The final result, he said, is that some children won’t get the same educational attention due to the color of their skin.
“If you’re an African-American or Hispanic student, the first message is: ‘I don’t have to do that well,’” he said. “There’s clearly a negative message being sent to kids based on what racial or ethnic groups they belong to.”
A better indicator of potential academic performance, McCluskey said, is perhaps income rather than race.
“We’re talking about unique, individual kids,” he said. “We have to get to a system that deals with students as individuals, not as members of groups, which means attaching funding to students themselves and letting the parents choose any school they want.”
Any time race is mentioned regarding education, people become rightfully sensitive and concerned, Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, told FoxNews.com. But recognizing that not all students are on equal ground is a key part of the puzzle, he said.
“It’s really an opportunity gap that we’re looking at,” Ford said. ‘This is just a recognition of where kids are today. I would like to live in world where race and economic status do not matter, but we’re not there yet as a society.”
Another national education official, meanwhile, disagreed with the new policy, saying it was well-intentioned but missed the mark.
“The intent is probably honorable, but the execution is kind of insensitive, perhaps to the very groups they are trying to help,” said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. “Certainly the intent to get some groups to higher standards should remain, but it does show a degree of insensitivity.”
Domenech suggested that the state reconsider and analyze a system that rewards the year-to-year growth of each student.
“The expectations should be the same for all students,” he said. “Let’s not dilute that powerful objective.”
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