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SCHENECTADY SCHOOLS
Feds: Blacks, Hispanics treated differently
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
By Kathleen Moore (Contact)
Gazette Reporter  
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Elmer Avenue Elementary School students, leave the school at dismissal Wednesday.
PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER BARBER
Elmer Avenue Elementary School students, leave the school at dismissal Wednesday.
SCHENECTADY — Black and Hispanic children who misbehave are treated far differently than white children in some Schenectady classrooms, the federal Office for Civil Rights said Wednesday.

The office, part of the federal Department of Education, was called in to investigate claims non-white Schenectady children were not given the same opportunities in school as white children.

WORDS
Read the school's agreement with the Department of Education on the Capital Region Scene blog

Investigators found 14 teachers who treated non-white children more harshly than white children by referring them to a special support team.

That referral is the first step in removing a child from the classroom and sending them to special education. There, Schenectady students tend to never catch up academically with their peers.

Assistant Secretary of Education Catherine Lhamon praised the district for working with the Office of Civil Rights to address the issue.

“And, we hope that other school districts follow the district’s lead and take steps to ensure that students are not misidentified as having a disability and misplaced in special education because of their race or national origin,” she said.

Superintendent Laurence Spring has said since his arrival that he was worried by the high percentage of non-white students sent to special education. He told the Office of Civil Rights that he would agree to a series of changes, rather than requiring the agency to fully investigate every claim.

But the office had already found serious problems. In one case, a teacher sent a black student to the support team for misbehavior after he committed one minor altercation, for which he was suspended. The teacher did not send a white student to the team, even though he had committed similar offenses on six occasions — including one offense that was the same as the one for which the black student was suspended.

In another case, a teacher who had a number of misbehaving students referred only black and Hispanic students for their behavior. The agency found the Hispanic student who was referred had five disciplinary infractions, while one white student had 10 infractions and another white student had 11 infractions, all for the same types of misbehavior as the Hispanic student. Yet the white students were not referred.

Another teacher referred a black student after one minor infraction, while not referring a white student with the same infraction, the agency reported.

In another case, investigators said a teacher referred a black student after one incident of disrespectful language, but did not refer a white student who was also disciplined for disrespectful language.

Spring said teachers weren’t consciously treating non-white students differently. But, he said, some teachers found the white students’ behavior easier to manage.

“We have an awful lot of staff members who grew up white and middle class,” he said, suggesting the behavior of some poor, non-white students might be seen differently in the light of a middle-class background.

He added that he thought teachers were trying to reach those students, but they need more techniques and tools.

“On one level, kids get referred to special education because people get frustrated and they don’t know what to do,” he said. “It’s, ‘If I knew what to do, I’d be doing it!’ ”

Still, the Office of Civil Rights found indications of more than just frustration. In some cases, teachers seemed to refer students without a good reason.

One teacher referred a Hispanic student for academic problems even though the student scored at or above grade level on every subject except writing, in which the student was slightly below grade level, according to the agency.

The agency also noted two white students in the same class who scored slightly below grade level in writing and math were not referred. The teacher also didn’t refer a white student who scored far below grade level on reading. That teacher also referred a black student for behavior although there were no discipline records to substantiate the claim, the agency reported.

Investigators questioned some teachers about their referrals. They located a teacher who had referred three non-white students for fidgeting, distractibility and general misbehavior, while not referring three white students who did the same things. They reported the teacher defended the white students, saying one was a “good kid,” the second “only had homework issues,” and the third was “very distractible,” but “not to the level that would have warranted referral.”

Investigators noted in the report the white children in question had disciplinary infractions and grades of “unsatisfactory” and “inconsistent” in behavior and attitude.

Investigators relied heavily on student progress reports to determine whether teachers treated their students fairly. In one case, investigators said a teacher wrote in progress reports to each of her white students that they were a “joy” to have in class. None of the black students were described that way in their progress reports, the agency reported.

That teacher also referred a black student who was at grade level in all her classes and had no disciplinary record. But she did not refer a white student who was below grade level in effort and writing and who was told in a progress report that she had to control her talking and keep her hands to herself.

Similarly, the agency said another teacher referred two black students for being easily distracted, but did not refer a white student despite describing the student on progress reports as having “tremendous difficulty staying focused.”

That happened in several classrooms, the agency reported. In each case, the distracted black students were referred, but the white students were not.

Now the challenge is to change that. Spring said the district is tracking referrals to make sure non-white students aren’t singled out. Since officials started tracking, he’s seen some improvement.

“We’re still seeing some disproportionality, but on a smaller scale,” he said.

He’s also seen improvements due to better training in classroom management.

“It’s going better. We still have a lot more work to do,” he said.

He agreed to make a number of other changes in response to the Office of Civil Rights investigation. The district will create a universal screening program to identify students who need extra help. The district will also develop policies on exactly what circumstances would lead to a student being referred outside the universal screening program.

But the biggest changes will involve the special help teams that are supposed to develop in-classroom interventions so a student does not have to be moved to special education. Investigators found many of those teams did not check to see whether their interventions worked and did not pass on instructions to the next year’s teacher.

