I will not discriminate
Last semester, a student found a statement of fact offensive. It made her mad. She went to complain that such a horrible thing was said. “Do you know that on average blacks have a lower IQ than whites? Yes, have you noticed that? It’s true.” It’s true. It is true so how is that racist? Of course it should make her mad. It should make anyone mad. Mad because it is true, and it is a problem. How can we fix this?
In Massachusetts all high school students must pass Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam in order to graduate. The newspaper Education Week , among other newspapers , reported that several families of minority students have brought a law suit against the school department because the test is unfair. Between sophomore and senior year, each student has five chances to pass. The test measures basic competency in math and English, and was instituted in 1993 as part of a major education reform act developed by the Massachusetts legislature.
The families in Massachusetts argue that the test is unfair to minorities. Given, 44 percent of the black seniors have yet to pass the test, and nearly half of Hispanic students. But, isn’t decrying the test as unfair insulting to their own children? What makes white kids so much different? Why didn’t they print percentage of white seniors that have not passed yet in the paper? Education Week reported that the tests have shown an overall increase in results. On the 2002 exams, a record 86 percent of 10th graders passed the English test and 75 percent the math test on their first tries.
Two years ago a federal judge ruled a similar exit exam in Texas was not discriminatory and helped identify struggling students for extra attention.
Perhaps I don’t understand because I grew up a white kid. Maybe I don’t get it because my neighborhood friend Mike was an incredibly bright kid , and he was black. He was a math whiz. On speed tests, he always finished first, always got the gold star.
So then, perhaps it is not color of skin or nation of origin. Perhaps it is income. It seemed like many of the lesser-off kids did not do as well as Mike or I. Perhaps many of the kids that do poorly on the first attempt at the MCAS come from families of a lower income bracket.
Yet, we all go to the same schools. We all sit in the same class. How does color or income make the difference? Maybe it is perception. Maybe people figure that they are poor, so they can’t afford college, so why bother trying in school? They will just get a crappy job like mom or dad and be poor, too. Studies show that many minorities do not do as well on tests, so maybe they think they are not supposed to. Maybe they don’t try as hard because they are afraid of the inevitable defeat.
Those possibilities are infinitely frustrating. Perhaps I am reaching and they are entirely inaccurate, but I don’t know. It seems no one knows because the problem still exists and I think dumbing down the tests will not improve the situation. Take Secretary of State Colin Powell, for instance. He was a black child from a poor neighborhood who worked hard to get where he is today: one of the most powerful men in the United States. I wonder if the black kid who sat next to him in class is now a middle aged man blaming his beginnings for his cruddy job and lack of opportunity in a white man’s world.
Academic Freedom
Much of the recent controversy concerning the investigation into Prof. Broida’s teaching methods was over academic freedom. However, Provost Joseph Wood says there is more to this case than just this concept of this freedom.
” As I have expressed to many faculty members, I remain concerned that the situation has been framed too simply as one of academic freedom. Academic freedom, as defined in the faculty contract and supported by considerable case law carries with it academic responsibility to students and to the University. My concern is that we should avoid invoking academic freedom to defend or justify actions that might be deemed irresponsible under the very definition of academic freedom,” he said.
Academic freedom is linked to other freedoms, such as freedom of speech. Provost Wood called Broida’s remarks “dumb, stupid” and “offensive.” Is this not potentially irresponsible, resulting in $7,000 in payoff? Wood did apologize with a letter printed in the Oct. 1 Portland Press Herald, much to the outrage of the original complainant Rachel Morales.
I do commend the University in all of this for keeping her identity confidential to all outside parties, including Prof. Broida. He learned her name with the rest of us reading the Press Herald.