Some assemblies required

Education | California high school draws fire by having racially segregated academic pep rallies | Lynn Vincent

A series of racially separate public-school assemblies in Concord, Calif., late last month angered some parents, sent "weird" messages to kids—and may have violated state law.

On Feb. 23, administrators at Mt. Diablo High School held separate assemblies, or academic "pep rallies," for white, black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander kids in an effort to motivate them toward higher achievement on state tests.

The Asian assembly featured flags of students' ancestral countries. The black assembly featured jazz music and the slogan "black power" projected overhead. At the white assembly, "they started off by saying jokingly, 'What up, white people?'" freshman Megan Wiley, 14, told MediaNews. "They got into 'you should be proud of your race.' It was just weird."