MinnPost Video attacking equity efforts inflames racial controversy in Eastern Carver Co. Schools
Apparently Sean's schools are facing the same challenges as mine... What to do when lucky kids with two great English speaking successful parents do well in school, and unlucky kids with a less strong support system struggle?
Here is the Alpha News video being discussed.
SW News ROAR involves Ellison
East Carver Schools Equity Page
ECCS Achievement and Integration Plan
And they are into PBIS also... Oh my...
I keep hearing non-teachers complaining about funding, however it sounds like the biggest problem in the classroom is "what to do with really disruptive kids"... It seems that these districts in the name of "Equity and PBIS" are not removing the kids that actually put the teachers and other students at risk because they are worried about the race based statistics being different between groups.
It is a little amusing watching this highly affluent mostly white district have these arguments. I think all of them should be thankful for their demographics and great schools. :-)
ECCS vs RDale MN DOE Report Card
Apparently Sean's schools are facing the same challenges as mine... What to do when lucky kids with two great English speaking successful parents do well in school, and unlucky kids with a less strong support system struggle?
Here is the Alpha News video being discussed.
SW News ROAR involves Ellison
East Carver Schools Equity Page
ECCS Achievement and Integration Plan
And they are into PBIS also... Oh my...
I keep hearing non-teachers complaining about funding, however it sounds like the biggest problem in the classroom is "what to do with really disruptive kids"... It seems that these districts in the name of "Equity and PBIS" are not removing the kids that actually put the teachers and other students at risk because they are worried about the race based statistics being different between groups.
It is a little amusing watching this highly affluent mostly white district have these arguments. I think all of them should be thankful for their demographics and great schools. :-)
ECCS vs RDale MN DOE Report Card
56 comments:
very interesting topic. The video views and production (scary music included throughout) made me curious about alpha news. I googled them and found this:
media bias fact check
which is what I expected regarding bias.
next I am going to google racism at Chaska High and refresh my memory as to how bad were the incidents.
I am now using the computer that won't allow me to create a hyperlink so here is a link to an overview of racist incidents and the lawsuit:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/09/04/lawsuit-alleges-suburban-school-district-allowed-racist-behavior
"And they are into PBIS also... Oh my..." you are not opposed to PBIS are you?
actually, you have taken an interesting topic about racism and equity and turned it into the same old, sameol topic about what to do with the disruptive students, while assuming most of the disruptive students are black.
No. Actually I think most of the disruptive children come from poor, single parent and/or other high risk home environments.
Their skin color should not determine how they are treated or punished.
Unfortunately these “equity” programs are designed around making sure race is factor in how a child is treated.
All the statistics must match whether they should or not.
What do you think...
Should a Black boy get a lesser punishment for doing the same behavior just because to do otherwise may be politically unacceptable?
Illustrating Equality VS Equity (a picture is worth 1000 words)
https://interactioninstitute.org/illustrating-equality-vs-equity/
about
"Should a Black boy get a lesser punishment for doing the same behavior just because to do otherwise may be politically unacceptable?"
discipline is subjective and of us have a racial bias. The teacher/principal might think they are being fair and equal in their punishments but treat a black child more harshly. Right now I do not feel motivated to dig up the research on this, maybe later.
Isn't this topic supposed to be about how the school/district should respond to racist students.
As long as we are off on a tangent on equity, I will introduce another tangent related to discipline which is trauma-informed schools. My district is working to adopt this approach this year and become trauma-informed schools
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/October-2018/Trauma-Informed-Schools
Teaching Trauma in the classroom
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/7f907f_8d02c5db4f7d4428a5d7d7b8f8cf7a68.pdf
Laurie,
Now I think the title of this post is ECCS Equity Strife... :-)
According to your equity picture, you want the schools to do more for the kids from dysfunctional homes.
And success is when they all can see over the wall.
How many resources should be transferred from the normal kids to make this happen?
How much distribution to their class time?
That was supposed to read...
How much “disruption”??? :-)
Please remember from the inner city lessons learned...
People who can move will move if you don’t take care of their kids.
And the money follows the kids.
Your comments in this post seem to have little to do with Equity strife. I wonder what it is about the word equity that some people find so scary or upsetting.
