Reply to Wilson honors for all - how has it worked?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]first it was racism/that's racist now it's white fragility

Here we are, a bunch of families who cannot afford private schools, seemingly fighting over incomprehensibly limited resources that force high-schoolers 4 grades apart to go to the same physics class. Half of them are calling the other half racist. Noting that we're in DC, an overwhelmingly liberal city. You KNOW that PP does not think that racism is just a made-up word. You KNOW that she has heard of all the horrors that have taken place in our country in the past. You also probably know that all she wants is for her kid to be taught physics at a level that will help him grow.

And that's when you seagull drop in to anonymously virtue signal and call someone stupid, twice.[/quote]

+1.  Well said.

Nobody here thinks racism doesn’t exist; we all know its pernicious effects.

The question is whether HFA repairs some harms of racism — which it is apparently is intended to do.  If so, if HFA does, in fact, repair some harms of racism, then 
(1) do the benefits outweigh the collateral negative impacts? 
(2) is it the principal’s place to favor the needs of some students over others as a cost of pursuing a social or political goal? 
(3) is their a more effective way to solve this problem, like adding more intensive support in elementary or middle school, changing the ‘tracking’ process to incorporate relevant testing, etc etc.[/quote]

1) To #1 I think one data point that can get at this is the Wilson GPA chart broken out by race over the years since HFA was implemented. However, we would need to decide what are appropriate measures to determine this over time.

2) If one group has had most of the advantages in education then any principal should be compelled to try and create opportunity for those from groups who have borne the brunt of inequality. What evidence do you have that a particular group would suffer more from a program like HFA? I think there probably are some data points available that can get at the fact that white families will not suffer major consequences from HFA. [b]Many[/b] not all, white families at Wilson have other social factors in their favor that would minimize any potential detriment that HFA might cause, primarily education, money and social capital. [b]BTW even though you didn't use race in your post, that is clearly what you meant. I have more respect for people if they would just say what they mean and stop talking in code.[/b] I think we would get a lot further.

3) Of course that may be the case. Bring some solutions to the table. I do think waiting around for there to be an answer that satisfies everyone is not tenable. [/quote]

I’m not “speaking in code.”  I think the question is relevant on many vectors.  For example, should a principal prioritize the need of pta donor families?

Principal Wilson draws a connection between HFA and race.  IMHO, that’s a mistake.  If there is justification for HFA, it has to do with inadequate prior experiences for some students, whatever their race.[/quote]

Yes you are speaking in code. Woodrow Wilson High School has racial/SES issues and both of these are intertwined. These issues play out in a range of ways some that are well documented and some the are more about the social environment at Wilson. One of the aims for HFA was to help reduce the racial disparity that exists with the numbers of students of color in AP classes. So to ignore race and pretend it doesn't exist makes this conversation exhausting.

What you are asking is how might a program like HFA benefit students of color and be a detriment to white students.  Don't try to shift the conversation to be about adverse experiences kids had in middle and elementary school. I can't sit here and educate you on the reams of evidence around racial disparities in education. Just please understand that the narrative and sub narratives you are using to argue are the currency that keep inequities going.  It's dangerous actually and I'd argue it hurts white students because they can read this thread, see what their parents actually think.

HFA is an attempt to try and address some racial inequities at Wilson. If white students are going to be significantly harmed by it, I'd like to see evidence of it. [/quote]

There is a long history of racial disparity, and Wilson is not immune to that.

Wilson's mission, however, is not to correct history; I doubt that item is in the Principal's job description.  Wilson is responsible, however, for educating *all* of its students.

The idea of HFA is to solve the problem that some deserving students get overlooked when tracking assignments are made by teacher recommedations. Unconcious racial bias is a huge factor here -- this is the Principal's focus.  But not all AAs are mis-assigned, and, of course, there other reasons that students get mis-assigned too, like teachers presuming girls are less capable at or interested in science and math, or ESL, or LDs, etc.

So HFA or a similar effort does not need to be about race.  If the goal is to make sure that no students suffer from "the bigotry of low expectations," then a solution to that would solve the problem for mis-assigned AAs as well as any other overlooked students.

The problem with making it about race is that the premise is then that since whites as mass unit descriminated against AAs as a mass, then it is okay to correct the problem by aiding AAs even if it hinders other groups.  But Wilson is not solving society at large -- Wilson is educating individual students.  All students should be challenged to their fullest extent, whatever their individual situation.

If the problem were defined as solving subjective, errant tracking decisions, then the solution designed would likely be as effective for those that program aims to help without being as blunt in its side-effects (eg, throwing students of all levels into the same classes).

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