Categories: General

New Newsworks Post: What’s up with ACLU’s Fight Against Racial Disparities in South Orange-Maplewood?

It starts here:

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Civil Rights Project (CRP) at UCLA have filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights urging an investigation into the South Orange-Maplewood School District (Essex County). 

ACLU and CRP allege that the district engages in discriminatory practices at Columbia High School by disproportionately disciplining black and Hispanic students and routinely placing them in lower-level classes. This practice, the complaint says, stems from “subconscious racial biases of teachers making recommendations for placement.” 

The solution offered by the civil rights groups? Place all of South Orange-Maplewood (SOMW) high school students, regardless of interest or ability, in high honors and Advanced Placement classes. Such a remedy makes great copy, but it’s educationally unsound.

Read the rest here.

Laura Waters

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