Monday, March 31, 2014

Education: Funding and Prejudice

We are back at it again.  These are pretty inetersting postings and comments.

MinnPost Mpls Data Teachers Raise Resource Equity Questions
MinnPost It's time for a paradigm shift in public education

Thoughts?

3 comments:

John said...

I fixed the 2nd link...

jerrye92002 said...

"...an inequitable allocation of resources, such as schools in more affluent communities receiving a disproportionate share of monies..."

With this and the "harsh, punitive approaches to minor disciplinary infractions, leading to excess suspensions, arrests and administrative transfers of children of color, and particularly African-American boys" identified as symptoms of the "institutionalized racism" of our public schools, I find that her desire for a "paradigm shift" correct but unlikely to happen. She does hint at the solution, however, of "treating kids and parents as clients to be served." You do that with school choice, of course, thus getting rid of most of the hidebound rules keeping most schools from making that "paradigm shift."

jerrye92002 said...

Just to be clear, she may have the "soft bigotry of low expectations" part correct, but to say that predominantly black, inner city schools get less funding is just incorrect. In fact, it's about 2:1 the other way around. And no discipline policy I know specifies that "children of color" be treated any differently; it is the behavior that gets a kid "in trouble." That this is disproportionately vested in one race of student ought to be addressed in other ways, that promote better behavior, rather than punished.