Posted by mamajawa, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 8:37 am

Congratulations!!! It's about time.

Posted by Carlos, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 9:20 am

As some of you have suggested in the past, the moment we get away from these 'race' labels to group our students, we'll do a much better job addressing their needs.

A 'race' label is a convenient/simplistic way of grouping students, without taking into account personal/family/cultural differences when it comes to academics and priorities in life.

Unfortunately we have lots of people who quickly jump to conclusions, play the 'race' card to advance their own agendas, and then we end up in politically correct debates which don't lead to anything.

As a point of reference, being a south-of-the-border immigrant myself, I'm pretty sure that many of the low-income/non-English speaking kids who are falling behind in PAUSD, would equally fall behind in their countries of origin (or their parents'). It's not a race issue, it's family's level of education primarily, and it's just a fact of life that people will perform differently. The achievement gap will always be there, and we are better off focusing our limited resources on items we can control at school.

Posted by David Pepperdine, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 10:29 am

Why did Mitchell abstain?

Posted by previous story, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 12:39 pm

Barb had previously stated she would: Web Link

"I'm not wild about resolutions that put our word against another agency where we have no control over outcomes, and I don't think there are thousands of people waiting to decide how to vote based on how we vote," Mitchell said.

Posted by skeptical, a resident of the Monroe Park neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 1:01 pm

The real measure would be the gap between the group of AA ad Latino students whose parents have graduate degrees and the caucasian and asian students. I'm guessing it would be very small. Thus refuting suggestions of racism.

Posted by village fool, a resident of another community, on Sep 5, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Arithmetic question - how do new data analysis, Algebra 1 and math teachers' letter add up? (math teachers letter seems to provide a unique glimpse into the heart of the achievement gap).

Posted by Someone Who Knows, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Ask to see the data results with CMA data included.

Data is very easily manipulated. Don't fall for it.