Reimagine Minnesota seems like a worthwhile effort.
https://www.amsd.org/reimagineminnesota2018/
To quote Paul Wellstone, "we all do better when we all do better." Education is not a zero-sum effort. Some students can get more support while other students can continue to have their needs met and achieve at a high level. It is in the interest of all to raise the level of achievement of all students to have a qualified workforce in the twin cities and in MN.
As a parent do you raise your kids with the idea of equality or equity? What if one has special needs?
Unfortunately funding is limited, so it is a fixed sum game. The question then is where do you spend that money and on what resources?
What is the benefit if 25 focused children are distracted to keep 2 kids in the classroom?
How much funding would it take for your school to compensate for the issues in their home life?
Is that a school’s responsibility?
Are teacher’s responsible for succeeding where the parent(s) are failing?
And are they to sacrifice the other kids in the school?
Schools funding can be increased. It would not take that much money to give the 2 students the support they need to stay in the class. What would you do with the 2 students who need more support? expel them?
I am not sure. But it sure would involve forcing the parent(s) to step up. Not allowing them that likely created the problem to blame the school, teachers and other students for their troubled child.
Or allowing those kids to wreck the classroom environment for the majority.
Since funding will not change much, what do recommended?
"forcing the parent(s) to step up." How does one do that? It seems that your only solutions are repeated suspensions or expulsion.
I recommend better teacher training and more behavior intervention specialists.
Also, you ignored my question - would you practice equity in your family if you had a child with special needs or would you treat your children equally?
Why are you opposed to equity?
Please remember that I have a much more far reaching plan to ensure that all children have qualified parent(s) and to ensure they are ready for kindergarten.
So where again is the funding for all that training and all those PBI specialists coming from.
Now I am not sure why you are focusing on kids with special needs, however if I did have a special needs child I would not sacrifice my other children's welfare in hopes that the special needs child would have equity with them.
Short changing 2 or 25 children for equity... Why are you for this?
I agree that there is a balance point...
It wouldn't cost that much to have additional support for more challenging students. I think it would be most fair for the state to provide additional funding, as some districts have a low property base.
Your comments indicate that you favor treating children equally rather than equitably, as your concern is for the children that have lesser needs losing out.
about "Shortchanging 2 or 25 children for equity... Why are you for this?" I have never argued for shortchanging students. Here is the explanation in words rather than pictures: Equity is giving EVERYONE what they need to be successful.
Equity and equality are two strategies we can use in an effort to produce fairness. Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the same. Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help.
Here is an example of equity in a family I know:
Oldest nondisabled child: parents paid for 4 years of college and now grad school
middle autistic child: parents paid for a two year degree at a technical college
youngest autistic child: parents paid for community college and now the mother has moved to LaCrosse with her son to help him complete a 4-year degree.
These kids have been treated equitably not equally. Oldest child lives independently, middle child lives at home.
By the way, please remember the information I posted regarding ECCS. Every child and adult in that district is blessed to be in a low poverty district and should be thankful for that.
Their district demographics are less challenging and diverse than that of Robbinsdale's easiest local area elementary. We wish we had their challenges...
We treat all of our children differently based on their needs.
But we do not sacrifice one for the other.
Please remember that you started asking for money again.
History has shown that more money has not improved outcomes... :-(
With each funding increase more is spent, but results stay about the same.
Something has to change in the system, not just throwing more money and hoping/
Robbinsdale schools should receive a higher level of funding from the state or federal govt than ECCS schools.
of course more $ helps. Also, you are very stuck on the idea that equity involves sacrifice by the child with lesser needs, which it does not. Equity is giving EVERYONE what they need to be successful.
about:
"We treat all of our children differently based on their needs.
But we do not sacrifice one for the other."
You have sufficient money to meet the needs of all your children without sacrifice by anyone. Schools could do this as well.
http://neatoday.org/2018/08/01/money-matters-in-education/
That is one scary video.
Molly
The video could be labeled scary by both the left and the right for very different reasons.
MPR Lawsuit alleges racist behavior
Equality vs Equity Diagram
Teaching in Classroom
Money Matters in Education
https://2lffqo2moysixpyb349z0bj6-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Thinking-MN-Issue-9-Fall17-52p-Optimized.pdf
This is a link to an article in the magazine Thinking Mn about what is happening in Edina schools regarding equity policies.
Molly
Okay I am back home from the La Crosse Oktoberfest, it was a good time. :-)
Per the lawsuit it looks like there are some racists kids out in the country... Not sure why the parent(s) are suing the school district for...
