CM PRESS # 615

STOP APOLOGIZING FOR BEING WHITE

HERE are some letters received by the DAILY PILOT about its three part series on white flight out of Costa Mesa schools.

As you read through the letters, note how some presumably white people quickly apologize and try to justify their decision to not send their kids to local schools by the de rigueur statement "It's not racism...."

Note also how some gush the usual cliches about wonderful "diversity." 

One writer denies racism twice in his short letter and then uses diversity or diverse three times in a positive sense in one paragraph.

Another writer tells readers they shouldn't give in to "stereotypes" and "unfounded perceptions."  Well, in fact, stereotypes often become stereotypes because there is some truth to them. 

Geez. If the school has a low API score, and a high API score is important to you, why should you waste any time even experimenting by putting your kids in that school if there is another school available with a higher API score and kids who come from families with many of the same characteristics as you and your kids? Where's the payoff in that? 

You say the payoff is that your young kids get to sit in a "diverse" classroom with kids who don't know much English, and who may not have much else in common with them?  Again, where's the payoff? How do you or your kids benefit from that?  But, if that's your choice, that's your business.

Instead of spouting the usual meaningless cliches about the joys of diversity and apologizing for being born white, some of these folks and others who have commented on the DAILY PILOT series should try to build their self-esteem and sense of self-worth and try to find what is genuine and authentic in their own natural identities.  There is no hate in just being who you are, knowing it, liking it, and not apologizing for it.

Here's the truth of your existence:  You, just because you're a living human being, have a right to be who you are and to like yourself and you have a right to make your choices in life in any way that is meaningful to you.

You don't have to apologize for your choices and you don't have to justify them to anyone else.

If you choose to send your kids to a school that is full of kids who look like you, who come from the same economic level, who share the same religion or language or culture, that's your choice and you don't have to apologize for that choice or justify it to anyone. 

Likewise, if you choose to send your kids to a school full of kids who don't look like you, who don't come from the same economic level, who don't share the same religion or language or culture, that again is your choice and you don't have to apologize for it or justify it to anyone.

In fact, you have the right to make such choices based on any criteria that you consider important.

Since most of the letters and comments seem to be about Adams Elementary School in Mesa Verde, let's cut through the verbiage to the numbers (you'll note that none of the letter writers gave these objective numbers).

Adams' API (Academic Performance Index) score for 2010: 768.  This is just one lousy point above the state average API score of 767.

Contrast Adams with Andersen Elementary School in Newport Beach which had an API score of 934 in 2010.  That's 166 points higher than Adams.

HERE's the link to NMUSD's API scores on all schools in the district.

We often hear some teachers, administrators and even some parents complaining about the standardized tests and the standardized reports on the schools.  Why don't they like these things?  It's because the standardized tests and standardized reports give a true picture of the school.  The true picture then allows parents to make apples to apples comparisons and to cut through the attempts to make things appear different than they really are.
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