Tucson school district under fire for race-based approach to punishment

by Kay B. Day

Neal Boortz recommended John Taylor Gatto’s book ‘The Underground History of American Education.’ Gatto explores the evolution of US ‘government schools’ as Boortz calls them. Explaining that the school system was created by men like steel baron Andrew Carnegie and financier J. P. Morgan, Gatto writes, “Men like these, and the brilliant efficiency expert Frederick W. Taylor, who inspired the entire ‘social efficiency’ movement of the early twentieth century, along with providing the new Soviet Union its operating philosophy and doing the same job for Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany; men who dreamed bigger dreams than any had dreamed since Napoleon or Charlemagne, these were the makers of modern schooling.”The Tucson Unified School District is taking what amounts to an affirmative action approach to punishment, calling for a “two-tiered form of student discipline. One for Black and Hispanic students; one for everyone else.” The Arizona Republic broke the story, saying the school board is “insisting…schools reduce suspensions and/or expulsions of minority students to the point that the data reflect ‘no ethnic/racial disparities.’”

The paper said a 52-page plan obtained from TUSD will require schools to examine “in detail” the causes for disparities in suspension/explusion rates, with “special attention” to African-American and Hispanic students."

Tim Wise spoke at the district’s ‘Transformative Education’ summer seminar. Wise  promotes himself as “among the most respected anti-racist writers and educators in the U.S.”He  says he’s spoken in 48 states and more than 400 college campuses. He’s trained teachers and other public officials on the issue of “uprooting institutional racism.” Wise joins other “social entrepreneurs,” as the federal government calls them in various legislative actions, in building a business based on an education system that on the one hand claims to be strapped for cash but spends as though it’s flush with dollars. The Republic described Wise as “the ultra-angry Tulane University poli-sci grad who has made a great living finding racism under every doormat.”

TUSD hired a coordinator at $80,000 per year to recruit out-of-state teachers although hundreds of teachers were pink-slipped this year. The paper said, “The recruiting was prompted by what is fast becoming the consuming passion of the TUSD governing board and its allies - to establish a corps of teachers that precisely mirrors the racial make-up of its heavily minority student population.”

Neal Boortz, the popular Libertarian radio talk show host, wrote at his blog,  “OK ... now what does this look like to you? I'm thinking that the Tucson school district will not be allowed to discipline minority students except in accordance with strict quotas. If 60% of the students are black and Hispanic, then only 60% of disciplinary actions can be taken against black and Hispanic students. The other 40% of disciplinary actions must be taken against whites ... regardless of who is committing the infractions.” Boortz is well-known for his criticism of “government schools.” He's recommended John Taylor Gatto's book, 'The Underground History of American Education.'

The Republic said, “TUSD's race-obsessing board of governors is taking racial bean-counting to preposterous extremes.”

Depending on how a two-tiered system pans out, consequences often unforeseen by bureaucrats may produce legal vulnerability for the school system. The approach flies in the face of the U.S. Constitution and possibly the state of Arizona Constitution. Mandating standards for punishment without taking the infraction into consideration could be construed as racism.

The Republic said the plan, “also includes a vast expansion of the district's controversial Mexican-American studies program."

Mexico is the country of origin for the largest percentage of legal immigrants to the U.S., with 161,445 admitted in 2005. By comparison, immigrants from India make up the second largest group with 84,681 admitted legally in 2005. The U.S. government has long given preference to legal and illegal immigrants from Mexico, even over refugees from war-torn countries such as Nigeria. Hispanic advocacy groups have strongly influenced both the GOP and the Democrat parties. Some advocacy groups receive federal funding paid for by taxpayers.

Responding to The Republic’s report on the school district decision, Boortz wrote, “At first I thought this article was a joke. I really thought that there was no way our government schools have gotten this bad. But I was wrong.”

[H/T to TUSR contributor Roger King for bringing this story to our attention.]