Florida Sets Race Based Academic Goals

There's no other way to put this headline than to label it what it is: racist.  Florida has set new math and reading goals based on race.  

On Tuesday, the (Florida State Board of Education) board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

I find this kind of racism appalling.  To expect less from a student, to assume they can't learn as much or as efficiently as another student because of their skin color is offensive- and it should be offensive not just to blacks and Hispanics, but to whites and Asians too.

As the mother of a young biracial child, I took note of the racial statistics in school districts in which we were looking for homes and found that every single school district in our surrounding area has black and Hispanic children falling behind Asian and white students.  What was more shocking was researching the communities, like the one we decided to purchase in for example, has two elementary schools, both of which feed from just our neighborhood.  Our neighborhood is part of one HOA.  We have no apartments, and the homes in the neighborhood range from $100k-$300k.  The socioeconomic difference, although there is some, is minimal considering we all live in the same community.  There is no reason for black children and Hispanic children to be trailing white and Asian children so drastically.  This research led me further down the path of determining that in order to give my child a fair chance, one that our local teachers are apparently unable to provide without consideration to race, I should homeschool my child.

There is no reason to set the bar any different for children based on their race.  This isn't just racist, it's accepting less from otherwise intelligent and capable children.  It's systematically telling them that their skin color ISN'T enough.  It's a mixed message as children learn about their forefathers during Black History Month and learn that everything Martin Luther King Jr fought for was all for naught because as it turns out, the world does think you are less than the white man.  The same teachers who say you can do and be anything you want don't think you're capable of reading at grade level.  This should tick you off.  This should tick all of us off.  Who knows if this action will mean anything to Florida, but if you're as upset as I am, even if you don't live in Florida, please, take action and email your thoughts and opinions on this racist expectation at Commissioner@fldoe.org.