Tucson Schools create race-based system of discipline!?

[Krista in LA]

I could hardly believe it when I read this article. I just don't know what to say. Perhaps race-based grades will be next?

 

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2009/09/19/20090919maceachern0920.html

[elegantlion]

The words in the story "An invitation to chaos" come to mind. :001_huh:

[readwithem]

With the goal of creating a "restorative school culture and climate" that conveys a "sense of belonging to all students," the board is insisting that its schools reduce its suspensions and/or expulsions of minority students to the point that the data reflect "no ethnic/racial disparities."

:confused: :glare::001_huh: What a bunch of malarky.

[Remudamom]

I think it's a great idea. Anything that brings the ps crashing down is okay by me. I think it's a failed system.

[AuntieM]

I think it's a great idea. Anything that brings the ps crashing down is okay by me. I think it's a failed system.

 

:iagree:

 

Remudamom, you have such a way with words, you always crack me up.

 

 

Unfortunately, somehow I don't think this will bring it crashing down. It will just get accepted by the masses and usher in a new, lower, more ridiculous standard than before.

[Mabelen]

I don't think I can judge anything without reading the facts from the source. Right now the link provided gives somebody's opinion, but no objective facts.

 

If we go to the school district website, this is what it has to say:

 

Restorative Practices in TUSD

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

Contact: Karen Bynum, (520) 225-6060, karen.bynum@tusd1.org

Posted on:</B> September 22, 2009

In a "Viewpoint" in the September 22, 2009, edition of the Arizona Republic, Doug MacEachern states that, in its Post Unitary Status Plan, the TUSD School Board is "calling for a two-tiered form of student discipline. One for Black and Hispanic students; one for everyone else." This is not an accurate representation of Restorative Practices in our district referenced in the district's Post Unitary Status Plan.

There is nothing in this plan that would call for a separate discipline system based on race. The goal is to apply the discipline policies and practices equitably to all students.

TUSD has learned that Doug MacEachern from the Arizona Republic attempted to contact TUSD Governing Board members before writing his Viewpoint article. To our knowledge, however, he did not speak with any TUSD staff member regarding the district's discipline policies for this article.

TUSD requests that Mr. MacEachern retract the inaccurate characterization of TUSD's student discipline policies.

 

 

Regardless of what the real facts are, I am not for having two different standards of discipline, but I do recognize that different population segments have different cultures, culture influences behavior, so maybe all they are trying to do is find more effective methods of discipline for those cultural groups.

[stripe]

I think the goal of having no significant racial disparity in discipline issues is a nice goal. Just like I wish such a large segment of certain populations weren't imprisoned and didn't drop out in such large numbers. I wish all people in this country and others would succeed in their lives. It is a really complex problem; I am not sure anyone is prepared to address the issue seriously.

[Remudamom]

 

 

Unfortunately, somehow I don't think this will bring it crashing down. It will just get accepted by the masses and usher in a new, lower, more ridiculous standard than before.

 

Yep, I don't think it'll crash it either, but I still think that PS is an idea that's been through the horse.

[AuntieM]

...been through the horse.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I've GOT to remember that one!!!

[JennC]

 

Should my kids be treated differently because their father grew up in Asia or does that not count because he only has the cultural differences, not the skin color?

 

Trying to put people in boxes is a messy business.

 

Equal opportunity is not the same as equal results.

 

Equal opportunity : follow the rules or don't.

Equal results : all children who disobey the rules receive the exact same punishment.

Why perpetuate a victim class?

 

Obviously I know nothing more than has been shared here about the Tucson school system, but that is my view in general.

 

an idea that's been through the horse.

 

:lol:so stealing this

[Remudamom]

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I've GOT to remember that one!!!

 

Got that one from my Amish buddies.

[AuntPol]

Heck, our old school (in Wake County NC) have had this in place for years. They just don't advertise it.

[texascamps]

I remember when I was in 5th and 6th grade I was bussed to a minority school. It was a poor area of town. We were actually lower middle class but mostly white. If one of the bussed kids cursed or acted inappropriately the teachers would send us to the principal or send a note home, if it happened to one of the neighborhood kids, they would let it go. Only if it was an offense like hitting would they get the same treatment.

 

My best friend, who was much bolder than I, eventually asked our teacher why this was.

 

She said that it was their "culture" and they weren't going to interfere and it would be racist to try and make them like us. One of my teachers was black.

 

It was two years of the strangest classrooms I've ever seen... Talk about a dividing line that couldn't be crossed.....The neighborhood kids were allowed to bring their boom boxes for "break" and do dirty dancing in the back of the school room. We basically sat in our seats in little circles for break...I didn't even own a boom box. Once again, the teachers said it was a culture issue.

 

I couldn't believe it, since all my life my parents said all people were alike but at school we were treated differently.

 

Now I look at those years and that behavior as one of the biggest most backward injustices to that neighborhood that ever could have happened.

 

What sociologist was behind that?

 

 

That being said......because there may be a perception of injustice if the principal is white or black or hispanic and the student is different, maybe they are trying to eliminate that variable as an excuse not to punish severely to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

 

Maybe not such a bad plan, especially if they include parents, though it seems like we may be heading into segregation again if this becomes the new norm.

 

What do you think?

[tex-mex]

Oh my stars... :blink:

Sounds like a county multicultural committee I once had to serve on. :confused:

[5kidsforME]

Heck, our old school (in Wake County NC) have had this in place for years. They just don't advertise it.

 

Can you show me a link? I know people that have kids in Wake County schools.

[Laurie4b]

I could hardly believe it when I read this article. I just don't know what to say. Perhaps race-based grades will be next?

 

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2009/09/19/20090919maceachern0920.html

 

I think that is the opinion of the guy who wrote the piece. I don't really see that the conclusion necessarily follows. They didn't say that there would be racial disparity in punishments. They did say that they wanted a school environment in which there was not disproportional representation of certain groups in the "punished" category. There are reasonable ways to interpret the intent: 1) People do view people differently because of race/ethnicity. Heck, people view people more negatively if they are overweight or not pretty. They may want to be sure that they are doing what they can to prevent that kind of unconscious bias in those administering discipline. One might think this doesn't happen, but it does. I used to substitute teach. Once, I sent a little white girl down to the principal for smarting off at me. N-o-t-h-i-n-g happened. That was not true of other kids who got sent down. The principal gave me some cockamamy line about what a nice girls she was. No--she was incredibly disrespectful. 2) If certain ethnic groups disproportionately offend, one can also ask why that is true and try to address it. For instance, is there income disparity? Do kids in each ethnic group feel the same sense of "belonging?" Are there cultural differences in interaction that make the classroom setting "closer to home" for one group than for another? I think these kinds of questions are very reasonable to ask. If this is the thinking behind the proposal, I would be supportive of it.

 

OTOH, of course, I don't think the same kid doing the same thing should get different treatment because of race. But I'm not at all sure that's what the actual policy was stating--it is what the commentator implied, however.