A federal district court judge’s ruling that found an Illinois school district discriminated against gifted Hispanic students is just the latest example that “separate is inherently unequal,” says 菠萝视频 University鈥檚 , who served as an expert witness for the plaintiff in the .
Judge Robert Gettleman recently ruled that the Elgin, Ill., school district U-46 discriminated against Hispanic students by operating a separate program for gifted Hispanic students who learned English as a second language.
Ford, a leading expert on equitable practices in gifted education, says this verdict proves that discrimination, either intentional or unintentional, is illegal and will not be tolerated.
鈥淭his case sends a really important warning, and I do mean warning, to all of the 6,000 school districts in the nation, that you鈥檝e got to clean up your act; you can鈥檛 run segregated programs,鈥� Ford, a professor of education and human development at 菠萝视频 University鈥檚 , said. 鈥淐learly, intentional discrimination is illegal, but the judge ruled that even if you are unintentionally discriminating, it could still be illegal and is unacceptable.鈥�
In recent years, only 2 percent of students in the Illinois district U-46 gifted program have been Hispanic, despite the fact that the student population is more than 40 percent Hispanic. The underrepresentation of Hispanic students was due in part to the district鈥檚 separate gifted program for English language learners.
Ford says the judge鈥檚 decision renewed the Brown v. Board of Education principle that 鈥榮eparate is inherently unequal,鈥� referring to the landmark 1954 case that declared separate schools for white and black students unconstitutional.
鈥淭his is the most contemporary case of discrimination in education to date and proves that even unintentional discrimination closes the door for gifted minority students,鈥� Ford said. 鈥淓ven if you don鈥檛 mean to discriminate, that is not an excuse to keep doing business as usual.鈥�
The court also found that the policies, procedures and instruments used by the district to screen and identify gifted students resulted in a 鈥渟erious disparate impact鈥� on Hispanic and black students.
鈥淲hen you consider that nearly every school district in the U.S. is being confronted with underrepresentation, let them learn the dos and don鈥檛s of discrimination from this one-of-a-kind court case,鈥� Ford said. 鈥淚f school districts aren鈥檛 proactive, it opens the door for litigation. Other districts need to learn from this case so they don鈥檛 commit the same errors.鈥�
Ford is an expert on gifted students with an emphasis on minority children and youth. Her research focuses on recruitment and retention of diverse students in gifted education, underachievement among diverse students, equity issues in testing and assessment, multicultural education and issues in urban education.