Reply to Antiracist System Audit

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What does racial equity work look like when there is no proof that disparities in any particular measure means there is bias?

Why not just meet every child where they are and go from there? [/quote]

This is such a racist dog whistle. Any such disparities are due to systemic inquities in the classroom.[/quote]

It isn't racist.  It's intelligent inquiry.   Association is not causation.

But if you build policy on association, you end up with unintended, and often harmful impacts.   And no guarantee you actually fix anything.

Schools can't equalize outcomes when some kids are born and remain in poverty when others come from outrageous wealth.
Schools can't equalize outcomes when some kids have robust health insurance coverage that pays for neuropsych exams and years of therapy when other kids have nothing.
Schools can't equalize outcomes when some kids are homeless and others have stable homes, stable transportation, etc.
Schools can't equalize outcomes when some kids have parents with mental health or substance misuse disorders and other kids have parents with no additional medical needs.
Schools can't equalize outcomes when some kids have parents who can run to the store for the supplies they need for a last minute project and others can't.

If we ignore those systematic inequities outside of school, we have no hope of improving things within schools.   
[/quote]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think a goal of any school should be equalized outcomes.  Equalized opportunities sure, but not outcomes.[/quote]

If you read the comments in the audit report, it is clear that many do not perceive equalized opportunities.[/quote]

Yes, this has been an ongoing issue with the USA but not something MCPS can correct. MCPS needs to focus on educating children and leave societal issues to soceity.[/quote]

Obviously MCPS can't correct all the problems of society; no one is suggesting that they should. But I see nothing wrong with MCPS trying to correct the school-based problems cited in the report.[/quote]

Unfortunately those problems stem from larger societal problems and are beyond mcps' pervue.[/quote]

Sounds like you haven't read the report. There are plenty of issues within MCPS's purview.[/quote]

I did and you're statement makes it clear you failed to grasp it. MCPS can't solve these problems. Their scope is global. MCPS job is to educate children and because it's so distracted, it is failing to do that. [/quote]
Next, MCPS should fund a study on solving global warming![/quote]

It was proven that the globe is not warming, so we changed it to climate change.[/quote]

Agree MCPS needs to fund a multi-million dollar study to prevent climate change and poverty too. Who needs to hire teachers when we face so many large global problems![/quote]
MCPS has been building LEED certified buildings for years to help address their part in climate change. Heck, I do stuff, too, even though I can't solve climate change.

If no one tackles their [b]own part[/b] of an enormous problem but rather waits for someone else to take care of it, it never gets taken care of.[/quote]

MCPS’s own part is to meet each kid where they’re at as an individual and teach them academic subjects, specials like music and art, and physical education. That’s what my taxpayer money is paying for.[/quote]
So MCPS should sweep any implicit bias and systemic racism under the rug?[/quote]

Systems level[b]:   If they used valid research to identify just exactly what parts of MCPD were systemically racist, then they should work to remove it.   
[/b]
Individual level:  We all have implicit bias.  You can't get rid of it   You can only modify actions.   MCPS needs to outline very clear guidance on appropriate behavior.   And then hold people accountable if they violate it. [/quote]

You're advocating for paralysis by analysis. You don't need expensive, never-ending studies at the local level to know that systemic racism exists in MCPS. MCPS is not some magical land that is different from every other school district in the country. You combine the information we have locally with rigorous studies from elsewhere to understand what the issues are. [/quote]

I am not. Mcps has a history of implementing new programs, costing millions, with zero accountability.  The don’t sufficiently train employees and/or fail to bring in true experts, and their feel-good ideas never amount to any improvement.   If we (if the board would do its job) and require explicit identification of things we can change, then oversight to ensure it has the desired effect,  that would be a different story. How are they measuring effectiveness of Leader in Me for example?  They aren’t. They instead just take credit for all the bright shiny new programs they force on kids (and teachers).

And the truth is MCPS is light years ahead of most of the nation making schools inclusive.  There are tested, evidence based ways to do that, and we have done much of it.  My kid hasn’t read one work of fiction yet that’s part of the old school, traditional (white) canon.  Last year he read Yoruba Girl Dancing and this year he’s reading The Book of Unknown Americans.  And that’s great. Social Studies is absolutely fantastic, teaching from multiple perspectives, using primary and secondary sources, and teaching the different value of each.

The rest is interpersonal behavior within explicitly stated norms.   They didn’t need an antiracist audit for that.

[/quote]

That is fine that most of the books that my kid is reading are based on POC characters, but how do you explain this?

POC have to sit separately on the bus and in classrooms.
POC are not allowed to speak in classrooms.
POC are not allowed to take Honors and AP classes.

What?...... wait.........Never mind[/quote]

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