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7/25/2016 salon.com: Black lives matter in school, too: Disparities in education begin at an early age - and that needs to change. CATO Institute - March 16, 1998 In 1985 a federal district judge took partial control over the troubled Kansas City, Missouri, School District (KCMSD) on the grounds that it was an unconstitutionally segregated district with dilapidated facilities and students who performed poorly. In an effort to bring the district into compliance with his liberal interpretation of federal law, the judge ordered the state and district to spend nearly $2 billion over the next 12 years to build new schools, integrate classrooms, and bring student test scores up to national norms. It didn't work. When the judge, in March 1997, finally agreed to let the state stop making desegregation payments to the district after 1999, there was little to show for all the money spent. Although the students enjoyed perhaps the best school facilities in the country, the percentage of black students in the largely black district had continued to increase, black students' achievement hadn't improved at all, and the black-white achievement gap was unchanged.
I don't know the answer to solving whatever disparities Black Lives Matter perceives. Would be helpful if they would elaborate and present supporting data.
$2 billion over 12 years did nothing to improve the districts performance. As demonstrated by the outcome of the Kansas City, Mo. experiment and current per student spending, throwing money at a problem is not the answer. Before calling for change Black Lives Matter needs to first determine exactly what the problem is. Cause 'it ain' the money'. |
August, 2016 |