Monday, January 04, 2010

School poised to cut science labs for bizarre reason

I never get political in this blog. Hardly ever. But the story of Berkeley High School's plan to cut science labs should not go unremarked on. It's weird because it's not based on budget cuts. It's based on the bizarre notion that the way to improve achievement for minority students is to cut science labs, since minority students are using them less than white students. Seriously.
The President has made a big deal out of science education, and rightly so. It's a high-tech, science-driven world out there. Shouldn't the school be encouraging more minority students to get INTO those labs? That's not to say the money won't do any good if used to boost programs serving struggling students, which is the plan. But a racially-driven concept that no student needs hands-on work in the sciences in high school is...unearthly.

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