Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
While teachers have fixated on one piece of history to convince the public that choice is a racist concept, they have taken a very different approach to defending their own schools. They ignore some undeniably racist pieces of their own history. They also insist that systemic racism that permeates the schools proves that we need to strengthen the schools.
I could talk about how government-run schools only started allowing black students to attend because the Supreme Court forced them to, but I want to focus more on the systemic argument. Teachers like to think they are enlightened. They look for systemic racism in everything. They see it in their own schools. One piece of the racism puzzle that they like to mention is the school-to-prison pipeline. I like to think of it as the prison-to-prison pipeline. I find the school-to-prison pipeline to be a really bizarre argument. Teachers are insisting that their actions lead to criminal behavior.
How do we solve the problem with systemic racism including the school-to-prison pipeline in our schools? The primary argument has been to strengthen the existing system. We need to throw even more money at the status quo. If we throw enough money at it, it will magically disappear.
There is some validity to the school-to-prison pipeline. Schools promote a credentialist society. Minorities have disproportionately less credentials. More doors are slammed shut. People who lack opportunity are more likely to act out of desperation. People who act out of desperation are less likely to adhere to laws.
There is an overlap with mental health issues. I can certainly understand how emotional abuse can factor in criminal behavior. Emotional abuse is more likely to be aimed at students who, for a variety of reasons, struggle with the system. For example, emotional abuse is frequently used as a motivational tool for students who aren't performing up to expectations. Although I don't believe this is racially motivated, it is more likely to impact minorities.
Like I have stated while discussing mental health, our solution should be to address underlying issues. Credentialism is a big one. If we ensured there were alternative pathways to success, there would be fewer implications for not fitting the narrow and rigid mold that our schools were built around. If we stopped treating it as a crime to learn outside the confines of a restrictive schooling environment, people without degrees might view real crime in a more serious manner. If we stopped defining everything in terms of a schooling system that embraces systemic racism, those schools shouldn't have as much of an impact on systemic racism.
Instead of addressing the underlying problems, we're pushing more-of-the-same solutions. How do we increase graduation rates among minorities in high schools? Let's ignore how much a diploma has already lost value. How do we get more minorities to continue to college? Let's ignore the implications on credential inflation and how a credentialist arms race benefits those who can invest in even more attractive credentials. Let's also ignore that our suggestions for college match how we previously handled high school. Just look at our high schools. Why would treating college the same way provide the opposite results?
Credentialism is more about socioeconomic status than race, but there is no question that credentialism has been a disaster for minorities. The solution we are providing does nothing to address the problems of credentialism. Instead, it strengthens this flawed and inequitable concept. Credential inflation means that more expensive credentials become necessary to stand out. We embrace the idea that success comes down to a credentialist arms race. Economic mobility, which has already become greatly diminished due to credentialism, becomes almost non-existent. Strengthening credentialism will ultimately harm those we claim to be interested in helping.
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