A recent federal lawsuit is challenging a Chicago public school initiative they believe is discriminatory. Parents Defending Education, a not-for-profit organization, filed the action with the Civil Rights division of the US Education Department.
At issue is the recent launch of a program called the Black Student Success Plan. The plan would:
- Double the number of black male teachers.
- Reduce disciplinary actions against black students.
- Teach more about black history and culture.
This is what the current federal Education administration says about the issue:
“Treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice or equity is illegal.”
Said another way and to make it simple, Treating students differently based on race is illegal. That means that any program that is race-specific in its very title, like; “Black Student Success Plan” is not permissible.
Think about the inferences made here when examining the goals of the plan.
Doubling the number of black male teachers seems like a not so thinly veiled effort to infuse “father-figures” into the equation where statistically, black households are overwhelmingly headed by females. The role of public education is instruction and education, not family reconstruction. Specifying the dominance of male teachers also suggests that the problems, specifically, are mainly with the black male students.
Reducing disciplinary actions against black students is asinine on its face. Simply looking the other way and failing to address the nature of the problem is burying one head in the sand and solves nothing.
If the district cannot control their students, what good is teaching more about black history? Again, an asinine response to the problem.
As usual, the liberal mindset is to solve all problems for all people all the time. The problem, in large measure, is the lack of traditional families and their values, taught at home with caring and involved parents. This is an issue overwhelmingly absent in the black community.
Families need to prepare their children for school. When they do not do that, it brings about discussions regarding what to do. The answer is not for the school system to become surrogate parents. Values, ethics, morals, self-value and religious grounding all emanate from the family. Therein lies the problem and accordingly, therein also lies the place to start in finding solutions.