Interesting how school stereotypes work

[LuckyTheDog]

I get a lot of flack from my family for living in Detroit and (HORRORS!) sending my grade-school son to a Detroit public school. I mean, hey, what am I, nuts? Don't I know that Detroit is horrendously dangerous and has the WORST SCHOOLS IN THE NATION? I must be a VERY BAD PARENT!

Well, guess what. I just checked some data the state put out. My son's elementary school is in the 81st percentile state-wide. The "nice, safe" small-town elementary school I went to (the one in SUCH A NICE PLACE TO RAISE CHILDREN), well, it's in the 21st percentile.

And, Oh, BTW... when he was tested last year, in third grade, my son could read at a grade level of 6.8. He also tested more than a grade level ahead in math.

[provis99]

1. yes, but Detroit has BLACK PEOPLE!!! AHHHHHH!!!

that's really what it's all about; they don't care about the reputation of schools, they go by the racial percentages of the student body.

[LuckyTheDog]

2. You got it.

That's also why my nephew (about the same age as my son) has not been allowed to spend the night at our house. It's a shame, because the two boys get along great. I wish they could see each other more.

I am white, as is my wife. My son (who is adopted) is of mixed-race heritage. He looks a little more black than he looks white. (But mainly, he's handsome as heck.) My feeling is that, in mostly white school, he'd get singled out as the "black kid." In the school he is in, he gets questions from the kids ("so, what's the deal? Are you black or white?" He always answers "both"). But generally, he fits in. He has black friends and white friends, one good pal who is an immigrant from India. It's cool.