时代周刊:一所特许学校的种族争议（1）

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A charter school's racial controversy¹ illustrates² the real battle for America's classrooms

一所特许学校的种族争议说明了真正的美国课堂之战

Eric Henry couldn't believe what the fifth-graders at his triplets' school were being assigned to read.

埃里克·亨利(Eric Henry)的三胞胎所在学校的五年级学生被指定的阅读材料让他简直不敢相信。

On Jan. 31, the electrical engineer and Navy veteran fired off an email to a group of fellow parents and activists³ in the Boston suburb of Malden.

1月31日，这位电气工程师和海军老兵给波士顿郊区马尔登的一群家长和活动人士发了一封电子邮件。

"Remote learning has given us added insight into what stands for instruction based on American Culture!” Henry wrote. "The banning of this text from the curriculum should be a plank⁴ in our platform.”

“远程学习让我们对基于美国文化的教学有了更深入的了解!” 亨利写道。“在课程中禁止这类文本应该成为我们的主要着力点。”

The book in question was The Adven tures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain's 1876 classic of American literature—a work approved by the state of Massachusetts as part of the public-school curriculum.

有争议的那本书是马克·吐温1876年发表的经典美国文学作品《汤姆·索亚历险记》，这部作品被马萨诸塞州列为公立学校课程的一部分。

But when Henry's missive reached an employee at the agency that oversees⁵ Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, the official agreed with his complaint.

但当亨利的信件到达神秘谷地区特许学校(Mystic Valley Regional Charter School)监管机构的一名员工手中时，该官员认同他的抱怨。

"This is horrible,” wrote Olympia Stroud, a program coordinator⁶ at the Massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education (DESE).

“这太可怕了，”马萨诸塞州中小学教育局(DESE)的项目协调员奥林匹亚·斯特劳德(Olympia Stroud)写道。

"How long have these books been in the curriculum?” Stroud forwarded the concerns to a supervisor⁷, Benie Capitolin, who called the matter "heart breaking.”

“这些书在课程中多久了?” 斯特劳德将这种担忧转达给了主管贝尼·卡皮托林(Benie Capitolin)，主管称此事"令人心碎"。

"If our system can't protect Black and brown students from unsafe environments,” Capitolin wrote, "how can it possibly educate them?”

“如果我们的系统不能保护黑人和棕色人种的学生免受不安全环境的伤害，”卡皮托林写道，“它怎么可能教育他们呢?”

For 23 years, Mystic Valley's academic record has been undeniable.

23年来，神秘谷的学业成绩是不可否认的。

Its students are disproportionately lower income kids from communities of color, yet its test scores and graduation rates routinely rank among the state's best.

它的学生大多是有色人种社区的低收入家庭的孩子，然而它的考试成绩和毕业率通常都是该州最好的。

Charter-school rankings place it in the top percentiles nationally.

它在全国特许学校中名列前茅。

The school's 1,500-person wait list is nearly as large as its K-12 enrollment⁸, and attrition is so low that few students are admitted past kindergarten.

这所学校候补名单上的1500人几乎和K-12的入学人数一样多，而且人员流失率很低，以至于很少有学生能在幼儿园毕业后直接被录取。

Under Massachusetts law, charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately⁹ operated, are supposed to be judged solely¹⁰ on their academic success, faithfulness to their charter and organizational viability¹¹.

根据马萨诸塞州的法律，由政府出资但由私人经营的特许学校，应该仅根据其学术成就、对其宪章的忠诚度和组织的可行性来进行评判。

But Mystic Valley's future as an institution is now in doubt because of an approach to teaching that has fallen out of fashion.

但神秘谷特许学校的未来现在充满了疑问，因为它的教学方法已经过时了。

The school's educational mission focuses on "the fundamental ideals of our American Culture,” with an emphasis on the nation's founding documents.

学校的教育使命侧重于“我们美国文化的基本理想”，并注重国家的建国文件。

As set out in its state-approved charter, it aims to "embrace the melting pot theory by highlighting our citizens' and students' commonality, not their differences.”

正如其国家批准的宪章所规定的那样，它旨在“通过强调我们公民和学生的共性而不是他们的差异来接受大熔炉理论。”

Yet to avoid perpetuating¹² racism¹³, many educators, administrators¹⁴ and parents now believe it's insufficient¹⁵ to ensure that everyone is treated the same.

然而，为了避免种族主义的延续，许多教育工作者、管理人员和家长现在认为，确保每个人都被同等对待是不够的。

A few years ago, as national debates about racism and history intensified¹⁶, DESE added a new "cultural responsiveness” standard to its evaluation¹⁷ of charter schools,

几年前，随着有关种族主义和历史的全国性辩论愈演愈演，DESE在其对特许学校的评估中增加了一个新的“文化响应”标准，

defined as "an approach to viewing culture and identity as assets” in order to "acknowledge and actively¹⁸ draw upon diverse backgrounds and identities.”

将其定义为“一种将文化和身份视为资产的方法”，为的是“承认并积极地利用不同的背景和身份”。

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

5 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

8 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

11 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

12 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

13 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

14 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

15 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

16 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。