Race Based Achievement Standards

            One of the things that sets our public education system apart from the rest of the world is the belief in education being the “great equalizer.”  The ability of any individual, regardless of their circumstance through education can attain the American Dream.  While this belief has not always been implemented throughout our history, there are individuals that have overcome obstacles and their circumstances through education to become productive citizens and trailblazers. 

            With the historic election of President Obama, the idea that anyone can grow up to be President has become true again.  Unfortunately, there are some educators in Virginia and Florida who have adopted achievement standards that are based on race and ethnicity. 

Several weeks ago, the Boards of Education in Virginia and Florida adopted race-based standards for students attending public schools.  These standards mandate that by 2018: 

1) 90% of Asian students, 88% white students, 81% if Hispanic students & 74% of “black” students are to be reading at or above grade level.  2), 86% of white students, 92% of Asian students, 80% of Hispanic students and 74% of black students are to be at or above their grade level in math[i].  Surprisingly, these standards were adopted with virtually little national attention or public outrage. 

            There are several questions that need to be asked.  The first question is why would educators who are supposed to believe all children have the ability to learn, develop racially based standards that expect less of certain students?  Additionally, why would these educators make the “black” students perform substantially less than Asian and white students?  Are their reasons due to personal bias or misguided beliefs in racial stereotypes?

The second question is what did educators plan to accomplish by developing racially based standard?  Did these educators feel they were helping “black” families and youth by developing a lower standard?  Did these educators hope to provide skewed data of the achievement standards by increasing the expectations of Asian and Hispanic students to cover the lower expectations of “black” students?  Would these educators attempt to show that minorities are improving or meeting expectations to receive additional state or federal funds?  Will the achievement scores of “black” students even be counted?

Third, what message is this policy sending to teachers, students, parents?  Will teachers and administrators view this policy as a reason to focus more on the academic achievement of Asians, whites and Hispanic students to the detriment of “black” students?  Will “black” students find themselves invisible again?  Will the lowered expectation of black students solidify a superior/inferior mentality among “black” and non “black” students?  Lastly, what message are parents of “black” students receiving from these new racially based academic standards and what are they prepared to do about it?

Finally how is this legal?  This policy is obviously discriminatory and goes against the constitutional rights of American citizens.  Furthermore, these “blacks” are taxpayers who expect their public school system to provide their child with the foundation to obtain the American Dream.  There should be no reason for educators to have lower expectations for any child, particularly a child from a specific race or ethnicity. 

At time when our country needs ALL children excelling academically to reclaim our position as leader of the global market, we cannot afford to go back and fight another Civil Rights campaign. Let’s put an end to educational Jim Crowism before it begins to spread!

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[i] www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/echoing-virginia-florida_n_1959151

The Positive Side of Public Education

                There are a number of challenges with our public education system that have been well documented and debated.  While many of these challenges are systemic and sometimes self-inflicted, there are a number of positive things happening in public schools.

                The first are teachers and administrators.  Although they are blamed for a majority of things wrong in public education, a majority of teachers and administrators are dedicated individuals who love children and strive to provide them with the best education possible.  These dedicated individuals come to work early, leave late, work from home, and spend their own money on supplies and things students may not be able to afford (food, clothing, prom tickets, etc).  Additionally, these dedicated individuals write recommendations and offer guidance and advice on a number of areas where youth struggle to make the right decisions.

                Second our public education system provides students with opportunities to grow and develop social, physical and intellectual skills.  Through teams sports, art and music programs, and clubs, students have an opportunity to learn valuable skills, develop and enhance their talents, and find their voice through teamwork, sacrifice, and service to their peers and school.  By participating in school sports, art and music and clubs, students develop the leadership skill develop social and political awareness and activism.  Students also learn commitment and discipline, learn health and fitness, learn to pay attention to details and they learn how to balance education and social life.  Lastly, participation in team sports, art and music programs and clubs build self-esteem, instill confidence, keep students engaged in academic achievement, and gives students aspirations for post-secondary training.

                There are a number of positive thing occur in public education every day.  A majority of students’ are hard working, enjoy school and graduate.  While there is a tendency to always focus on the challenges in public education and on the small, disruptive group of students’ who are responsible for some of the challenges, the positive things in public education should not be overshadowed, devalued, or dismissed.  With the lack of resources provided to public education and the non-educational challenges (poverty, illiteracy, and neglect) that arrive t its doors, our public education system does a good job despite the challenges it faces on a daily basis.

