NYC's Gay High School

sozobe wrote:

The thing with the precedent is not that it exists or that it's silly, but that it wasn't the thin edge of the wedge. Arguments here seem to be saying something like, "Well one school is fine, but the problem is what this will start." I'm saying that there have been similar precedents (silly or not) that haven't started any kind of sweeping change.

But I am not aware of a single separate facility for black students having been setup on the premise that the students needed a safe haven in which to learn. One of which I am aware was setup for black boys only. The concept was that these children needed strong black male models that were lacking in most of their lives and the school was staffed to provide for this need. This had nothing to do with creating a safe place for them to go, nor has anyone argued that gay students have special educational needs. I see yours as an apples and oranges comparison. (Nicely made, of course, but apples and oranges just the same. )

The PACE investigation also reveals that [----- students] attending charter schools are more isolated than those attending regular public schools. In charter schools serving the largest number of ----- students, enrollments are 80 percent -----, on average...

"Some [---] educators are attracted to the charter school mechanism, aiming to reinforce their communities and identity," said study co-author, Marytza Gawlik, a doctoral student at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education.

How is their education being affected?

Gay teens in U.S. schools are often subjected to such intense bullying that they're unable to receive an adequate education.5

They're often embarrassed or ashamed of being targeted and may not report the abuse. GLBT students are more apt to skip school due to the fear, threats, and property vandalism directed at them.6

One survey revealed that 22 percent of gay respondents had skipped school in the past month because they felt unsafe there.7

Twenty-eight percent of gay students will drop out of school. This is more than three times the national average for heterosexual students.8

GLBT youth feel they have nowhere to turn. According to several surveys, four out of five gay and lesbian students say they don't know one supportive adult at school.9

Nope. For every single student who leaves, there is a probability of 1/30 that this will eliminate one class and free resources for educating 30 students. The cost saved on average is 30/30 times the cost of educating one student

No one advocates creating separate schools for black students on the basis that we can't make existing schools safe or supportive for them. That argument would (and should) be met with derision. I am inclined to think the same is true here.

In the book, Diana Reay and Heidi Safia Mirza look at black supplementary schools, so-called "Saturday morning schools" where parents attempt to fill the gaps left by a system that they see as having abandoned their children.

"One of the things we really succeed in is giving the children a positive sense of self," one parent told the researchers.

Majors believes these schools offer a model for policy-makers. "In desperate circumstances you have to consider other solutions." He argues that schools led by black teachers and rooted in the community they serve are the answer. They certainly could not make the situation any worse.

"I would have no problem with race-specific agendas. Inclusion work is futile - we are already separated by race, by class. No matter how badly a child was doing in school, if he knew he was in a place where he was secure, where he was appreciated, where people treated him fairly, he would remain engaged."

I read an article in one of my daughter's teen mags recently, featuring a couple of Milk students.

There are already govt funded schools for students with behavior problems, and I think Milk references these type of schools more closely than all-black or all-girl schools.

Many of Milk's students have been in fights, and misdirected anger to teachers--trying to cope with being singled out, harrassed and treated badly. The 'behavior schools' are a needed, valuable service for a segment of our children--and I think Milk specializes in this area.

You don't have to have a history of behavior problems to attend Milk, but most children who would choose Milk most likely do so (in the absence of behavior problems) because they haven't felt comfortable in the regular public school environment. I am grateful this school is a choice for students. We lose so many to suicide. Most, during their high school years.

4Report from the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide (Paul Gibson, US Department of Health and Human Services), 1989

littlek
And those statistic indicate what? That they must be kept separate from the general population? I doubt that. These people no doubt have many physiological problems that they have trouble dealing with.
Can you perhaps find the same statitics relative to adults. I wonder if they follow the same pattern.