Educational Lawsuit

Baseball Crank has a good post on a recent Second Circuit decision holding that it could be racially discriminatory for a state to require teachers to pass a test (the court remanded for the district court to determine whether the test could be justified or not).

This brings to mind an interesting contrast. 1. Black and Hispanic teachers often pass such tests at much lower rates. In this case, for example, "the average pass rate for white test takers ranged from 91% to 94%, while the average pass rate for African American candidates ranged from 51% to 62% , and the average pass rates for Latino candidates ranged from 47% to 55%."

2. Students tend to do better with more-qualified teachers.

3. All else being equal, students tend to do better with a teacher of the same race.

Combine those points, and what should we do? I don't know.