Thread: Schools collecting race data: classifying students and staff

A new federal requirement calls for classifying every student and staff member despite some objections

Schools collecting race data

Monday, April 12, 2010
- Anne Williams, The Register-Guard

The Eugene School District will embark this week on a sensitive and potentially difficult quest to pinpoint the race and ethnicity of each of its 16,500 students.

Heeding a new federal requirement that takes effect in Oregon next school year, the district will mail home letters explaining changes in the reporting system, and asking — gently — for full compliance on new forms. Though registration forms have long asked about students’ racial and ethnic identity, until now answering that question had been optional — and the parents and guardians of approximately 500 Eugene district students have historically left it blank, according to the state Department of Education.

Now, every student must be identified — even if parents refuse to do so. The government believes it crucial to collect complete, precise and consistent data, and some state and federal funding hinges on districts’ compliance. The mandate — particularly the recommendation that schools practice third-party “observer identificationâ€

I thought we were all AMERICANS, except for the illegal aliens. Why does race even factor in this. Why is our government, local and federal, trying to drive wedges between the races? Why does it matter what race you are?