Who gets into school?
 |
| When assigning kids to schools, is it fair to consider the color of your child's skin? |
A Seattle controversy is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. Six years ago, Seattle schools used what's called a "racial tiebreaker" to decide which kids got into certain schools. Parents challenged the policy in court, saying it's unfair to consider the color of a child's skin when assigning schools. Parents say there's an expectation that your child should be able to attend the neighborhood school down the block--not bused across town based on skin color.
But the district has spent $325,000 so far on legal fees to make its case--that it needs some kind of tool to assure diversity in schools. Without mandatory busing and a push for neighborhood schools, districts across the country are searching for ways to keep schools from becoming too segregated. Is a racial tiebreaker a fair policy in the name of diversity? How do you balance the parents' demand to have their kids attend neighborhood schools with the fact that some neighborhoods remain fairly segregated by race and income? |
KING 5 News Up Front with Robert Mak EVERY SUNDAY: THE ISSUES THAT MATTER KING-5 @ 4:30 p.m. NWCN @ 8:00 p.m. KONG-TV @ 10:30 p.m. |
Comments
What a joke! If this was mostly african american children or what ever other "children of color" being bussed around miles out of the way...there would be a open-shut case of discrimination! The way this country is going it is all the white folks who are becoming the minority!
Posted by: Dori C. | June 11, 2006 11:05 PM
There are more foreign born students excelling
in and getting Math and Science degrees than there are Americans.
(NSF.GOV (National Science Foundation) -
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/pdf/c02.pdf)
Teachers are being hired from overseas to fill
teacher shortages:
Filling The Classroom Void
U.S. Schools Are Recruiting Foreign Teachers To Fill Shortages
(CBS News)
Tutoring in Math and Science is being outsourced
to India:
Tutoring for homework offered from world away
Amit R. Paley
Washington Post
Jun. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
We have a president who would rather politicize
and moralize science (Plan B / Global Warming / Intelligent Design) rather than support or encourage
science education at either the elementary or
college level.
And we are concerned about who learns where?
How about this:
Regardless of WHERE children learn, how do we
ensure that they are getting the kind of education
that will allow America to continue to be competitive, if not dominant, in a world in which
the lion's share of cutting edge technology may
just be developed OUTSIDE rather than within our
borders if current international comparative educational outcomes are any indication?
I submit it is NOT where our children are being
educated but, the quality of their education that
matters most.
How do we raise that bar for ALL children regardless of their location?
Posted by: Mike | June 12, 2006 12:32 AM