How many times do we have to be shocked by disproportionality in our education, health, and criminal justice systems?
The Band-Aid solutions suggested to increase black and Latinx student enrollment in Boston’s exam schools do not eliminate systemwide tracking by race, which begins in the fourth grade with Advanced Work Classes (“Test is called hurdle to exam school diversity,” Page A1, Oct. 2). Exam schools are designed essentially to maintain our country’s racial hierarchy, and they result in concentrating students with the most needs in under-resourced schools.
The more logical approach to addressing the root cause of racial inequity is to dismantle institutions such as exam schools and create culturally responsive, asset-focused schools that engage black and Latinx students both academically and civically. When we achieve that goal, this conversation about opportunities for some will no longer be necessary.
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Rosann Tung and Dan French
Boston
The authors are public education activists and parents of a BPS student.