Linda Seebach on Berkeley’s ‘White’ Science Labs
In a recent Townhall column, I wrote about the Berkeley High School Governance Council’s proposal to cut before- and after-school science labs and divert resources to “equity grants” to narrow the racial academic achievement gap The council called the gap at Berkeley, the widest in the state, “unconscionable.”
At BigJournalism.com, Linda Seebach, formerly of Rocky Mountain News, brings up an important yet overlooked point in the debate (emphasis added):
“Enrollment this school year is 14 percent Latino, 26 percent African-American, 34 percent white, 16 percent in a category the district calls multi-ethnic, and approximately 8 percent in a variety of Asian groups. But students make very different academic choices. Berkeley has six component schools, four of them officially designated ’small schools,’ averaging around 200 students each; about 500 in the International High School; and the rest, a majority, in a fairly traditional program called Academic Choice. For instance, one of the small schools, called the Community Partnerships Academy, has 51 percent African-Americans and only 7 percent whites. Another, the School for Social Justice and Ecology, is 44 percent African-American and 20 percent white. In contrast, the international program is 21 percent African-American and 44 percent white.
“These choices play out in the science classes as well. The AP science classes are only 10 percent African-American and 53 percent white, while the science classes without additional lab time almost exactly reverse the proportions, with 51 percent African-American and 9 percent white.”
The choice idea is one I considered as well. I know in the scheme of things, students’ academic choices carry little weight in “diversity” arguments. If there’s a disparity, its cause must be racial discrimination and/or lack of funding. If black students choose science classes at lower rates than other students, where’s the logic in depriving other students to divert more funds to black students? Doesn’t it essentially penalize Berkeley’s science lab students for being…white and Asian?
Unless the school is preventing qualified black students from attending science labs, there’s no issue. If presently unqualified black students wish to take more science classes, school counselors and teachers (and parents) should advise them to take the necessary preparatory classes earlier in their academic journey.
Simple-minded, I know. I can’t help it.
(Hat tip: Discriminations)
