Class 13 Readings

1.       The second most important tiebreaker was a racial factor intended to maintain racial diversity. ( Parent Involved in Community Schools vs. Seattle School District No.1 2007)

When reading about this court case in Seattle it seemed that there idea of racial diversity was a good idea for their school district, but the way the school went about it was the wrong way. A tiebreaker that dealt with their predetermined diversity percentages seems pretty ridiculous to me and that is not the way they should be handling school enrollment. It is good that Seattle school districts are making sure their schools are more diverse, but putting the tiebreaker in place does not seem to be fair. This idea can be good and bad for the school district; it could be bad because the percentages may never be reached, therefore allowing more whites into school because of the lower percentage. This could be good because it allows for students to experience more diversity in the school setting, therefore putting the segregation talks to rest. I like how the school district is thinking about the idea of racial diversity in their schools, but the tiebreaker is not fair. To be honest I don’t know what would be the fair way to handle this type of situation.

2.       No distinction was made between various categories of non-whites; Asian-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and African-Americans were all treated solely as "non-white" for purposes of the tiebreaker.  ( Parent Involved in Community Schools vs. Seattle School District No.1 2007)

This fact of the story seemed to catch my attention when reading because the wording of it reminds me how racism is still going on in our society, but our education.  Every school should break up each race into their own categories for percentages, not whites and non-whites. This makes the white race sound like the dominant race, which is not the case, and educational boards should not be displaying this type of message. It makes the races that are not white sound second fiddle, but all these students are Americans and that is what should matter, not skin color. What if the roles were switched and the categories were “blacks” and “other races?” How would society be reacting to this categorization? If the education board categorizes races like this, the board is only making things worse for themselves, and honestly I believe there shouldn’t be any categorization when it comes to school because it sends the message of looking at students for their background and not their achievements.

3.        Our argument is that there is lots of diversity in our schools without using the racial tiebreaker and that, you know, diversity means more than skin color and that, you know, the school district was really looking at having a ratio of white versus nonwhite kids. And the way they used the tiebreaker was clearly a form of discrimination. (Interview with Kathleen Brose on NPR)

I never really looked at diversity being more than just race. People talk about diversity being just about race and racism, people misunderstand the fact that diversity goes much deeper than just skin color, but when it comes to education the only real diversity problem is skin color, and this is why so many schools are segregated. I don’t think the parents understood that the school district was trying to make a change for the good. I believe what the district was doing could have been a good change for Seattle schools, but they should have never involved a tiebreaker that dealt with race percentages. This whole thing blows my mind and I find it interesting that it was a group of white parents starting the fight. Discrimination has been going on for many years, but it has only been one sided, against the non whites. Parents of children of color have been fighting for their child’s lives for years now, but very few positives will come out of it. Yes, it was discrimination, but do these parents know it was for the good?

4.       And for her, that was a good experience because it was a 15-minute public bus ride from our home. She did get involved in a lot of after-school activities. (Interview with Kathleen Brose on NPR)

I believe Ms. Brose is contradicting herself when saying this in the interview. The main reason her daughter applied to Ballard was because it was the closest public school to her house, and yes, she said the main reason she filed a lawsuit was because of the discrimination factor, but mentioning the fact Ballard was her daughter’s number one choice because of distance makes this whole situation seem interesting. After the case was over her daughter ended up going to a brand new school that was just created and Ms. Brose’s first comment on why it was a good experience for her was the 15 minute public bus ride to the school. So her daughter ended up going to a school farther away and a new school just created, I do not understand why she even brought the tiebreaker to the attention of the Court. Was she really filing a lawsuit for the right reasons? In my opinion I don’t think she was. I believe she was pissed at the school district that “non whites” held a higher power over the white race. I think I am sensing a little racism in this court case.

5.       But the record suggests that Seattle actually is a residentially segregated city. The record suggests 75 percent of the district's minority students live in the southern half of the city, while 67 percent of white students live in the northern half. (Interview with Dennis Parker on NPR)

After reading this interview my view on the Seattle school district has changed significantly. When reading what Mr. Parker said about the segregation in Seattle made me realize that Seattle was really doing a good thing for all students. It is about time that school districts are concentrating on fixing the segregation problems in the public school, and it is too bad there was a stink about the movement in Seattle. Mr. Parker says that statistics clearly show that the city living arrangements are segregated, therefore the diversity idea for public school was a great one. It is important for these students to experience different cultures and different backgrounds because they are clearly not getting it outside of the school system. If Seattle is so segregated it is essential that the students have this opportunity to be around diversity in the education. I believe this type of exposure to diversity in the education will lead to desegregation outside of the school because students will become friends with other students who live in a different part of the city, leading to interaction within the southern and northern part of the city.

6.       If it's unfair, it's unfair to everyone equally. (Interview with Dennis Parker on NPR)

This line in the interview really sticks out to me because I believe it creates a good message. For many years people have been trying to figure ways to get rid of segregation in the public schools and the white race has had the top hand in the American public school system.  Many people have been complaining that the tiebreaker is unfair to students, when they have not done anything, but isn’t this the same situation that black students were stuck in during the civil rights movement? I find it funny how white parent are complaining, when this is what our race put the black people through for a long period of time.  And now that Seattle has found a way to integrate all races of students, people are saying it is unfair, selfish, don’t you think? But every race that takes part in applying to different schools can get denied and end up going to their second or even third choice. This is what Mr. Parker emphasizes, if there is a problem with the tiebreaker and people are saying it is unfair, it is unfair to all races, not just one.