DOE Says AP Classes Must Be Racially Balanced [satire]

Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 23 Nov 2014 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

The South Orange-Maplewood School District in New Jersey was told by the US Department of Education that the racial imbalance in its Advance Placement (AP) courses was discriminatory because minorities are under represented among the students enrolled in these classes. AP courses are intended for college-bound graduates and typically entail heavier workloads and more difficult assignments.

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan brushed aside arguments relying on student interest and ability as “insufficient to overcome the goal of racial equality. For the school to say that minorities are over represented on the school’s athletic teams and that somehow counterbalances their under representation in these academically challenging AP courses is a non-starter with us.”

“Ideally, all races ought to be proportionately distributed throughout all school activities,” Duncan argued. “We can’t permit a student’s preference for being an athlete rather than a scholar determine which classes he or she ends up in. If the school needs to ‘dumb down’ its AP courses in order to accommodate the lesser academic abilities of minorities, then that is what they must do.”

Rather than trying to “square the circle,” the South Orange-Maplewood School District has opted to discontinue AP. “The DOE’s notion that everything must be racially balanced is impossible to achieve,” said acting Superintendent James Memoli. “Dumbing down an AP course to achieve an ideal racial mix would be idiotic.”

if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...

http://theconservativecitizen.com/2014/11/23/semi-news-a-satire-of-recent-news-103/

[Calvin Locke]

No, it's not satire. IIRC, the idiots running the Berkeley public school system eliminated AP classes because of the dearth of the "favored" skin colors taking the classes.

That is, too many Asian/Whites, too few Hispanics/Blacks.

[Uncle Miltie]

Not satire. Actual damned fact.

[Uncle Miltie]

"Data collected by the Education Department show that while black and Latino students represent close to 40 percent of all public high school students in the United States, they make up just a quarter of students taking Advanced Placement classes."

When disparities by race are identified, the administration’s guidance urges districts to “take prompt and effective steps to eliminate any unjustified inequities.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/education/new-federal-guidelines-aim-to-rid-schools-of-racial-inequality.html?_r=0