"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone" --Bill Cosby
Not meant as an object lesson, but rather a lesson in objectivity. ;)
Posted on 02/09/2006 5:24:12 AM PST by GOPgirl_VA
A U.S. Justice Department investigation into hiring practices at the Virginia Beach Police Department has concluded that a math exam given to recruits discriminates against blacks and Hispanics.
The math test is one of a handful of separately times and scored components of the National Police Officer Selection Test used to screen and select entry-level officers. The investigation found that between 2002 and 2005, about 85 percent of white applicants passed the math test, while 66 percent of Hispanic applicants and 59 percent of blacks passed.
Virginia Beach demands that applicants score at least 70 percent to pass, which adversely affects blacks and Hispanics, the justice department said in a letter to the city.
"The evidence establishes that Virginia Beach is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African Americans and Hispanics on the basis of their race and national origin with respect to entry-level police officer positions in its Police Department..." the justice department wrote.
The DOJ told the city it can enter into a consent decree by taking appropriate measures to end the discrimination and providing "sufficient remedial relief" to the applicants who suffered the discrimination.
The city has until March 7 to make the corrective measures or the DOJ will file a complaint, it warned in the letter signed by David J. Palmer, chief of the employment litigation section for the department.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the city said it didn't agree that any discrimination had occurred, but that it would work with the DOJ to examine the math test.
(Excerpt) Read more at wavy.com ...
The test is clearly discriminatory - you have to be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. That's obviously unfair. No doubt you also have to be able to read. That's far too competitive; bring in the lawyers!
It's a math test. That's what a test is for. If you can't do math at 70%, you don't get hired.
You are so right about property values here in Virginia Beach. Things have doubled in just the last two years. As for Mayor Myra, all she cares about are the hotels down at the beach.
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone" --Bill Cosby
Not meant as an object lesson, but rather a lesson in objectivity. ;)
Presidents may change but the EEOC is forever...
Mike Tyson's phone number.
And, making sure that Home Depot fits in with the terrain.
Our children lived in Va. Beach until about a year ago, and we really enjoyed going there to visit.
Here's a Republican Administration for ya!
On my way to a degree in engineering, I found myself in a chemistry class full of nursing students. To me it was pretty easy and I would always finish the tests in 5 or 10 minutes and leave. Later some students told me that I would intimidate the rest of the class who had to use the entire hour and still couldn't finish the test.
As long as they can count to 6...
I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But, being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya punk?
Did you catch yesterday's episode of Cash Cab on the Discovery Channel. I never saw anybody go 4-and-out before. The one question he got right was on a shout out.
The guy seemed pretty smart and on-the-ball, but he had no "general knowledge" at all.
No it is the problem of blacks and hispanics who aren't prepared for the math exam. It is not the job of the Justice Department to allege discrimination based only on results. I thought this was one of the reasons we didn't vote for Algore.
Being hispanic, those facts don't bother me at all, I see it as largely a cultural deficiency, although there is some evidence that there may be something hardwired in the brain, in some kinds of tasks (reciting memorized numbers backwards. Murray, 2005). I am glad that I am an outlier in that data, towards the higher side of course :)
"Thus, any employment tests involving maths, logic or other kinds of tests involving abstract thinking will discriminate blacks as a group."
I think this justice dept. conclusion is crap. If you cannot pass the test you should not be allowed to apply. However, what you said is crap too. I am as black as one can be in the United States and I made the Deans List last semester and this would include my College Algebra class. You ability to learn is based on your environment and drive, not on your race.
There, that's non discriminatory!
"Isn't an average intelligence a basic requirement for most jobs?"
Not government jobs.
I was just listening to 103Jamz, and the DJs were of the same mind as myself. If you can't pass a math test that a fourth grader can pass, you should not be a police officer.
Don't see that in print anywhere of late...Obviously just another Urban Legend, Right? ;^)
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