It's getting to be that time again...  The kids will be starting their Junior year in just a few weeks, so it's also that time to make sure they are ready, at least from a registration standpoint.  So, as I reviewed the high school website today, I stumbled upon the registration information and found a neat little gem tucked conveniently between the "class fee form" (it costs $7.00 to be a Junior this year) and the "health" and "Locker" forms. 
Ethnicity Verification form

Every school district is now required to report to the department of education each year all student data by race and ethnicity categories that are set by the federal government.  While the DoE does not report individual student data to the fed, they do report the total number of students in various categories in each school...apparently these are meant to help track changes in student enrollements, but also to ensure the students receive the education programs and services to which they are entitled. 

The reporting categories have recently changed, hence the new forms.  There are two questions on each form.

In the first question, "Is this student Hispanic/Latino?" - Hispanic or Latino refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin (not including Spain), regardless of race.  Yes or no answer.

In the second question, "What is the student's race?" - You may select one or more. Definitions include:
American Indian or Alaska Native - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) adn who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, e.g., Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Phillippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam
Black or African American - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.  Terms such as 'Haitian' or 'Negro' can be used in addition to 'Black or African American'.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

Boy, my head is spinning.  I've got alot of questions here.  I'm not going to cover all of them, as I'm sure our readers would be able to add a few of their own.  Just a few points, off the top of my head-

First - Why?  I've never understood why the hell this matters.  Is math and science and history somehow different dependent upon your "race or ethnicity"?  This attempts to answer the why, but somehow just doesn't cover it.  But it is loaded with laughs, number 7 in particular. 

Second - How much does this new and especially neat little program cost?  How much does it cost each district to gather, tabulate, and submit?  And how much does it cost on a federal level to manage this? 

Third - And this jumped off the page at me - White means people from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.  So, at least according to the Dept of Education,  folks of middle eastern descent (yep, even those that enjoy being parasitic savages and killing innocent people) are NOT a race, and are white, therefore all that hogwash about racism towards them can now OFFICIALLY be put to rest.  How can whites be racist towards other whites?

Fourth - I blame all levels of govt for this, and all parties involved.  This is not entirely a Pres. Obama issue, even though these changes go into effect under his watch.  The agreed upon changes actually took place under Pres. GW Bush.  And this is incredibly dumb. 

Fifth - Why do I get the feeling there are dollars attached to this program, so it is incumbent upon every district in every state to complete this so they can "get their fair share"?

So what do you think?  Anything you'd like to add?  Does this strike anyone else as ridiculous?