Changing schools Student transience is a reality

Changing schools
Student transience is a reality; racism should not be

Oct 20, 2001

The furor is lessening over a remark by MCHS Principal Mark Rappe, who in a faculty meeting reportedly cited "Navajo gypsies" as one cause for low CSAP scores at the school. Now it’s time for everyone involved to address two disparate issues that were raised by the controversy.

The first is the absolute inappropriateness of racism and racist-sounding language in an educational setting. Any action that makes students feel marginalized surely must make the educational process more difficult, and those students who are the subject of such remarks logically would feel unwelcome in the school.

The main reason ordinary people (as opposed to committed bigots) make racist remarks is that under stress, resentments that have been lurking in their minds come flying out of their mouths. Regret immediately follows, and an immediate, sincere apology is usually the best way to defuse a painful situation.

The next step, though, is to analyse why such resentments are harbored in the first place, and address the situations that perpetuate them. At the very least, students who are expected to display respect for teachers and administrators should be accorded the same respect, and that respect should be real, not window dressing. We all need to work toward mutual respect.

Students who requested open and honest discussion of the realities of prejudice within this school system believe they were not accorded the attention and respect they deserved, and many people looking in from the outside agree that discussion forums would be a positive step toward greater understanding. That’s a healthier response than sweeping negative feelings under the rug to continue festering.

The second issue that must be addressed is the educational reality of student transience. Ideally, perhaps, all students would grow up in two-parent families that were emotionally functional and economically stable, and they’d live in the same house in the same community and attend the same school system until they left for college. Be that as it may, large numbers of students have a different experience, and our schools need to address their needs.

Continuity in education is undeniably important, and that’s one reason that broader curriculum standards have been developed. Students in all Colorado first-graders are aiming for the same goals, for example. But we live in the Four Corners, with three other states within a very few miles, and that means that some of the students who move into our community have been prepared not only differently but not as well.

That may be unfortunate, but blaming the victims of such a social phenomenon does not make it go away. It must be mitigated in the same way racism must be mitigated: by being addressed honestly and openly, so that the community can be involved in the solution. Attractive communities welcome incoming families and find ways to accommodate their children’s educational needs. All communities lose some students to out-migration, and it may be that schools elsewhere are grousing about those we’ve sent them.

Transience cannot be used as an excuse or an accusation. Not all students can grow up in the Cherry Creek school system, and not all educators can work there. The rest of us must do the best we can with what we have, and acknowledging reality, without bitterness, is a good first step.