Does the us Department of education really require this?

[Marsupialmom]

Disclosure of race?

[rabrog]

For what? Enrollment?

[limabean]

I'm not sure if it's a federal requirement, but there was a form with boxes to check on DS's registration form, and at the bottom it said something like, "If you choose to leave this section blank, we will make our best effort to determine race/ethnicity via visual observation." I thought that was sort of strange.

[Amatullah0]

i hate that section of forms

[peaceful_mama]

don't know but I think it has something to do with NCLB because they get evaluated on how "minority" students are doing versus the "majority" test scores, dropout rates, etc.

The thing that bothers me about those forms is when you can only check one. Sorry, my kids are BOTH and your stupid box does not change that. Have a box marked 'multi-racial' if you want only ONE box, but please don't ask people to deny any part of who they are.

[Drummer's Wife]

I never know what to check for my kids - and agree you should be able to fill in more than one.

[2xy]

It's doubtful that it's required. We homeschool, but we have to report to the schools and I've never been asked about race (neither here in RI, nor in the other two states we've HS'ed in).

[2xy]

Originally Posted by limabean

I'm not sure if it's a federal requirement, but there was a form with boxes to check on DS's registration form, and at the bottom it said something like, "If you choose to leave this section blank, we will make our best effort to determine race/ethnicity via visual observation." I thought that was sort of strange.

Not only strange, but the probability of inaccuracy is pretty high!

I work with a woman who is half black and half Chinese, and most people think she's Hispanic.

I went to school with a fair-skinned, blond, blue-eyed girl whose mother was Korean.

Genetics can do weird things.

[yarngoddess]

Yuck. That's all I have to say about that yucky box.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Not only strange, but the probability of inaccuracy is pretty high!

I work with a woman who is half black and half Chinese, and most people think she's Hispanic.

I went to school with a fair-skinned, blond, blue-eyed girl whose mother was Korean.

Genetics can do weird things.

My dd is blond haired/green eyed but is white, black, Filipino, and NA. You'd have to see her with her parents and grandparents to get an accurate picture.

Last year I remember there being two race sections on school paperwork because the state is trying to transition between the one box and multibox systems.

[hotmamacita]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama

don't know but I think it has something to do with NCLB because they get evaluated on how "minority" students are doing versus the "majority" test scores, dropout rates, etc.

The thing that bothers me about those forms is when you can only check one. Sorry, my kids are BOTH and your stupid box does not change that. Have a box marked 'multi-racial' if you want only ONE box, but please don't ask people to deny any part of who they are.

Amen!

[spedteacher30]

Since NCLB requires that student achievement data be broken out by race-based sub-groups, parents are asked to provide that information for USDOE reporting purposes.

However, it is not required, but if you don't provide it, your child will not be included in any of the race-based groups. For high-performing minority students, this can hurt the school's chances of making AYP.

Our son is half black and half white. We intend to enroll him as black when he starts school. (our state allows for bi-racial black/white on the birth certificate, which is what we registered him as at birth, and what we put on the census form. But, for school purposes, we will list him as black since the option isn't there for more than one.

the frightening thing is that in this area, some guidance secretaries have been told to fill out that area with their best guess if the parents have left it blank. I would highly recommend that you do not leave it blank. Check "other" or "unknown" unless you are OK with the possibility that someone will decide for you.

[ChristaN]

Originally Posted by limabean

...at the bottom it said something like, "If you choose to leave this section blank, we will make our best effort to determine race/ethnicity via visual observation."

It sounds like others have already given you your answer, but I just wanted to say that this statement would really, really bother me! My dds are frequently taken as hispanic and sometimes even NA b/c dh is very dark Italian and the girls got his coloration. Most of our local kids look like me -- really white. If I left that box blank, who knows what my kids might be registered as. As others have said, that seems like a really questionable manner of ascertaining someone's racial background!

I do recall when dd11 was in K, I was asked a bunch of questions on the forms about whether she was adopted, how long my labor was with her, and things that I could see possibly being pertinent but really only if there were some extenuating circumstances (brain damage due to a birth injury...), but overall I think that schools want to know more than I want to tell them.

[Drummer's Wife]

Colleges are requiring it, too, now. Just last night I couldn't get into my account info online without checking one box. It looked like students aren't able to register for fall w/o doing so, as well.

[eclipse]

When I worked in HR, we had to "determine the race" of our hires. I believed the way that it worked was that in California we weren't allowed to ask, but in the state where the company I worked for was based, they were required to report certain statisitics involving race. So I was supposed to guess. It was lovely. /sarcasm

[Girlprof]

Our school system is re-doing this. We got a letter and a new form [I can't remember if there was an old form...] Anyway, the new form offered a quite wide variety of choices and said to fill in as many as apply. I doubt that our school system would have initiated this so I suspect someone higher up is changing the rules in a positive direction!

[rabrog]

I'd much rather fill in the box than have someone guess.

Jenn

[Tigerchild]

Yes, it was mandated to the districts that they report (or redo) as of this past year.

I have mixed feelings about it. You can definitely check more than one box, that's what we did.

[Zoesmama]

I hate those boxes too. I've been looking for work for close to a year and I really dislike that box in my city/state. I already find it tough to find work in my field since I am not bilingual. But to see that on every app is annoying. Why can't we all just be equal no need to know that. I am Caucasian/white or whatever it is on each one but I have started checking prefer not to disclose. Our state has required that too for school as well as some homeless/runaway boxes too. I believe it has something to do with fundings but seriously its annoying.

[laurata]

To bad you can't write in "Human."