Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs

[The Northerner]

Source: East Bay Express

Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students.

The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High's School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse.

Paul Gibson, an alternate parent representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students. He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous.

Science teachers were understandably horrified by the proposal. "The majority of the science department believes that this major policy decision affecting the entire student body, the faculty, and the community has been made without any notification, without a hearing," said Mardi Sicular-Mertens, the senior member of Berkeley High School's science department, at last week's school board meeting.

...

The full plan to close the racial achievement gap by altering the structure of the high school is known as the High School Redesign. It will come before the Berkeley School Board as an information item at its January 13 meeting. Generally, such agenda items are passed without debate, but if the school board chooses to play a more direct role in the High School Redesign, it could bring the item back as an action item at a future meeting.

Read more: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/berkeley-high-may-cut-out-science-labs/Content?oid=1536705&cb=9d164d8146006fda29328dc547b948f1&sort=desc#readerComments

[Teaser]

1. can't have those underserved youngsters larnin' that science

....

[Joanne98]

2. Elimate science classes? Aren't the fundies doing enough of that?

[daleo]

3. This shouldn't be either/or

Science labs are pretty fundamental to high school education. Taxation and public priorities have to be badly screwed up, for things to come to this.

[depakid]

4. The comments under the thread were impressive

tough to find anything (including the article itself) more indicative of America's descent into third world status.

[momto3]

5. Well...

That is another terrific way of guaranteeing we can compete with scientists from Europe and Asia.

:sarcasm:

How short sighted can we possibly be?

[madrchsod]

6. no science lab-no four year school

they would have to take community college class 101 or 102 to make up the lab course.

[marshall]

15. I think that's the point

It would move their results more in line with the average.

[marshall]

16. NCLB was a bipartisan effort (thanks, Ted Kennedy!)

That explains why it's not mentioned in the article--the forces behind it cancel each other out.

This is in line with the direction of NCLB, and the sentiment behind it is not doubt why Senator Kennedy fought so hard to get it passed.

[donco6]

20. Yes. And how can they stay accredited?

This just seems crazy.

[FBaggins]

21. Because the OP tells less than the whole story.

The school isn't getting rid of lab-related subjects (Biology, Chemistry, etc)... they're getting rid of "labs" that were optional events that happened before or after the normal school day.

[Downwinder]

7. You don't need science to operate a POS terminal.

Science is not necessary in a service based economy. Basic reaganomics .

[alp227]

8. You never know when "consider" slides into "will do"

If enough people howl about this, the Berkeley school board will know better. And for crying out loud, why did the community not get a say in this proposal that was left to a mere few "teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school"? This is far worse than the creationist raids on public schools in the heartland. What a bad public relations stumble.

[theoldman]

9. I am surprised they are not going to replace them with classes in religion.

How do the parents of minority students expect their children to compete for jobs if they stay scientifically ignorant.

[mike_c]

10. words fail me....

:cry:

[Blandocyte]

11. All them kids need to know

is right there in the Bible. Science is the devil's work.

:evilfrown: :sarcasm:

[PavePusher]

19. This isn't being promoted by fundies...

But you knew that, right?

[JonQ]

12. So to account for black and hispanic students not performing well

compared to white students their plan is to remove a class that they feel white students do too well in? That's your plan!?!?! Instead of bringing everyone up to some level you're trying to make them all equally uneducated?

[Synicus Maximus]

13. "The science labs were largely classes for white students"

So they want to get rid of science labs to close the racial achievement gap? Why not get rid of all academic subjects then there won't be a gap.

[Hannah Bell]

14. What comments here miss is that this outcome is the direct result of Bush's No Child Left Behind.

The article doesn't help readers understand this; they'd rather readers drew the conclusion it's about "PC run wild" or stupid public schools.

Media is in the pocket of the neo-lib privatizers.

[mainer]

17. It will accelerate the flight to private schools

This is a great way for public schools to drive out any hope of retaining students who really care about education.

[jmowreader]

18. Here's how I read this

1. The school's scores on the NCLB tests are bad enough that the school is in line to be taken over by a charter or closed.

2. The reason for (1) is the nonwhite population of the school is REALLY dragging down the numbers. The Caucasian population is doing okay, but their scores won't support the whole school for long.

3. In order to stave off (1) they are going to eliminate everything in the curriculum except teaching the test. If it's not on the NCLB test it's not going to be taught--and, sadly enough, NCLB tests look only at English and math.

The only problem is...once they implement (3) they are going to have to face (4) and (5) which are...

4. An accredited school must offer laboratory science.

5. You can't even get into barber college without laboratory science in your transcript. And forget the notion that these ill-educated students can get in the Army--the current Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery can't be passed by someone without a laboratory science background.

[SheilaT]

22. On the positive side,

this will help ease the crunch of too many graduates of high school in California chasing after too few spaces in the public universities.