Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs
The proposal would trade labs seen as benefiting white students for resources to help struggling students.
"Paul Gibson, an alternate parent representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students." http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/berkeley-high-may-cut-out-science-labs/Content?oid=1536705
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The problem in Berkeley is that there is too wide a gap between the grades of white students and the grades of others. The solution is to change the mix of classes that are offered so as to eliminate those in which the gap is widest. This would be like solving the "basketball scoring inequality" problem by making the baskets wider or lower.
We may offer a modest proposal. Teach science to minorities.
Crazy, I know. But the notion that "science labs are largely classes for white students" strikes me as insidiously racist.
This actually sickens me. Biology, chemistry, physics are not "racist" -- they are knowledge, open to anyone who wishes to study them. That requires labs. By the reasoning here, we should close all colleges because 53% of graduating classes are now female, which means college is inherently sexist in its bias against boys.
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