"The plaintiffs are seeking awards for punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial, and further relief as the court deems just and equitable.
“They’re seeking acknowledgment of the harm that they have suffered, that their kids have suffered after being in a district where they are experiencing discrimination and bias, and that is a result of what they look like,” Prakash said."
I mean it sure looks like the district is trying to become racially sensitive quickly.
What is Happening in Edina
Laurie,
I do agree with your source.
"In Baker’s analysis, sustained improvements to level and distribution of funding across local public school districts led to improvement in level and distribution of student outcomes. While funding alone cannot provide improved learning outcomes, it provides an underlying condition that makes them possible.
Schools in high poverty neighborhoods, in particular, need additional funding to help students succeed.
“As poverty increases, costs of achieving any level of outcomes increases significantly,” the report states.
And yet, high poverty students aren’t getting the necessary funding. In fact, in most areas, high wealth areas get significantly more funding.
Baker looks at finance reforms in several states that led to a comparatively more equitable distribution system, increased revenues for schools in high poverty areas, and improved student outcomes.
“Our nation’s economy depends on a well-educated, high-quality workforce and that means investing in all students,” says Darling-Hammond. “Investments in these students are investments in their future and ours. If we don’t ensure they have the quality schools that their wealthier peers have, we deny far too many of them the opportunity to succeed and to contribute to society.”"
Laurie,
And in MN we do a pretty good job of making sure the districts with more poor kids get more money.
However until the Teacher's Union changes their policies I am in no hurry to give districts a significant funding bump.
Molly,
I think there are unfortunately some really disturbed racist Conservatives out there who are just as wrong as the Liberal Left apologists... They are happy to create publications that turn mole hills into mountains... Just as these people who are suing ECCS for money and "equity".
My advice is to trust no one on the Far Right or Far Left and to do your own research.
Edina District Demographics
Edina Scores vs Wayzata
Yeah Edina still looks rich and white... I am not worried for those kids.
Edina Equity Page
Molly,
So we know that Laurie wants to prioritize school funding to make up for the children who have screwed up, poor, irresponsible and/or negligent parent(s). She seems to think that it is the school's / teacher's job to ensure all kids graduate high school with about the same level of academic competency. (or at least so they can all see over the fence)
Now I agree that is an admirable goal however I think we need to start earlier and put a lot of the effort into the parent(s) and using school and social services effectively.
What do you propose? Or are you okay with MN having the largest academic achievement gap of any state in the union? Thoughts?
Laurie,
Yes Robbinsdale gets some extra funding to help with it's higher poverty and special ed demographics. Unfortunately I personally do not think schools can undo the damage done and bad habits built when the kids spend the first 5 years with questionable parent(s).
Especially when those kids are moved around a lot and subjected to a lot of stress for the whole 18 years...
Schools can not compensate for poor parent(s)...
Schools can make a big difference to children that have experienced less than ideal conditions at home, they just need the resources to do it.
I also am in favor of quality early childhood education for all.
I also hope Molly does not rely solely on far-right sources for news and opinion or that she would comment more, as I know so few people with that viewpoint. This blog is really the only contact I have with people with far-right views.
As Jerry will happily remind you...
Mpls and St Paul are 2 of the best funded schools in the state and their results are poor.
I don’t have a problem with giving students with special needs or students that need extra help more resources. But I don’t want standards for all students to be lowered so that there are equal outcomes. This thread of comments has a lot of issues packed in to it.
When I watched the video, I was disturbed about the talk from that man who wants to rewrite the history text books. It also sounds like the man wants to bring his religion into the schools. It was just shocking.
I try to get news from a variety of sources but for whatever reason, I feel that most are biased to the left. I get news from TV, talk radio, newspaper, not so much from the internet.
I read a lot of books. One that I just finished is called “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”. It’s about poor white Americans in the Appalachia region of Kentucky.
It’s definitely worth reading to get another point of view of the country. He talks about schooling and how he was one of the lucky ones because of one caring person in his life. He dealt with childhood trauma, and lots of dysfunction in his family that led to anger issues and abuse. Many similar experience that kids struggle with in our community minus the racial issues since he is white. Don’t just read the summary of it online, read the whole book.
