According to the court, the use of race in student assignment is unconstitutional.
In describing the impact of the decision, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said, "What this court said was even though only a few slots were determined by race, that's too many. You just simply can't consider race in deciding which school kids go to."
While the Court's decision received massive press coverage, and has been frequently compared to the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, the word appears to have never made down as far as Orange County Board of Education Member Liz Brown.
Perhaps, if she had bothered to attend even a single Board meeting between June and September, she would have heard something about this development. But since she obviously places such a low importance on her responsibilities to the children of Orange County, it is not surprising that she is blissfully ignorant of the law.
This ignorance was on full display this past Thursday night, as Liz proposed a plan for "balancing" Hillsborough Elementary School that would "cap the enrollment of white students" until there are "enough minorities" enrolled.
In Liz Brown's plan, "a lot of you" would be denied enrollment at HES, unless you win a "lottery" held among only white children. This is a clear violation of the Supreme Court's decision, and would be destined to land the Orange County Board of Education in federal court.
Watch for yourself.
Should someone with either a profound ignorance of educational law, or a philosophical disdain for decisions of the US Supreme Court, really be responsible for setting educational policy in Orange County?
6 comments:
The Board need to offer an immediate and sincere apology for Liz's total disregard for the law and our children's education. I cannot believe this is happening in Orange County.
Let's help, not hide our children. It takes dedication from all, especially dedication from our Board. To start with, ATTEND ALL MEETINGS! And, when you are at the meetings SPEAK UP! I don't know why a couple of members even show up because they will not talk. Speak up so Orange County can hear you! With Liz on the Board, you don't have to worry about being singled out.
Actually, IMO that sentence should read - With Liz on the board, you don't have to worry about looking like an idiot. Everyone appears smart sitting next to her.
Don't forget that most of them voted for this stupid plan.
Maybe they are remembering what their mothers told them. It is better to be quiet and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the data for CES (which I'm sure has changed some) from Feb. 27, 2007 was as follows:
FRL - 25.7% black and 22.7% white
Non FRL - 14% black and 21.7 % white
These are not huge disparities. To me this is clearly NOT a race issue. With such similar FRL populations, why is Liz repeatedly and illegally bringing race into it? As a white HES parent, it is so frustrating to me. If I were a black parent from CES, I'd be livid. Black does not equal FRL.
Unfortunately, I think that the BOE has opened themselves up to legal action. This is Pandora's Box and the BOE must be very careful with how they proceed. You can't continually anger this many parents in the name of the "Peer Effect", break the law and expect parents to sit back and be quiet.
If we still haven't made ourselves clear, you must clean up the entire district. SES balance is important, but it isn't worth a money-draining lawsuit b/c you can't reign one of your members in. I'm done with the race argument, get it right and get your comments with in the legal boundaries. Dennis, you are an attorney and these comments shouldn't have happened with you as chair. This is risky territory and it must stop immediately.
Liz's thoughts are that FRL=minorities=bad test scores
and
Non FRL=white=good test scores.
This is an insult to all people. I don't know why she would state that she doesn't believe a "minority majority" school is not a good thing (and to say it's based on her morals is being nothing more than self-righteous). Liz needs to apologize immediately. This racist undertones are not acceptable in Orange County.
IMPEACH LIZ!!!
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