Marysville official links race to school success

Published 10:27 pm Wednesday, June 9, 2010

MARYSVILLE — A Marysville School Board member who faced accusations of racial insensitivity years ago is at the center of another controversy over race.

Michael Kundu linked academic success to genetics in e-mails sent to board members and school administrators last week.

In an e-mail string titled “race and achievement (please circulate),” Kundu said there was a “definitive factor played by racial genetics in intellectual achievement.”

He said Wednesday he was trying to start a debate, not promote discrimination.

“It’s a dialogue we have to have,” said Kundu, who was re-elected to a four-year term in November.

His e-mails led to sharp rebukes from local civil rights groups, school board members and the district’s administrative staff.

“We in no way agree with such views,” said Kyle Kinoshita, executive director of teaching and learning for the district. “We find any characterization of some sort of inherent inferiority completely abhorrent.”

Kundu is one of five board members in the district, which represents nearly 12,000 students. About one third of those students are minorities, and roughly 40 percent of the students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch based on family incomes.

“I certainly don’t believe that there’s a genetic cause for low student performance,” Marysville Superintendent Larry Nyland said. “I believe strongly that all kids can learn.”

The controversial e-mails were triggered by a debate that began in early May, school officials said.

The board was updating its goals and began discussing the achievement gap — the way some groups of students, such as minorities and the poor, lag their peers. Kinoshita sent an e-mail saying poverty and race were connected to lower test scores.

As he agreed, Kundu brought up the issue of genetics and J. Philippe Rushton, Canadian author of the 1995 book, “Race, Evolution, and Behavior.”

Rushton is described as a “venomous psychology professor at the University of Western Ontario,” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Montgomery, Ala., civil rights organization.

Kundu said Rushton’s research should not be dismissed out of hand. He was trying to ensure the board weighs all factors as it determines how to spend money. Kundu said he wants to see struggling students succeed.

“But in order to do that, I need to look at all the data,” he said.

His defense angered Janice Greene, president of the Snohomish County chapter of the NAACP.

“I would not want him making policy decisions for my children,” Greene said on Wednesday.

She was among the group who attended Monday’s school board meeting to condemn Kundu.

“The school board has a responsibility to ensure educational equity for all children,” Greene wrote in a letter to the school board. “In the opinion of the NAACP, Mr. Kundu’s line of thinking and discussion thereof do not advance this objective.”

Race issues have landed Kundu in trouble before. An environmentalist opposed to whaling, he called the Makah Tribe a “cryptic and dying culture” in e-mails sent in 2000. He apologized for the remarks in 2003 as he sought election to the school board.

Kundu said those remarks weren’t relevant to the latest controversy. He said he has worked to advance opportunities for the Tulalip Tribes. About 9 percent of the district’s students are of Native American descent.

“If you’re going to characterize this as a racist issue, it’s ridiculous,” he said.

Kundu, who is of east Indian and German descent, defended Rushton’s work, but also called the psychologist “despicable” and a racist.

“There’s no question in my mind about that,” Kundu said. “But he did bring up a topic that does bear study.”

State Rep. John McCoy, a Tulalip tribal member, has worked before with Kundu on school-related issues. He was disappointed Kundu gave weight to Rushton’s work.

“There is no scientific basis to it,” McCoy said.

School board President Sherri Crenshaw, who is black, said she was shocked when she opened Kundu’s e-mail.

“I was speechless,” she said. “I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

Crenshaw said the e-mail emphasizes to her the need to set specific goals to improve student achievement by race, income and other factors. A child’s ability to learn isn’t predetermined by their racial genetics, she said.

School board member Chris Nation said he understands criticism of Kundu’s e-mails. Nation attended an Indian education advisory board meeting on Tuesday night. Some there were sad to hear the race issue come up, he said.

“We are seeing progress in the right direction,” Nation said. “For this to surface really put us back a bit.”

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com