| "Educational programs in the Plano Schools are not working equally for diverse student groups and steps taken to overcome economic conditions are insufficient to benefit all students" |
USP editors' comment; The underlying assumption of the auditors is that various groups of students ought to be treated as groups, rather than individuals; that quotas solve problems; and that certain types of people just need special help. This is a premise that PISD ought to reject, and their reaction to this section of the audit should prove very instructive.
"Discipline: (G)ood schools understand the value of active teaching and self-discipline as deterrants to disciplinary problems. No group, either male or female, minority or non-minority, is over represented in the number of students punished for perceived inappropriate behavior."
What the auditors, and the PISD, need to understand is that there are only two groups whose representation among those receiving punishment legitimately reflects upon effective discipline: those who misbehave, and those who do not.
A summary or "representation" stats (for what they are worth): "Special Education: Site visits revealed many examples of inclusion as the major approach to serving special needs students. Special Education, however, is not without its problems."
"As reported in a document provided by the district, the auditors found that both senior high schools 'exceeded the OCR standard (20%) for number of African American students who were placed in special education.' It was found that the over representation of referrals made for this group was a strategy used to exempt students from exit level TAAS."
USP editors comment: Despite the obvious implication of racial discrimination, the real story here is the suggestion that, once again, PISD's high test scores do not necessarily reflect on anything the schools are doing. It seems that when students are having trouble, we simply drop them from the average. We have no reason to believe that this practice is confined to African Americans.
We do not feel it is necessary to further excerpt from this finding. If you enjoy quota analysis, we recommend you obtain a copy of the full report.