Reply to 70 6th grade spots given to OOB at Hardy

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And guess what, Latin has a uniform: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Dress-Code-v2.pdf

You just want to find something wrong. It's an irrational obsession, one that's backed by science by the way: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases (check almost any under "Biases in probability and belief", e.g. try "clustering illusion" as a starter)[/quote]

Immediate PP, yes I was saying Latin has uniforms and all these anti-Hardy posters try for Latin.[/quote]

In urban public schools, uniforms say "ghetto."  (They also say passé educational fad from the 80s.)  Youre not gonna wow them in Palisades and Sprng Valley with school uniforms.  But for some reason Hardy clings to them, perhaps because the school community is much more resistant to change wbike they pretend otherwise.  [/quote]

... while they pretend otherwise.[/quote]

Hardy parents aren't resistant to change.   We've supported many, many changes over the last three years to make the academic environment better and improve student performance.

To my knowledge, we have not been asked about the uniforms, so I don't know if current parents are for or against change there.  I can tell you one thing for darn certain:  we are offended by you insisting that you think our kids are "ghetto" because they wear uniforms.  We know what you are saying PP, and it is disgusting.[/quote]

"Inner city" if you prefer.  [b]Public school uniforms were all the rage 20-30 years ago to try to bring order to ,and instill discipline in, tough-to-control urban schools. [/b] Why in the world would present day Hardy continue to embrace that association ?![/quote]

I have no real stake in this discussion (kid is years away from middle school, and at a Deal feeder), but I just have to interject, since I've seen this explanation multiple times.  Where's the evidence to back up this assertion?  How exactly would simply wearing uniforms bring "order" to "tough-to-control" urban schools?

I also attended mid/lower SES predominantly AA schools growing up (since that's what you mean by your code words).  IMO (I have no data to back this up), the push for uniforms is an attempt to do away with the distraction of clothing, particularly designer brands, and especially for those families who couldn't afford the latest trends, designers, etc.  So while you seem to be implying that schools with populations such as Hardy's 20-30 years ago were out of control, I think a more likely explanation is that uniforms were an attempt to increase the focus on academics.  Although I personally don't love uniforms (for reasons of individuality, freedom of expression, etc.), you can appreciate the argument for them (i.e., removing distractions, making differences between the haves and have nots less discernible) during the middle school years irrespective of the demographics of the student body.

So please, be careful that you're not simply reinforcing negative stereotypes about aggressive or out of control poor black kids.  This is precisely the sort of thing that will continue to keep away in-boundary Hardy families, and furthermore, you've provided no evidence to suggest that it's even true.

[/quote]

See this education journal article:

http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl/article/viewFile/253/96

The author notes (citing other commentators) that mandatory school uniform policies were instituted in many urban schools in the late 1980s to "reduce gang violence and enhance school security."    The article abstract also summarizes the results of a study of over 400 schools with mandatory unifirm policies and concludes that schools with such policies area "negatively associated with a number of students' problem behaviors...."

[/quote]

This article quite nails the issue.  In light of the conclusions above, one wonders why Hardy stubbornly clings to a mandatory uniform policy.[/quote]

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