Berkeley Schools Suck At Teaching Minorities

Forget all that talk about "marginalized peoples". Forget all that talk about the "legacy of Jim Crow". Forget all that talk about "empowerment". Forget all that talk about "improving the lives of the oppressed". Forget all that talk about "diversity is our strength". Forget all that talk about "social justice". Forget all that talk about how only liberals can be counted on to help "people of color".

Forget it all:

The Berkeley Unified School District was ranked among the worst in California for serving African American, Hispanic and low-income students, according to a recent study by Education Trust-West, an advocacy group based in Oakland.

The study, released April 27, gathered Academic Performance Index scores of students from 146 California school districts across the state. The districts were then ranked based on a combination of college-readiness, improvement of scores over time and gaps in achievement between white and minority students.

The school district was given a “D” overall, along with several other East Bay districts, and received an “F” for a wide achievement gap — coming in at 125 out of 126 schools measured in that category.

The very next sentences in the story start making excuses. But then we get to the meat:

“Our hope is that this study is used by district leaders and community members to start asking questions about their schools,” Stuart said. “If students of color are scoring so much lower than their white peers, what is happening in the district?”

One of the most liberal places in the country sucks at teaching minorities. Maybe the liberals in Berkeley (and everywhere else) need to wake up to the fact that the achievement gap is not the fault of conservatives, or of white people, or of racism (institutional or otherwise), or of any of their other bugaboos. Maybe they need to realize that there are cultures out there--and not just racial or ethnic cultures, either--that don't look at schools and education the same way that the middle and upper classes do.

Of course, if they realized that and acted on it, they'd have to admit that their ideology is a sham, and they have too much invested in it to let it go. If just feels too good for them, the saviors of the downtrodden.

Hat tip to NewAlert.