Some teachers also told investigators they didn’t keep track of the interventions they were supposed to be doing with the students, and some said they didn’t have time to do the interventions. But the investigators noted teachers at predominantly white schools in the district did not have the same complaint.

The agreement with the Office of Civil Rights also requires the district to train its teachers on the difference between disabilities and other causes of behavior or academic problems. Other causes should be dealt with through other interventions, rather than sending that child to special education.

By Nov. 29, the district will review every student in special education to determine whether they should have been placed there. Students who shouldn’t have gone to special education must be given remedial services during this school year to address any deficits caused by their placement.

The district will also start testing students for disabilities in their own language. The Office of Civil Rights found students who primarily speak a foreign language have been classified as having language disabilities when they might just have trouble understanding English.

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Schenectady School District sues NYS over aid inequity Comment0 Share
See alsoGeneral Education School Budget Lawsuits
The district is suing NYS over aid inequity.
http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/

Barbara MaderAlbany K-12 Examiner
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November 2, 2013  
In an attempt to receive what they believe to be their fair share of State Aid for Education, the Schenectady City School District, Board of Education of the SCSD, and Larry Spring, Superintendent, on behalf of the SCSD students are filing a complaint against the State of New York, the New York Legislature, the Governor of New York, the NY State Education Department, the NY State Board of Regents, and the NY State Commissioner of Education.

The suit claims that New York State has, “discriminated against the students of the Schenectady City School District on the basis of race and/or due to their being English Language Learners and or their having disabilities, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and/or the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973”.

Details state that, “the educational funding structure implemented by New York State by and through Respondents has resulted in de facto discrimination which has compromised the Schenectady City School District’s ability to provide for the educational needs of minority based and non-English speaking students and students with disabilities. This discrimination is particularly acute when compared to the education funding provided to districts with a majority of Caucasian and mostly English speaking students.”

The suit is the latest salvo in a continuing effort by Spring to find funding for the district’s programs, services, and operating expenses. Since taking over as superintendent in 2012, Spring has aggressively addressed funding issues in the district. The 2013-2014 school year began operation with a projected $9 million budget gap despite Governor Cuomo allocating an additional $3million in aid. A projected gap of $16 million by some analysts is predicted by 2016.

The current school year budget deficit has resulted in unwelcome changes throughout the district. Class size have increased, some teaching positions have been cut or cut back, administrative staff has been shuffled to cover more responsibility with fewer people, and some supervisory and administrative positions have been combined or eliminated. Chairperson duties for many special education slots have become school centered instead of central office overseen.

Where Committee on Special Education chair people and other Central Office administrators used to run meetings and oversee service delivery options, school psychologists are now in charge in their school(s). Former district level administrators have returned to school centered positions in some cases. Support staff positions have also been shuffled in an effort to save money.

Over 85 teacher aide positions were eliminated, garnering complaints from parents who feel their children are not receiving the education assistance in the classroom and other support areas (particularly special education) that they need to succeed academically.

Plans to eliminate some primary level music classes and increase higher grade level options were dropped after parent complaints and review of research that indicates early music education helps children’s brains develop skills needed for reading, listening, following directions, organization, and metacognition.

Spring also has plans for reopening some closed schools, redistricting some areas, and realigning grade levels in many schools. Some of these predicted moves are also unpopular with parents who have already had their children shuffled from school to school. As an example, Kindergartens have moved from home schools to a central location and now back to some elementary schools. Reasons given are that the classrooms become open due to population shifts, special class needs, and teacher availability. Some parents have complained that their children have needed to switch schools almost yearly, disrupting academic continuity and social relationships.

Spring’s suit says that the funding disparity causes a discriminatory impact that is particularly acute in the Schenectady City School District. The suit alleges that the “discriminatory practices of implementing the education funding formula results in the District’s students receiving significantly less aid then their white counterparts in other school districts and insufficient funding levels to ensure that non-English-speaking students and students with disabilities overcome language barriers. This has directly and regularly impacted student

achievement. Under the (state’s) current education funding scheme, the more “white” a school district’s population, the more likely the district receives all, or close to all, of the aid it was promised under the constitutionally mandated state aid formula.”

Spring is holding a public meeting on Tuesday, November 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Central Park School to talk about this Civil Rights Complaint the district is filing with the U.S. Department of Justice and welcomes anyone who is interested to sign the complaint at that time.

Click here to read the entire complaint. Click here to read more about Inequities in State Aid.

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Quoted from rachel72

CLASSIC!!!

The City School District files a lawsuit claiming that the State is discriminatory and is withholding funds for minority and non-english speaking students.

Then the State does an investigation and finds that the Schenectady School District is actually being discriminatory, mistreating hispanic and black students and placing more minority students in special education.

Hummm....packing special education classes with minorities just to get more State funding.

That sounds so criminal, so disgusting.....and this is the sort of garbage going on everyday for the City kids. No wonder they aren't graduating, the Admin is simply using them as pawns in getting State money.