The Seattle public school system is closing down some schools dedicated to challenging the most promising students, the students who will eventually go on to produce the greatest return on investment to Seattle and Washington taxpayers, the “gifted and talented” students. While it would seem logical to devote more resources, not fewer, to the kids who will make the best use of those resources, Seattle’s school board isn’t doing this. Why?
Because these schools have too many white and Asian students.
The district began phasing out its Highly Capable Cohort schools and classrooms for advanced students in the 2021-22 school year because they found it had too many racial inequities. School bosses said black and Hispanic students were underrepresented at the schools.
According to Seattle Public School data, of the highly capable students in the 2022-23 school year, 52 percent were white, 16 percent were Asian and 3.4 percent were black.
In what world does it make sense to deprive the most promising students because of their skin color? Isn’t that, well, racist? Wouldn’t it be better to study why the students who are achieving at a higher level are doing so? What are the root causes, here? Family influences? Neighborhoods? Diet? Who knows, but wouldn’t that be a better path forward than just throwing up hands and saying, “We give up, now we’re schooling for the lowest common denominator”?
But then, our education system seems to favor style over substance of late.
Typical know of days, penalize the best for making the ones that don’t try look bad. Crazy isn’t it. What’s your answer for this jack ? I guessed they all asked for it by being good students.
Whites today always under attack !!! They need a Naawp for protection today !!!!!
seems the school system needs to go back to school, if you only have 3 percent of color how they think its racial?
even if all of the 3 percent were enrolled the difference would still show the 3 percent as being less
They think it’s racist because only 3 percent of the Highly Capable Cohort Schools students were black, which is less than half of the proportion blacks make up of the overall population in Seattle. So they are underrepresented. Math.
What’s up jack ??
Jack ??