Why Diversity in our Schools?" Please respond to the following:
- Review the article titled "Florida Passes Plan for Racially-Based Academic Goals". Next, argue for or against Florida's plan to alter academic goals for students based on their race answering the following questions:
- Why would Florida pass this plan?
- Do you think that other states will begin to follow suit?
- Provide a rationale and support for your position and support it with scholarly research. Cite your sources using in-text citations and references. Be careful of plagiarism.
- Respond to at least one other student with a scholarly response that reflects your critical analysis of their post. Be as specific as possible in your response to your classmate's post.
Florida Passes Plan For Racially-Based Academic Goals
October 12, 2012 11:32 AMFiled Under: Florida State Board of Education, John F. Kennedy Middle School, Palm Beach County, Palm Beach Post, Trending
Pupils listen to their teacher at the Guist'hau's high school on September 4, 2012, for an early start of the new school year in Nantes western France. AFP PHOTO FRANK PERRY (Photo credit should read FRANK PERRY/AFP/GettyImages)The Florida state Board of Education passed a controversial plan to set reading and math goals based upon race. (Photo credit should read FRANK PERRY/AFP/GettyImages)
Palm Beach, Fla. (CBS TAMPA) — The Florida State Board of Educationpassed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race.
On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.
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The plan has infuriated many community activists in Palm Beach County and across the state.
“To expect less from one demographic and more from another is just a little off-base,” Juan Lopez, magnet coordinator at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Riviera Beach, told the Palm Beach Post.
JFK Middle has a black student population of about 88 percent.
“Our kids, although they come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, they still have the ability to learn,” Lopez said. “To dumb down the expectations for one group, that seems a little unfair.”
Others in the community agreed with Lopez’s assessment. But the Florida Department of Education said the goals recognize that not every group is starting from the same point and are meant to be ambitious but realistic.
As an example, the percentage of white students scoring at or above grade level (as measured by whether they scored a 3 or higher on the reading FCAT) was 69 percent in 2011-2012, according to the state. For black students, it was 38 percent, and for Hispanics, it was 53 percent.
In addition, State Board of Education Chairwoman Kathleen Shanahan said that setting goals for different subgroups was needed to comply with terms of a waiver that Florida and 32 other states have from some provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. These waivers were used to make the states independent from some federal regulations.
“We have set a very high goal for all students to reach in Florida,” Shanahan said.
But Palm Beach County School Board vice-chairwoman Debra Robinson isn’t buying the rationale.
“I’m somewhere between complete and utter disgust and anger and disappointment with humanity,” Robinson told the Post. She said she has been receiving complaints from upset black and Hispanic parents since the state board took its action this week.
Robinson called the state board’s actions essentially “proclaiming racism” and said she wants Palm Beach County to continue to educate every child with the same expectations, regardless of race.
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