promise of racially integrated public schools, dating to the Brown v. Board of Education case remains just that… a promise. Efforts to integrate schools first produced white flight… to the suburbs. Then, in cities like New York, affluent parents did everything in their power to send their children to private schools. Finally, the charter school movement has improved the quality of education for those who attend, but those schools are not integrated.

In New York City today, public schools are still largely segregated. The best public high schools, Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn admit children on the basis of a single test. It's called meritocracy. The result: their students are mostly Asian, with a minority of white children and very few minorities.

The mayor and his new schools chancellor have been trying to introduce more diversity into these schools and into some of the public middle schools that have the best records. They are facing a rebellion by disgruntled, angry parents.

Erin Aubry Kaplan sees the same trajectory in the Los Angeles public school system. She writes in the New York Times:

Today Los Angeles and California as a whole have abandoned integration as the chief mechanism of school reform and embraced charter schools instead.

She continues:

Integration did not happen. The effect of my father’s and my foray into those white schools was not more equality but white flight. Largely white schools became largely black, and Latino schools were stigmatized as “bad” and never had a place in the California good life.

Kaplan believes that the fight for diversity in public education must be continued. After all, it promotes social justice. And we are all for social justice… right?

To which, a letter writer from California offers a dissident view. To its credit the Times has promoted this letter, which is a good thing for those of us who do not spend the time to read all of the letters written to the Times.

A parent writes:

Is the idea that I should sacrifice quality education for my own children on the altar of nebulously defined “social justice”?  Sorry, not going to happen. My kids grew up in a house full of books. Their father and I were involved in their education, trying to model curiosity, love for learning and academic success in our own lives. Why should my kids study in the same classroom with children who come from broken households with no books, no appreciation of learning, and no discipline? I don’t care whether these children are white, black or green. I tried to do the best for my own kids. Your kids are your responsibility.

Some will denounce this as a function of white privilege… assuming that the letter writer is white. And yet… sacrificing children on the altar of diversity… is the point where many American families have drawn a line in the sand.


Anonymous said...

"...and no discipline...".

White, black, green , purple,...
No discipline, no learning.


At least as it currently exists.

The "system" is composed almost solely of "players" "gaming" the system: politicians, administrators,teachers, parents, students.

I wonder what they are actually learning.

Its neither teamwork or community.

Perpetual civil war as "justice".


Gringo said...

I am reminded of some "progressive" cousins residing in the Lower East Side. When their daughter couldn't get into the public school they had selected, they enrolled her in a private school.

Anonymous said...

Easily solved by redistributing parents.


Anonymous said...

"Easily solved by redistributing parents.


To re-education camps,I presume.

We've finally found the one person with all the answers.

And so simple too.
I Say. You do.
You rock, Esther.

Sam L. said...

Anon, have you gotten your MDR of sarcasm yet?

Anonymous said...

Re-education camps are so yesterday, a benevolent state would simply reassign infants for the collective good. But that utopian ideal might cause a lot of bad PR and resistance at first, what with all the inevitable hysterical crying.

So alternately, children unfairly born with any talent or privilege could be hobbled for equality. Surveillance would need to be employed to prevent sneaky kids from gaining an advantage from any unauthorized reading of books under the covers with a flashlight. Naturally, digital reading would be monitored— if it isn’t already.

Anonymous said...

That last comment would be from Anonymous Esther in reply to anonymous Anonymous,

Anonymous said...

Esther - go eat some more of Haman's ears.
Clearly, you've yet to have your fill.

Anonymous said...

Sam L. - Re:MDR

"mort de rire -
As a French translation of the English “lol” and used in exactly the same way, mdr or mort de rire means to be dying of laughter."


Anonymous said...

MDR - Master of Dispute Resolution (Pepperdine University School of Law; Malibu, CA)
MDR - Magic Decoder Ring
MDR - Making Dreams Reality

Anonymous said...

In Seattle several years ago a new elementary school was built very close to downtown, but in a mixed race educated neighborhood. The pedagogy and the school curriculum were designed around a mixed race curriculum. It was intended that the Asian children in that neighborhood (almost all parents with university degrees) would "pull up" the African/American students who were being bussed in to that "opportunity". However, it was only about two years into the new effort that the Asian parents pulled their kids out and put them in private schools. Why is that you ask? Well---the idea of "collaborative learning" doesn't work. It only holds back those that truly do want to learn and to think. In the meantime it allows for more slacking off of the other group.

Second issue in today's world of school design is the idea of "collaborative studies" and "open classrooms". Have you ever observed the teaching/learning that does not go on in those "open classrooms"? This was an idea built into many UK schools during the 1980's and 1990's but has since been proven to lower the standards and achievements of all individuals. It is a structural design meant to enforce segregated schools, but it doesn't work. So we are building more of them., because the real purpose of today's pedagogy is to "get everyone on the same level playing field" just like they do in China. It is about managing the masses--not about educating the individual.

Anonymous said...

Correction "meant to enforce INTEGRATED SCHOOLS.

jayhx said...

Parents only have one chance to educate their children. We want to do the best job possible.

It's crazy to sacrifice that opportunity and hold them back for some presumed equality.