It's The Arbitrary EXCLUSION Of Black Children From Special Ed That Would Be Racist
And idiotic and just plain awful: Denying black children the programs they need simply because of the numbers -- because they are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special ed than children of other races.
Critics claim that this high number reflects racial bias in the schools.
Education researchers Paul L. Morgan and George Farkas explain in The New York Times that this is not the case. In fact:
Our new research suggests just the opposite. The real problem is that black children are underrepresented in special-education classes when compared with white children with similar levels of academic achievement, behavior and family economic resources.The belief that black children are overrepresented in special education is driving some misguided attempts at policy changes. To flag supposed racial bias in special-education placement, the United States Department of Education is thinking of adopting a single standard for all states of what is an allowable amount of overrepresentation of minority children.
If well-intentioned but misguided advocates succeed in arbitrarily limiting placement in special education based on racial demographics, even more black children with disabilities will miss out on beneficial services.
...The last thing we need is to compound these widespread disparities in disability diagnosis and treatment by making school officials reluctant to refer black children for special-education eligibility evaluations out of fear of being labeled racially biased.
Nobody ever, ever wants to look at a huge cause of black poverty and the psychological and social problems that ensue: Black women in huge numbers (perhaps 70 percent) having children with no daddy in the picture.
via @redcirclearmy
I've got no numbers to back me up, but I'm going to bet that black children are 1.4 times (or more) more likely to have been exposed to drugs in the womb. That right there would explain a higher percentage of kids needing extra help.
Whatever the reason, pretending black kids-or ANY kids-that need help, don't, is far more discriminatory and harmful than putting them where they can get the help they need.
momof4 at June 25, 2015 8:00 AM
It's truly terrible, momof4.
Also, a single mom is going to have less time and energy to to spend on fighting for her kid's schooling. My mom, who was a married SAHM, went to school numerous times to push for things in regard to my schooling.
Amy Alkon at June 25, 2015 10:01 AM
Not too far off topic; but, Trayvon Martin was caught with stolen property and because of his being black and the PC attitude they decided to call it "found" property.
Now, what if, just IF, they came down hard on him - maybe he would have not gotten himself into a fight with a man with a gun.
Maybe someone would have helped him to turn his life around. He clearly needed help and didn't get it.
just saying . . .
charles at June 25, 2015 2:51 PM
"And idiotic and just plain awful: Denying black children the programs they need simply because of the numbers -- because they are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special ed than children of other races."
The entire country is talking about the elephant without mentioning the elephant.
"Programs they need"? Who says - and why? We have countless other racial and ethnic groups receiving far fewer handouts and we have little if anything to show for it except failures and continuing bias.
We turn our head at the idea that as a class, Asians and Jews are dominating academic performance venues in real market competition - because, if we ever were honest about that, certain people from a continent they have never seen, which is bigger than Australia, North America and Europe combined, could be seen as a class to fail by comparison.
Radwaste at June 25, 2015 3:23 PM
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