More black students punished than white, where to draw the line. (WIP)

Here in the great state of Illinois I live in, we are going to research why African American or black children get punished more often than white students in public school, and stop this. This stems from concern from a school district in the Chicago area.

I was a bit concerned when hearing this news. First of all this makes absolutely no sense. I researched a bit, a good thing to do before you begin any argument.

I found out the percentages of black adults in Chicago is (36.8%) to whites (31.3%) (City Data, 2008). Black families, even though more likely to be single parent households have an average of about 3 children, while white people have about the average of 2. (Social status and bearings, 2007).

So first of all we have more black children in the school districts, so more of them should be punished on average, that’s correlation. In Chicago the public schools contain a larger concentration of black children, while almost 10% of white students in the area attend private schools. (Educators Handbook, 2005). That increases the population of African Americans even more. If you have 15 rabbits, three gray, the rest tan. Which group gray, or tan would get the most time spent on them? The larger group of course, there is a direct correlation.

Away from the facts that larger base of black students means more of them will be punished due to population size. I heard a brief radio presentation on this, and some interesting comments. A teacher, I did not get the name or school district, but to paraphrase her “It’s not fair to punish them for what they can’t do.”

Evidently the minority teachers, as this teacher was, felt it wasn’t fair to hold black students to the same standards as white students. It is common knowledge that black families are more likely one parent, lower in SES standing, have a higher rate of abuse, and other difficulties that can make education harder, or even a second thought (Social Work Today, 2008).

But let’s look at that idea again. “It’s not fair to punish them for what they can’t do.” Is that a fair statement? Do some of the black kids have tough lives? Sure, but I bet some of the white kids do too. Is there a reason that black kids should be expected to do less for the same reward (education) as whites?

What this lady is saying is black kids can’t do as well as white kids.

What if I said that?

He can’t do it because he is black.

If I made that statement I’d be fired as a teacher, and declared a racist. Why the double standard? Do double standards really help?

If we ask the feminist movement they don’t. Look at the advances in women over the past few decades, the right to vote, work, the opportunity to be athletes, professionals, college educated, the right to be anything they can be.

But evidently we can’t ask the same of the black community, but they have to ask it of themselves, or else we are racist.

So It seems we need less discipline with black children in schools. The core belief seems to be it must be easier for blacks, or else it isn’t fair.
A harsh conclusion?

For years Chicago has tried public buses going to schools, offering scholarships for college to promising students, charting and re-charting to school districts to increase/decrease diversity. Look at national schools, American Educator, 2004) They now are trying to remove discipline.

I think this is a bad idea. It takes away teachers control of classroom, it doesn’t’ teach discipline, it reinforces bad behavior. But what could this lead to?

“At about 24 deaths a year, Chicago children
are being killed 24 times the rate that Chicago soldiers are being
killed in Iraq. Statistics from Military Genealogy Trails show that
during the five-year period between September 2001 and July 2006, six
soldiers from Chicago were killed in Iraq combat. In a startling
comparison, however, during an eight-year period between 1998 and 2007,
190 Chicago Public School children, mostly black, died in gun-related
incidents.” (Chicago loses more Black kids than soldiers in Iraq to gun violence, Now Public, 2007).

Whats wrong with teaching curricula, self respect, respect for others, disclpline, work ethic, and all the things that drive people to succed. I am not interested in being a fun paid babysitter that gives everyone gold stars. I am interested in teaching.