The Racist Narrative of ‘Failing Schools’
We hear it all of the time- we need to find ways to support ‘failing schools.’ And yet, there is little questioning of the assumptions underlying this phrase. Still, because of the uncritical acceptance of the existence of failing schools, lots of people are hard at work determining ways to support (i.e, in today’s Orwellian twist of language, ‘destroy’) them.
Let’s look at how this plays out in my home state of Michigan.
In 2011, it was determined by Republican Governor Rick Snyder that the lowest performing 5% of schools were to be taken out of the control of their local districts and put into a new, state-wide district called the Educational Achievement Authority.
How was “lowest performing” determined? By state-wide MEAP test score results.
What do we know about test scores? That the best predictor of success is socio-economic status.
It is well known that what test scores indicate is not ability, but class status and
