Brooks admits; institutional racism "certainly probably" a problem in the APS

The exact words reported in the Journal this morning, link.

Brooks emphasized that as a large organization, APS likely has problems with discrimination.

“I acknowledge there’s institutionalized racism,” Brooks said. “I acknowledge that discrimination is an issue in all large institutions, and it certainly probably is in ours.”

Probably? Does he really not know if there is institutional discrimination in his organization?

Maybe he should take a bus tour, link, around his own administration.

Frankly, I am aghast that he admits the existence of the problem at all. It is his desk where the buck stops, wikilink, on "institutional" anything.

He owns the problem. If there is institutional racism, it is because Brooks didn't make it clear to his subordinates,
there will be no institutional racism.

As to what might motivate Brooks to admit to a "shared" problem, and purely speculating: I think Brooks is willing to admit to sharing a problem with everybody else, in order not to have to talk about student discipline in the APS, link.

A recent audit found the leadership of the APS routinely falsified crime statistics to make schools look good, link.

There is a reason APS doesn't gather data on student discipline.

Does anyone really supposed that student discipline, the ineffectual administrative handling of chronically disruptive students, and the effects therefrom, have no effect on teaching and learning in classrooms?


I think Kent Walz and the Journal would rather chastise Brooks for a "shared" problem, than investigate and report upon student discipline in the APS.


There's a reason you haven't read about it in the Journal.




photo Mark Bralley