Michael Perelman writes: >> David is correct, BUT colleges and universities never had the purpose of >> integrating >> society. Public education is a means of creating a common experience.
Colleges don't have the purpose of creating a common experience? Darn, there goes the diversity rationale for affirmative action.. I really have to laugh about this and relay an anecdote from today. I live in Los Angeles, with three kids in LA public schools. My son just started 6th grade at an LA magnet middle/high school, one of the best schools LAUSD has to offer, where Anglos are about 30% of the student body. If the "common experience" is going to happen anywhere, it is going to happen at this school. My wife volunteered today at the cafeteria and reported to me that the Blacks all sat at the Black table, the Koreans at the Korean table, etc. I don't mean to be flippant (ok, I do), but people concerned about "creating a common experience" are probably people who do not have kids going through a public urban school system. Things like getting a solid education while avoiding getting beaten up are much higher on the priority list. And furthermore, it is naive and unrealistic to believe that because of the existence of public schools, upper class families are going to have a "common experience" with lower class families. It has never happened and it will never happen. If 50 years of court-ordered integration efforts have taught us anything, middle and upper class parents will do almost anything to avoid having to send their kids to schools dominated by lower class kids. David Shemano
