Black teacher applicants face discrimination in FCPS

[Anonymous]

Interesting. Not my experience. I know someone who hires in FCPS that jumps at the chance to hire a black or other minority applicant. It's good to have diversity in the ranks to mirror that of the school population. I'm surprised anyone with half a brain doesn't espouse that by this point!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing I have not seen is this: Ebonics

That is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taking hiring authority away from principals may solve that problem but would definitely create others.

I would be really wary of this suggestion. Out-of-school admins have little sense of what really happens in a particular school and usually no common sense about what makes a good teacher. I know you get the principals who only hire pretty blondes or only hire first year teachers because they're cheaper than veteran teachers, but most have the best interest of their school in mind when making hiring decisions. They're not trying to fit a political mold that central office is promoting.

[Anonymous]

Not just blacks. There's a lack of Hispanic and Asian teachers, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taking hiring authority away from principals may solve that problem but would definitely create others.

I would be really wary of this suggestion. Out-of-school admins have little sense of what really happens in a particular school and usually no common sense about what makes a good teacher. I know you get the principals who only hire pretty blondes or only hire first year teachers because they're cheaper than veteran teachers, but most have the best interest of their school in mind when making hiring decisions. They're not trying to fit a political mold that central office is promoting.

Pretty blondes is a great idea

[Anonymous]

At first glance it sounds like centralizing hiring is a bad idea but it's really not. And based on these findings it may be sorely needed. The move would also show that FCPS is serious about ending its racist practices. Clearly their principals can't be trusted to do the right thing in terms of hiring.

I taught in a system with centralized hiring. At the time I didn't get it...thought it was awful even. But in retrospect I didn't notice any of the BS I see when principals hire their buddies, the cutie pies or the Whites with less experience and credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the article, black teachers are underrepresented and black administrators are overrepresented. Since principals have absolute authority over hiring teachers in their schools, there could be bias at the individual school/principal level. The difference between underrepresentation and normal representation is only a couple percentage points, so it could just be coming down to the applicants to the particular schools, rather than solely due to bias.

Taking hiring authority away from principals may solve that problem but would definitely create others. Interesting study with interesting results.

This has been our experience in McLean where 2 of the four schools my DCs attended had AA Principals ( AP was AA in a third) and the cluster head was AA, but virtually all of the teachers were white and prodominantly female.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought that this was important: "GMU researchers examining 2012 job-application data for the school system found that black applicants had slightly lower pass rates on a screening test but somewhat more extensive academic credentials and work experience than their white counterparts. On paper, the researchers said, the black and white candidates seemed to have comparable qualifications."

The WaPo article and the study didn't seem to focus on the screening test, which may be intentionally or unintentionally biased, or may tend to disfavor black applicants, but not Asian or Hispanic applicants, for some other reason. It seemed significant to me.

Of course the researchers would say this. Without it, there is nothing to research. Duh!!

[Anonymous]

This just confirms the impression I had that NoVa is racist. When moving here, I am so glad we ended up in MD, after I did look at NoVa too. And yet I am getting flayed on real estate forum for saying I decided on MD because some people in Va were spouting racist crap to my face. I know people will say that NoVa is bigger than FCPS, but Fairfax is still the biggest chunk of NoVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This just confirms the impression I had that NoVa is racist. When moving here, I am so glad we ended up in MD, after I did look at NoVa too. And yet I am getting flayed on real estate forum for saying I decided on MD because some people in Va were spouting racist crap to my face. I know people will say that NoVa is bigger than FCPS, but Fairfax is still the biggest chunk of NoVa.

Well, I think your impression is wrong. I have not found that to be the case. What kind of racist crap was being spouted to your face?

Also, has anyone on here read the study? I tried to get to it, but could not figure out how to get access. I have a lot of questions about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This just confirms the impression I had that NoVa is racist. When moving here, I am so glad we ended up in MD, after I did look at NoVa too. And yet I am getting flayed on real estate forum for saying I decided on MD because some people in Va were spouting racist crap to my face. I know people will say that NoVa is bigger than FCPS, but Fairfax is still the biggest chunk of NoVa.

That's quite a blanket statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that this was important: "GMU researchers examining 2012 job-application data for the school system found that black applicants had slightly lower pass rates on a screening test but somewhat more extensive academic credentials and work experience than their white counterparts. On paper, the researchers said, the black and white candidates seemed to have comparable qualifications."

The WaPo article and the study didn't seem to focus on the screening test, which may be intentionally or unintentionally biased, or may tend to disfavor black applicants, but not Asian or Hispanic applicants, for some other reason. It seemed significant to me.

Of course the researchers would say this. Without it, there is nothing to research. Duh!!

Your logic is so flawed. The bolded was a finding based on the research. They went in not knowing what they'd find.

Signed,

Ivy League researcher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that this was important: "GMU researchers examining 2012 job-application data for the school system found that black applicants had slightly lower pass rates on a screening test but somewhat more extensive academic credentials and work experience than their white counterparts. On paper, the researchers said, the black and white candidates [b]seemed to have comparable qualifications.[/b]"

The WaPo article and the study didn't seem to focus on the screening test, which may be intentionally or unintentionally biased, or may tend to disfavor black applicants, but not Asian or Hispanic applicants, for some other reason. It seemed significant to me.

Of course the researchers would say this. Without it, there is nothing to research. Duh!!

Your logic is so flawed. The bolded was a finding based on the research. They went in not knowing what they'd find.

Signed,

Ivy League researcher

As a researcher, you should know that "seemed" is not precise. It means that the conclusions are based on an appearance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This just confirms the impression I had that NoVa is racist. When moving here, I am so glad we ended up in MD, after I did look at NoVa too. And yet I am getting flayed on real estate forum for saying I decided on MD because some people in Va were spouting racist crap to my face. I know people will say that NoVa is bigger than FCPS, but Fairfax is still the biggest chunk of NoVa.

Enjoy adult illegals raping high school students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At first glance it sounds like centralizing hiring is a bad idea but it's really not. And based on these findings it may be sorely needed. The move would also show that FCPS is serious about ending its racist practices. Clearly their principals can't be trusted to do the right thing in terms of hiring.

I taught in a system with centralized hiring. At the time I didn't get it...thought it was awful even. But in retrospect I didn't notice any of the BS I see when principals hire their buddies, the cutie pies or the Whites with less experience and credentials.

This wasn't a study for Fairfax, it was intended to be an anonymous examination of a district. There were a lot of factors not examined, do there's not much that Fairfax can learn from the study as it is.