> When school districts get rid of advanced offerings in a bid to reduce racial inequality, they end up doing to opposite of what they claim to intend. While wealthier families can move to better school districts or enroll their children in private schools, smart—yet poor—kids end up getting stuck in "equitable" classrooms that leave them under-stimulated and ignored.
I hope the education system pushes for more students in under represented groups to partake in advanced offerings instead of getting rid of them. In my ideal, the school system should strive to help all students push their intellectual ability. Moreover, school sports and extracurriculars are great places to push for greater diversity since they tend to lack under represented groups.
That’s basically what the SPS says they are doing, by embedding gifted programs in every classroom rather than separating gifted kids out into different classrooms. We will see how it works, but I don’t see how one teacher is going to handle gifted, normal, and special needs kids all at the same time. It sounds futile to me, but we will see. My kid is just 7 in a north Seattle public K-8, and I’m not sure where he is going to be on that spectrum yet, I’ll re-evaluate around 6th grade to see if I have to put him into private school or not.
I went through the Seattle program back in the days of the dinosaurs. You can “push for” anything you want, but those groups aren’t excluded, and in fact are sought after. A key problem is that nobody wants their child to be the lone minority in a class full of kids they can’t connect with socially.
All this bloviating by commentators is just chickens and pigs all over again. Much as those on the outside would like to wring their hands and describe high-minded ideals, the parents and children who are most affected by the situation are making rational choices.
But the optics are bad, really bad, and the reality on the ground is bad too. Go see who sits with whom in the lunchroom.
I hope the education system pushes for more students in under represented groups to partake in advanced offerings instead of getting rid of them. In my ideal, the school system should strive to help all students push their intellectual ability. Moreover, school sports and extracurriculars are great places to push for greater diversity since they tend to lack under represented groups.