The Founding of Our Country and its Legacy

My girlfriend is taking an American History course. Her coursework, from time to time, causes me to think about the world differently.  This most recent occurrence was fueled by the Andrew Jackson's 1830 State of the Union Address.  In this address, President Jackson states "It is, therefore, a duty which this Government owes to the new States to extinguish as soon as possible the Indian title to all lands which Congress themselves have included within their limits."

This singular statement, coupled with conversations we've had about eminent domain, made me think about how many generations and various groups of people have been oppressed and impacted by the greed of the majority.  It feels like constant "I want more", no matter how much I have.

It is also the "we're better than you" thought process that has suppress and oppress others.  There was no basis for this other than the physical appearance of being different.  The consequences, however, have wrecked generations of "others".

As we move forward, we must acknowledge that while the bulk of the current majority population is not responsible for the acts of their forefathers and doesn't even share their views, there are lasting ramifications that must be recognized and addressed, from the removal of native populations to the physical oppression of forced immigrants,  we've all been touched by actions that occurred hundreds of years ago.




Read more:
State of the Union Address: Andrew Jackson (December 6, 1830) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/t/hist/state-of-the-union/42.html#ixzz2BjjVOyaY

Educational Achievement and Disparity

According to Dr. Strange, the Board of Education in  Florida passed standards that mandate that "1) 90% of Asian students, 88% white students, 81% if Hispanic students & 74% of “black” students are to be reading at or above grade level.  2), 86% of white students, 92% of Asian students, 80% of Hispanic students and 74% of black students are to be at or above their grade level in math" by 2018.

At first glance, I had a guttural opposition to this policy passed on its differentiation of expectations based on race.  How dare they make a different (lower) standard for students based solely on their race or ethnicity?  As I read several reviews and comments, they expressed dismay over expecting less from one group than is expected from another group.  One school official was concerned that having different standards sends the message that different races have different abilities to learn - which if you follow the logic means that black and Hispanic people are less able to learn because we have lower expectations for them.  Race can be a very personal thing - how with school administrations group students from more than one race or ethnicity?

And then I stopped and really thought about some things, as reading the blog  and the Huffington Post articles left we with questions.  My initial question was what is the baseline for each race - how are they performing now and historically?  After looking at some data, I was even more disturbed, but for a different reason.  According to data readily available on the Florida State Education website: 

	% at/above grade level 2011		Mandate		Difference
	Reading	Math	Reading	Math	Reading	Math
White	73	78	88	86	15	8
Black	44	51	74	74	30	23
Hispanic	59	66	81	80	21	14
Asian	78	88	91	92	13	4

I agree that it sends the wrong message to black and Hispanic students to set a standard for them as a group, that is lower than other races, but what message do we send when we make the standard the same for everyone and then black and Hispanic student averages trail by the degree that they do?  I also wonder how they came up with the standards they did set.   Having written a few grants that require a number to be set for an objective, sometimes its a gut feeling based on data.  I don't know what this is.  

Another question this all raised is the historical and social context that leads to these differences in performance.  What's being done about that? How, with the way our education systems and policies change with various political administrations, can real growth ever be made? The ultimate goal should be realistic incremental progress with all groups  eventually passing at 95 - 100%.   If we fail to address the social issues that perpetuate the different outcomes of various races and classes, the standards don't matter.  The standard could be 95% across the board, but it will not be met until we live in a world where all students have the same opportunity to learn from the beginning of their lives, without worrying if they'll get a meal that evening.  

What about Socioeconomic status?  Clearly, since they also set different standards for students with disabilities,  students who are English language learners, and low-income students, it shows that they recognize that there are conditions which make students perform differently on standardized tests.  Would a better policy not be to look at median income of the community the school serves, and set a benchmark based on the current performance of various quartiles? I don't know how difficult this would be from a bureaucracy standpoint, but it seems to me, that in a world where we are trying to get rid of affirmative action because its "not necessary" or "unfair" (unfair to whom), the disparities in performance begs to differ.  Until we can give all kids the same opportunities from birth, this isn't going to change and highlighting race presents as a double edged sword.  

I think, in the end, I'm not so upset with the idea of setting different standards for different groups, as long as its based on historical performance  and reasonable expectations of growth with the ultimate goal being that everyone perform equally.  (Don't get me wrong, it bothers me).  I am, however, upset at the lack of acknowledgement of why there is a difference in the performance of different groups  and that difference is not an innate cognitive difference, but generations upon generations of differential treatment that has conspired to bring us to where we are today.   

Just my $.02, thanks for reading.

For various views  and other thoughts:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/echoing-virginia-florida-_n_1959151.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/american-schools-still-he_n_1901583.html
http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/default.asp

The inspiration for this blog

It's November 2012, and it's election time.

We are bombarded with vote yes on this, vote no on that, vote for this person, don't vote for that person. I see a commercial for one position on a ballot question during one commercial break and then see a different commercial against the same ballot question during the next commercial break. And they both use the same policy report as reference.

The hate speech against Question 4 (The DREAM Act) and Question 6 (Marriage Equality Referndum) disturbs me to my soul. More on this later.

An then, I came across this blog about Achievement Scores.  And this made me really think about my future in Public Policy.  I am really disturbed by inequality, in any form, racial and socioeconomic, in particular.  I have some thoughts about the policies discussed in the blog that I will share in a later entry.

Lastly, please be mindful that these are my individual thoughts, the thoughts, and opinions of Corris PA Davis, only.  Not Corris the TRIO staffer, or Corris, the board member of any board I may be a member of, but Corris, the black woman who grew up in West Baltimore and has come to see the world in my own way.  Thanks for reading.