Molly
I'm not going to have much to say here, because the video in the question and the discussion above have very little to do with what is actually happening in the district. What's sad about this situation is that a bunch of outside grifters have latched on to a very real issue and turned into something else completely.
John,
I looked at your plan for the war on poverty and I agree with some of your points. There are so many problems with public unions. In robbinsdale school district for example, teachers were told that if they weighed in on the current issues (superintendent, work conditions, etc.) the union could not guarantee that they keep their jobs. I heard this first hand from teachers. Our representatives are not for the teachers either. I went to a townhall meeting where Ann Rest, Carlson and Freiberg and they supported the school board, school administrators but most of all they support anything the teachers union says, they didn’t seem to care about what the teachers had to say.
I agree that kids coming from poverty will need more help in school but dealing with poverty first seems to be better use of our money.
The family and culture kids come from plays a part in their success in school. JD Vance, the author of Hillbilly Elegy talks about how boys were considered sissies If they did well in school. It was manly to beat up people and get in fights. A lot of resources in school won’t help with that attitude.
Mo,ky
Molly,
I think what you are fighting is confirmation bias...
Where you sit in the theater colors your perceptions. That is why some people see me and my blog as "to the Left" or "to the right" depending on where they sit... :-)
A quick check to see if you are being rational or biased may be to consider how your preferred news outlets score.
Sean,
As always, we are happy to have you set us straight.
Molly,
It is highly likely that "the video" is about 20% accurate and 80% inaccurate. It was obviously created by a very biased source who has an agenda.
As for "listening to the teachers"? The reality is that we the citizens choose the school board and they hire a manager / leader. (ie Superintendent) At some point the Teachers simply need to be employees if the organization is going to function and thrive.
I always wonder how schools are supposed to succeed if no one has to follow orders?
Now I agree that the organization needs to be somewhat collaborative and learning in nature, however the folks "in the boat" have to be rowing the same direction. And if employees don't like where the boat is heading... They should probably move to another boat.
Here is a transcript of a talk given by ECCS's Equity Director.
Does it seem truthful or biased?
Please remember the African Americans in America have been subjected to slavery, segregation, red lining, general bias, poor schools, etc. Whereas Caucasian citizens were free, had access to good neighborhoods, had access to beneficial relationships, had access to excellent schools, etc.
Now I am not trying to make White folk feel guilty or convince you to pay reparations. I am just asking you to face reality.
Our families had normal lives and opportunities to succeed, that other did not.
Can you agree with these simple facts? Or are you going to argue that "those people" just did not work hard enough, were wasteful, other?
Now if we can all swallow that harsh dose of history / reality...
Then we can talk about how to help all people going forward.
Sean and Laurie are correct that there apparently is at least one truly active racist kid at ECCS...
What should a district do?
John,
My comments had nothing to do with the East Carver situation. I don’t know the issue there and couldn’t get the link to work that Laurie posted. Sorry about getting off topic.
I watched the questionable video and then was posting comments in regards to Laurie’s comments about wanting to know what I was thinking about schools and equity in general. She had talked about childhood trauma so I brought up the book I just got done reading.
I’ll take a look at your links about confirm bias and news sources.
Is there a link about what the racist kids actually did at the carver schools?
Molly
I've got enough trouble trying to defuse the misinformation here that I don't have the time I would need to get you to understand it.
MPR Lawsuit Alleges Racist Acts
Thanks John, I’m up to speed on the topic, I read the transcript from ECCS’s Equity Director. He has valid points. I’ll have to look into the Critical Race Theory that he is talking about. Maybe there should have been harsher penalties for the students who posted that awful social media post. Or at least they should be told if they do this again that they will be expelled.
Molly
Thought Critical Race Theory
I find this interesting...
"Finally, critics of CRT were suspicious of the movement's tendency to question the existence of an "objective truth." Notions like truth, objectivity, and meritocracy are all challenged by CRT scholars, who point out the often invisible workings of white supremacy, for example, the ways whites have always enjoyed a form of affirmative action within higher education through policies like legacy admissions."
Because when I try to point out some of the good things that enabled someone to be successful... Often their "EGO" rebels at the idea that other people are facing bigger challenges than themselves and that is part of why they were more successful.
The primary difference between my perception is that the Left likes to refer to "White Privilege" where as I prefer to think of our 2 Educated Capable Responsible Parent lives as what should be normal...
And the question then becomes how do we help every US Citizen and Child to get to normal?
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