"The data doesn't explain why the disparities exist…" Really!!! How stupid are these people? We are really getting a lot of value out of this pack of nitwits at the education department…...I wonder if they considered looking for anything other than race when looking at their data..I bet not.
Consider that 72.3 percent of non-Hispanic blacks are now born out-of-wedlock verses’ 29.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites why is it a shock that black children are acting out in school. If their mothers care so little about them that they fail to make sure that daddy is going to be around to help raise them, why does anyone think they would give a damn about what their little darling does at school.
When the white kid does something wrong at school the mother…and father…are likely to say something like “Why did you do that? ….don’t do it again!!!
The single minority mother is likely to say something like “Why is that White Bitch teacher always after you?” This sort of racist “us against them” attitude is strongly re-enforced by the current administration.

Now I realize that I will get tarred by the race brush for having the effrontery to point out that “The emperor has no clothes” But THAT DOES NOT STOP THIS FROM BEING TRUE!

Let me also ask you, at your church, how does sunday school break out? are 4-5 year olds just participating in the nursery school room? I imagine they are pulled into their own class with an educational curriculum-not just play time. I am not saying that age needs to go to preschool, I just think you can bathe two babies with one tub of bath water. ;)

well the article is clear that "high quality" preschool programs show measurable benefits through 5th grade. You and I will agree head start would not qualify as high quality. Although not trained as a teacher, my parents were both teachers-my mom a primary grade teacher-so I felt I had some understanding of the quality of teh programs my children participated in. and my point is, there are high quality preschools out there, some publicly funded, which are not a daycare situation. Often they are 2 or 3 1/2 day a week programs-hardly daycare. Can we not separate those out?

I want clarity in any discussion like this, so here are the results of preschool - http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2009/01/21/d...

I think the jury is out about if preschool really makes kids better students later (that WAS the reason for it to be created). But, with what we see preschool morphing into (baby sitters and parental substitutes), I question it's value.

I should have added teenage mothers who are still children themselves.

every kid who is suspended points like a arrow to the fact that preschool has FAILED as a concept. It is not school, it's a baby sitting service that exists to free up moms so they can go back to work. OK if that's what we want, but lets be honest.

What we are missing is the these minority children have a much higher percentage of mothers who don't work. Since that is also the case, why does it exist?

The REAL PC reason preschool was started was to help these kids get a equal start with white kids. Now minority kids are being kicked out for acting out and disobeying the rules?? Why not put it in the lost flight's black hole and make it disappear. Why are you surprised and why not admit it's a failure?

you may be right, but I think there are some excellent preschool programs out there, some of them publicly funded. I was a stay at home mom for my children in their early years and both of them attended preschool programs. I think Headstart is a complete failure, partly because it is run by the government. I don't know how it is in every state, but in the school districts my kids attended (in 3 states) they offer parents assessments on 3-4 year olds. Some simple like hearing and vision tests. But also they try and gauge development- can your child count to 10, do they know the alphabet, those kinds of things. For children with some developmental delays they may qualify for early preschools. My son was not speaking at two, it turns out he was like Dr. Sowell ;), although he was developmentally doing other things at a kinder level, they encouraged me to enroll him. I did and actually was glad for it. He chose not to speak but still enjoyed his preschool. We eventually hired a speech therapist. My point is, why are so many children suspended whose parents may be on assistance and unemployed?
The child is around their unemployed parent more than a child with two working parents is- why the behavioral delay? Again, I wonder how many of these children are boys just being little boys. Part of it could be the environment they are raised in. Areas of high poverty with lots of gangs, for example?

That's because school is no longer school. It's a Pre-K through 12th grade Babysitting venture.

Anything that can be learned or may be learned is a distant second place in importance.

They are being programmed at an early age to obey and cave to the authoratarian. Ever read Brave New World? So did the current "social architect" goon squad driving our nation into ruin - except where rational people said "Oh, the horrors", the goons said "We can program them to obey us from cradle to grave".

Thinking about it, where getting suspended used to mean shame and punishment when one got home, I think I'd now reward the kids for not kowtowing to the almighty School Board. If they suspend kids for showing basic American liberties, then its the school system that is broken, not the kids!

I don't think anyone should become a parent without first taking parenting and child development classes. However, this should be a social norm, not the law.

Exactly... wear the wrong shirt on the wrong day, get suspended (and Barry don't care). Make the symbol of a gun with your thumb & finger, get suspended (and Barry don't care). Give a classmate a kiss or a hug, get suspended (and Barry don't care). Be black and get suspended for any reason... suddenly Barry cares.

They only get so many clean slates before I start saying things like "I'd really like to believe you but you've lied to me 3 times that I know of so I don't think I should trust you anymore. Would you trust you if you were me?"

yea. but it's not the child's fault. but I am loathe to get the state involved. better to re-set in school....I know, that's dangerous too

Maybe they're just not taught discipline and manners at home. Could that have anything to do with it?

If there are behavioral problems it should go back to the parent's lap to deal with, that's the point of the suspension. Stay home with the parents, and not allowed into class because of his/her disruptive or mean behavior towards others. Unfortunately the parent is usually the problem to begin with. And this has NOTHING to do with color. Race is used as a reason to blame something other than what the real problem is...which is usually bad parenting. Once we figure out how to fix stupid out of existence, we won't have this problem.... or many many other problems this country currently has. Any ideas on how to fix THAT?

ah...I have personally kicked -uh I mean re-set- some little preschool butts. afterwards, everyone starts with a clean slate ;)

No. I don't buy them at all. Suspension numbers are very low in elementary. I think they were cooked to play that race card to death.

I agree with that too...now that I see it every day. However, bad parenting does children no good at any age. They create their own monsters that will bite them in the ass when they hit teen years.

First; I have never agreed that putting 3, 4, or 5 yr old children in structured social situations is good for anyone, unless your goal is to start programming as early as possible. Even with good parenting, not all children at that age are going to be able to adapt as easily.

As for parents that turn that age child over to some state run institution to guide and punish through humiliating exile. well...

agreed. but why are preschoolers getting suspended? I think it's more about controlling parents than educating.

well kids are getting suspended for wearing certain teeshirts on the wrong day-why should we trust an alarmingly high number of preschoolers getting suspended? The small number-well- It's definitely the parent's fault they have a little thug unless they are a sociopath-but they are 4-5 years old. School systems have plenty of money and resources to be addressing those issues. heck we have tv shows that do it in a couple of episodes...I certainly understand the disruptive situations these children can pose in a classroom. Do you really buy these high numbers?