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Smart List: 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
With regard to the NY Times story on racial disparities in school discipline rates (suspensions and expulsions), I agree with many of the commenters on the Times’ website, who note that the disparities themselves, without any other information, tell us less than nothing about the problem. It may be that the rates of suspensions and expulsions neatly track the rates of problem behavior, which (for whatever reason) are more prevalant among some student groups than others.
From my experience as a former teacher, the bigger problem is not unfair punishment of the offenders (if it exists to any large extent), but the significant negative impact that seriously behaving students have on the education of the other students in their classrooms.
Correction: The last portion should read: “…that seriously misbehaving students have on the education of the other students in their classrooms.”
Yes, the comments on this New York Times story show that ordinary Americans have good common sense, and in the end that is what will save us from this nonsensical “reform.”
How about the research showing that minority principals suspend minority students or refer minority students to police at the same or higher rates than white principals? Seems like strong evidence that the disparate impact is attributable to differences in minority student behavior rather than discrimination — or do we think that the black inner-city school principals are racial bigots?