Reply to Public education: competing interests, philosophical divide

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a high SES person with kids of color, this site and many of these highly sought after DC schools are tough to handle. Many people here assume their kids are being pulled down by kids like mine because we dont live on the hill or in ward 2. (Sorry, We dont wear our ivy league degrees on our shoulders.) Schools use achievements of kids like mine to show off their "success" in closing the gap when in reality, my kids would be achieving without their help. I sometimes wish the school would publish some of the test scores from families like mine... so you can see a lot of us "lottery" folks have kids that blow the roof off your kids' test scores."

If you don't think most people can figure out the difference between skin color and SES, then I feel sorry for you.

In any event, I don't believe all low SES kids are capable of achieving.  Some can. Others are gifted, and probably not having their talents recognized. But there is too much lead exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome, and other issues that impact brain development at much higher rates than higher SES kids. Schools can fix some elements of being disadvantaged, such as through Head Start, but schools can fix physical damage to brains.

Note, I'm not referring to AA kids. This can be true for kids of any skin colors, depending on their circumstances. [/quote]

Agree with all that you've said, except for the "all low SES are capable of achieving," comment.

Lead exposure and FAS certainly exist, but so does cystic fibrosis, childhood leukemia, diabetes, dyslexia, adhd, and etc. The difference is how an affluent child is given more resources from the limited pool for the same conditions that just get a poor child written off as someone with a low SES. I went to a magnet school in the 80s and my classmates spanned a gamut of socioeconomic classes. Now, I see my child's peer group is supposed to be narrowed only to other families who make six figures, or she will be "exposed" to the wrong elements? There are always some kids who will be more academically advanced than others. There will always be some kids more prone to disruptive behavior, or depression, or whatever. That is NOT an SES thing. That's called life. Genetic variation. Environmental conditions that no one can control. It does in no way affect a child's "value." There is no point where we should just way our hands and say, "eh. Poor people. What can you do? they have the FAS."

I do realize I am accepting my privilege here, and that of my child. As a white affluent family, we can afford to curse, to be sloppy, to receive academic evaluations and accommodations for our child. We can afford to be careless. As a high SES AA family, you probably can't. I don't like that any more than I assume you do. I try and fight against it. I try not to make any assumptions about my child's classmates, except whether they are nice to her or not nice to her. And if the latter, we try and work it out. I am disgusted at how divided we all are about stuff that really isn't so complicated. Kids have been learning to read and add and subtract for a very long time, under a variety of conditions. It doesn't need to be some kind of arena death match, it really doesn't.[/quote]

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