When Education is Not About Children

            Recently, the former Superintendent of the El Paso School District was sentenced to 42 months in prison for participation in a conspiracy to improve the tests scores of the High schools in his district.   By removing low performing students from classrooms, the superintendent inflated the district’s test scores by preventing hundreds of sophomore students from taking state accountability exams[i].

            By inflating the test scores, the district was rewarded with additional federal funds and the superintendent received personal bonuses totaling $56,000.  The district’s overall rating improved from “academically acceptable” to “recognized, which is the second highest rating a district can receive[ii].

            What is disturbing about this scandal is that the superintendent was investigated by the Texas Education Agency and was cleared of any wrong doing.  It wasn’t until the local news paper requested records under the Freedom of Information Act and a ruling by the Attorney General that the conspiracy was uncovered.  To add insult to injury, the superintendent was also found guilty of misleading the district so that his girlfriend could receive a no-bid contract for $450,000 and six additional individuals are under investigation for aiding the superintendent.

As more testing scandals are being uncovered in districts across the country, lost in all these scandals is the damage that has been done to children by the leaders who are responsible for their education.  None of these leaders seemed to care about the children.  These leaders only cared about test scores, increasing their stature and obtaining bonuses.  After being caught and the scandal exposed, not one superintendent has apologized to the children they defrauded.

As the educational leader of a district the superintendent is the face of education.  The superintendent encourages students to do their best, follow the rules and graduate.  Unfortunately, when the superintendent is caught in a scandal, the children are lost in the sensationalism of the scandal by the media.  Lost in the story are the victims; the children.

How much damage is done to children when they learn of these scandals?  What message are children learning about how their educational leader values their education?  Lastly, how do these scandals impact students’ beliefs about cheating or being dishonest in order to obtain rewards?

            If we want our children to become adults of integrity, we have to make sure the adults who in the district are adults of integrity.  This can only be done if the bonuses and accolades that come with improving tests scores are removed.  Superintendents are paid enough money, so they should not be rewarded for doing what they were hired to do.  Any reward should be given to the school to be used for the children who worked hard to increase the test scores.  Additionally, principals, teachers and parents should be recognized for supporting the efforts of children to increase test scores.

            It is time to get back to the mission of education which is to prepare children for their future adult lives.  While testing does have a place in the mission of education, testing should not be the determining factor of success.  Test scores should not be incentivized because there have been too many instances where the monetary incentives and accolades have tempted superintendents to do things that are not in the best interest of children.

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[i] www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57527018/ex-texas-school-chief-gets-3.5-years-for-test-fraud

[ii] ibid

The Educational Handicap of the American Student

            The United States of America is the most innovative country in the world.  However, our public education system is potentially stifling future innovation, which could harm our national and economic security.  Innovation is being stifled because our public education system continues to remain mired in its past glory days when high school graduates were among the brightest and hardest worker in the world. 

Our public education system continues to reflect an antiquated ideology of a long expired industrial age.  With behemoth school buildings that hold up to a thousand or more students (depending on the grade), buildings that mirror industrial factories and classrooms that represent a cold and sterile factory floor, the buildings do not reflect the image of students’ being prepared for a global economy.

The curriculum of our public education system also continues to reflect the antiquated ideology of an expired industrial age.  Students are being taught in a manner that inhibits critical thinking, discourages alternative ways of thinking that go beyond the prescribed method of instruction and suppresses students’ ability to question or challenge prescribed answers.  Additionally, the curriculum continues to provide instruction in a manner that is fragmented and disconnected.  The sequencing of courses and the randomness of electives fails to provide students’ with a continuum of learning that allows the content of courses and electives to connect with what was previously learned and what will be learned in future courses or electives. 

Lastly, the public education system is disconnected from the world of work.  Absent are “applied” courses that demonstrate how the core subjects” math, science, reading, and writing are utilized daily in the workplace.  The failure of the public education system to directly illustrate to students’ how the core subjects have real world applications, deprives students of the ability to understand what they are learning and how it will determine access to future occupational opportunities.  Additionally, the lack of technology instruction in schools prevents students’ from being able to access technology in a manner that has applications in the real world.  It is this lack of technological instruction that is the most damaging to students,’ to innovation and to economic and national security.

Failing to move beyond the expired industrial ideology and connect learning and technological instruction to the world of work, students’ have become disengaged in their education and fail to fully achieve their academic potential.  Thus students’ become educationally handicapped and unprepared to compete in a global economy.  The inability of the educationally handicap to compete in the global economy weakens our country and threatens our economic and national security.

Who would have thought the real threat to our country is our public education system.