Monday, March 20, 2006

School district considering Afrocentric classrooms

Evanston in Illinois is what Berkeley is to California.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required.

Evanston/Skokie District 65 officials will vote Monday night on whether to launch an African-centered curriculum at two elementary schools where almost half the pupils are black.

The proposal for the pilot project has been controversial because some parents say it would segregate children by race. Supporters, however, maintain that the program could help close the achievement gap between white and black pupils.

Most of the seven board members declined to speak on the record about the issue or how they planned to vote at Monday's meeting.

"It will likely result in single-race classrooms in a city that has a long history of integration," board member Mary Rita Luecke said.

But board member Jerome Summers said the program, which could begin in the fall, is the best way to help underachieving black students stay in school.

My belief concurs with Ms. Luecke's.

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