...of low expectations. Via Powerline, here come the racial bean counters.
The Obama administration's Department of Education has announced that it will crack down on "civil-rights infractions" in public schools, including alleged disparities in the disciplining of white and black students. This means that the administration will identify and investigate situations in which a facially neutral discipline system -- offense X brings punishment Y -- results in blacks being discplined more often than whites. School systems will face the prospect of being punished unless they can explain the disparities, presumably based on a painstaking analysis of each disciplinary decision.
As Roger Clegg points out, the easy way out for schools -- and what school bureaucrat won't prefer the easy way out -- is to make sure the numbers pass muster, i.e., to make discipline decisions based not solely on the merits, but also on the basis of race. And since administrators aren't likely to mete out punishment just to balance the numbers, they will balance them by going easier on black students because they are black.
11 COMMENTS
ADD A COMMENT
VIEW ALL COMMENTS
Carl - Mar 09, 2010 6:30 AM
Bob in Zion - Mar 09, 2010 7:06 AM
Whitefish Bay Mike - Mar 09, 2010 8:23 AM
the hunter - Mar 09, 2010 9:10 AM
VIEW ALL COMMENTS