<p>I am sure many posters are aware of the Dept of Education's Office of Civil Rights, the same agency responsible for forcing colleges to adopt the "more likely than not" standard for pursuing sexual discrimination cases, such as date rape on college campuses. Well, the other day it entered into an agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District to settle charges of unintentional discrimination toward limited English speaking Hispanics and African Americans. It would require the District to adopt sweeping revisions in the way it teaches these students. The revisions are essentially unspecified, but generally would require the District to provide more effective teachers for these students. The LA Times says, "the district will concentrate on students who have reached high school without mastering the English skills necessary to enroll in a college-preparatory curriculum." </p>
<p>I am not sure why this is limited to Hispanics and African Americans, as I would assume most white students in the LAUSD probably do not have adequate skills for college level courses. Of course the LAUSD is broke and has no way to pay for additional resources to comply with the settlement, but I suppose they will think about this at some later date. I wonder how the teachers union will react to this mandate for more effective teachers. I don't think they're about to voluntarily change their tenure and seniority practices to assist the District with this settlement. </p>
<p>Here are some sobering statistics: 29% of students learning English are proficient in Math. Among African American students, 38% are proficient in English.</p>
<p>LAUSD</a> agrees to revise how English learners, blacks are taught - latimes.com</p>