Michael Atherton wrote: "I believe that the assumption that the effects of poverty are untreatable serves the same function as previous claims that Blacks cannot be educated because they are intellectually inferior. It justifies a policy of inaction and maintains the status quo..."
I agree on this point. The Minneapolis school district has demonstrated that better than average results can be obtained with respect to test scores, attendance, disciplinary actions, etc., are possible in school with very high poverty rates. North Star elementary school is an example where the students are above-average, about 95% of the students are black, and over 90% of the students are qualified for free and reduced-price lunches. One of the things that has distinguished North Star from most other predominantly black schools is a fairly stable staffing situation. The district leadership made an effort to recruit and retain teachers at that school. But there is no way to create a comparable situation at most of the high-poverty, high minority schools so long as inexperienced teachers are heavily concentrated in some of the schools, and the district continues its practice of laying off many teachers it, in reality, plans to rehire or replace. "Choice" in the form of vouchers and the proliferation of charter schools simply leads to inequality in other forms so long as the serious systemic problems in the central city school systems don't get fixed, and so long as students from poor neighborhood have limited to no access to the district's better community schools. The folks that oppose vouchers and say that the problem is parental involvement, poverty, etc., (e.g., spokespersons for the DFL) are simply reinforcing negative racial prejudices about people of color and are lending credence to the claim of voucher / "choice" advocates that they are leading the civil rights movement of the 21st century. -Doug Mann, King Field www.educationright.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
