"DIVERSITY" NOT WORKING

Intractible discipline problems with black students

Nearly a decade ago, the Kent School District was praised by parents, students and civil rights groups for its bold plan to stem racial discrimination and train staff. Today, the very same district faces possible lawsuits over claims by 12 black students who say they were manhandled and handcuffed by school security officers. The stark contrast is emblematic of how schools nationwide have struggled to implement diversity programs, experts say.....

Benjamin Baez, associate professor of educational policy studies at Georgia State University, said educators often are expected to improve test scores and "uneducate people about racism and make them better workers" while funds are cut for the very programs that would help achieve those goals.

"Now when we talk about diversity training we're talking as much about closing the achievement gap as we are about discipline procedures," Grohe said.

In claims filed last month by the NAACP, 12 black students, ranging in age from 11 to 17, say they were the victims of excessive force by school security officers. One student, 13-year-old Sierra Douglass-Swanson, says she was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground, a security officer's knees pressing into her back as her arms were wrenched behind her and handcuffs closed around her wrists. Douglass-Swanson acknowledges flailing her arms and kicking her legs in an attempt to get free from the guard. She was charged with assault, placed in juvenile detention overnight and expelled.....

Today, all employees must undergo diversity and cultural sensitivity training, district spokeswoman Becky Hanks said.

During the 1989-90 school year, minorities in the school district made up nearly 15 percent of the student population. Today they are about 35 percent. And while blacks account for more than 10 percent of the district's 26,400 students, they represent about 59 percent of students disciplined since September 2003, according to district security reports.

"The numbers show there is a disparity. It's really clear that it's based on race, and the race is black," said Joyce Harris, director of the Equity Center for Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Portland, Ore.

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