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Health & Fitness

What do we do about the OCR complaint at Central School?

How do we elevate the debate of inclusion of race as a factor in class selection in the Mamaroneck Schools District?

There have been hundreds of posts on the local blogs and responses to local articles about the issue of possible discrimination at the Central School, I submit the following for thoughtful consideration and comment (for background please see: Patch Article).

With all due respect to the posters who have firm opinions on this issue on both sides of the debate and to the many of whom are misinformed on the issues, the situation is not as clear cut as you wish it would be and I would hope you get involved and engaged in the dialogue.

There are multiple issues here that range from the handling of the situation, the treatment of the parent and most importantly what was in the best interest of the child.

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This situation must be viewed as an opportunity for growth more than a commentary on the actions of the district.  The opportunity lies in the debate of a policy that must be consistent with the beliefs of the community but does not lose sight of the guiding principle of “educational benefit” to the child and, just as important, legally defendable.  This debate and exploration will help us move in a thoughtful manner forward in creating the best environment for our children to thrive in.

On the issue being debated about what was done wrong:

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The school policy on placement simply states “The building principal will consider the student’s age, social, emotional and physical maturity, and achievement in relation to individual ability when assigning students to classes.”  

Some of these are subjective criteria and over the years parents have made requests of the principle on placement of friends to be either together or apart (twins are also offered this option) and in trying to be responsive to the public on these requests, they have exposed themselves to the claim that “my child was subjectively placed in his/her class." Perhaps that is the error in judgment, but it was done to be responsive to the community and as best as I can tell in what the teachers and principal thought was in the best interest of the child.

This is the only policy on “Assignment of Students to Classes”.  It does not say that race would ever come into play and there is no facility for the school to take race into account.  Even if the parent identified that there was a disproportionate amount of “minority” students in a class, there is no facility for the principle to act upon it other than offering to move the child to another class (which was offered to Ms. Jimenez, but she refused).  In fact there may have been even more “legal exposure” to the district if they attempted to rebalance the classes based on race (i.e. Affirmative Action).  

The OCR report in no way indicates that there was a racial bias in the selection process only that the result of using the subjective criteria of parental requests resulted in a racially biased class.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for racially balanced classes. I think there is a long term value to students  being exposed to their community especially one that mirrors much of our larger society, but I am not for using race as a criteria at the expense of one’s civil rights. 

Until such time as the policy is changed (which should only be done after lengthily community input, legal review and educational review) we are left with the judgment of the educators as to what is best and no policy change should be made unless it can be demonstrated that the current policy is detrimental to the students and that there is a “educational” value to making a change.

In fact, the Supreme Court will be taking up this issue shortly according to a report in the NY Times:

On Oct. 10, the court will hear Fisher v. University of Texas, No. 11-345, a major challenge to affirmative action in higher education. The case was brought by Abigail Fisher, a white woman who says she was denied admission to the University of Texas based on her race. The university selects part of its class by taking race into account, as one factor among many, in an effort to ensure educational diversity.(NY Times Article)

What happens if the Supreme court holds that affirmative action (which this situation is) turns out to be a violation of one’s civil rights?  There will then be no question that a race exempt policy must be in place. 

All of this begs the even larger issue that will have to be debated, of what should the school district consider when putting together a kindergarten class? Is Jewish, Muslim, Christian  or other religious affiliation used in class selection?  What do you do with a child that looks white with a Hispanic last name?  How about the child of Asian descent that grew up in Latin America?  What about the parent that chooses not to identify race/ethnicity on their application, does it become mandatory in order to balance the class?

Clearly this is not a simple issue even the Supreme Court will struggle this year with it, is it any wonder that our school district will struggle with it as well?

These are complex issues that will not be decided in the blogs with demands of dismissals, racial slurs or false accusations of wrong doing.  They can only be decided through meaningful dialog conducted with an open mind by all parties.

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