Week 12 - Folder Readings

MARTIN: What do you make of the district's position that diversity is an important educational goal, and that these are among the steps that are necessary to ensure that diversity is achieved?

Ms. BROSE: Well, first of all, I want to say that we're not against diversity. We like diversity. We're in the public schools. Our argument is that there is lots of diversity in our schools without using the racial tiebreaker and that, you know, diversity means more than skin color and that, you know, the school district was really looking at having a ratio of white versus nonwhite kids. And the way they used the tiebreaker was clearly a form of discrimination. Supreme Court Revisits School Segregation

 

This was an interesting transcript because there is a lot in play. But this was most interesting to me because I think that it speaks to how vastly different these situations need to be handled as per where they are taking place. I have felt that these tiebreaker rules were timed to be phased out, that was until I started education classes. It’s clear that the tiebreaker rule in theory is good, but needs to be retrofitted to the issues of micro racisms today.

 

Ms. BROSE: I think, you know, developing magnate schools, they create a program that parents want, kids will go to it. Parents will send their kids to the school. And, you know, we really want the Seattle School District to say, okay. We're just going to put all our money, all our time, all our efforts into fixing all the schools so every kid has access to a good neighborhood school. Supreme Court Revisits School Segregation

With all we talk about in class about magnet schools, I formed a  pretty negative opnion. I was looking at it though through the lens of testing, and how they do not help. I forgot to think about looking at magnet schools through the lens of a parent. When Ms. Brose said, “they create a program that parents want, kids will go to it. Parents will send their kids to the school” and if we want to change the way of education then this would be a key step to take. Kids already have to choose 1st 2nd 3rd choice why not make available schools that kids want to go to, for other reasons then not wanting to attend a school that is crumbling to the ground.

 

Mr. Parker: The other thing is there were African-Americans who didn't get into their first school of choice, and there are whites and there are Asians. And we think that that's significant, because unlike the discrimination that occurred in the '50s where it was consistently, if you're African-American, you cannot go to this school no matter what, this does not pick out one race and say you will be treated differently from everyone else. It says that depending on whether or not there's a need for the tiebreaker, you may not get into your first school of choice. But, in fact, the way that it operated nearly, 80 percent of the ninth-graders got in to their school of first choice, and most of the other people got in into their second or third choice. Supreme Court Revisits School Segregation

When I started to read this transcript I had mixed positions on the matter but after hearing Mr. Parkers perspective I feel that if properly used it really is fair, he says “if it’s unfair, it’s unfair to everyone equally”. This is a good point; it goes back to an ecojustice perspective we have the ability to make this work but it’s going to take love and caring. This transcript also points out that integrated towns have not problem existing, parents and kids get along just fine. The problems between kids are not racial but simply normal kid problems.

Mr. GARY FEINERMAN (Attorney): The parents did not give Forest Grove School District notice that they were going to do so and did not give the school district an opportunity to evaluate the student for eligibility under the special education law.

ABRAMSON: But yesterday the Supreme Court said the suit can go ahead. In a 6-3 decision the court said parents who move students on their own can sue for private tuition payments. The question now is, will parents rush to place their kids in private schools and then ask public schools to pay? Supreme Court Rules On Special Education Case

This to me is insane, it can be crippling to a school. We live in a sue happy culture and it can be nothing but frustrating and suck up school funds. Money would need to be spent on lawyers and if they lose the case then they need to pay out every month. Things need to be kept in perspective, this started because the parents feel that the services were not good enough…so the solution is to pull money out of the school…this not only affects the child but the rest of the school based on one child…a child that no longer attends the school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._board

I decided to write about the background because I have yet to fully wrap my head around Brown v. board. The wiki page helped to tie things together, for example I knew about Plessy v. fergurson but I  didn’t understand how it stood against the 14th amendment. When Brown v. board came around it was a whole new war on race. This should be an example of what we can expect in the future if real change is to take place. From separate but equal to eliminating racism and now, fighting micro racisms.