Let’s see where things stand today from Jon Becker, Still Separate, Still Unequal? (Final Thoughts) (Education – Change.org)

• Today, nearly three out of every four African-American students in the U.S. attends a school that is majority-minority.
• 1 out of every 6 African-American children in the United States now attends a school where less than one percent of the population is white.
• In 1998, African-American students were 59% more likely to be identified as emotionally disturbed than Caucasian students.
• As of 2007, in the state of Virginia, African-American students were 54% more likely to be identified as disabled than other students.
• African-American and Latina/o students are less than half as likely to be enrolled in gifted and talented educational classes and programs as Caucasian students.
• While Internet access in schools and classrooms is consistently good and equitable, access to computers generally is slightly inversely related to the percentage of students of color in schools.
• The frequency with which African-American students use computers in schools is at least as high, if not higher, than other students. However, African-American students are much more likely to use computers to practice or drill on math facts than White students.

Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Special Education) (Education – Change.org) had the most disturbing findings to me:

The following table comes from the National Research Council report. The data indicate significant overrepresentation of African-American students in the emotional disturbance category. In 1998, African-American students were 59% more likely to be identified as emotionally disturbed than Caucasian students.

and later,

Furthermore, and most striking, according to the NAACP (2001), “and contrary to the expectations, is the finding that the risk for being labeled ‘mentally retarded’ increases for blacks attending schools in districts serving mostly middle-class or wealthy white students” (p. 18).

So, basically, if your black you’re more likely to be pathologized, and if you happen to be in a largely white/middle-class school, you’re not any better off (I’d imagine it might be even worse there, but that’s just me).

Whether we integrate, or continue to re-segregate, I feel there will be little improvement if we continue to treat these students as though they are the pathology, whether we do this as a conscious or unconscious policy.

Below are links to the entire series from Dr. Becker:

• Still Separate, Still Unequal? (An Introduction) (Education – Change.org)
• Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Digital Equity in Education) (Education – Change.org)
• Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Special Education) (Education – Change.org)
• Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Gifted and Talented Education) (Education – Change.org)
• Still Separate, Still Unequal? (Final Thoughts) (Education – Change.org)