Separate but equal may have referred to segregated schools but what about testing results? Burton Wire contributor Alton C. Strange writes that in the Southern states of Virginia and Florida, students are expected to perform according to their ethnicity, but why, he wonders, isn't anyone up in arms?
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.
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?
Read Alton C. Strange's entire piece at the Burton Wire.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.