Today's Seattle Times editorial, calling Seattle public schools "the weak link of a thriving city", illustrates why the Seattle Times editorial board is also a weak link:
The achievement gap between white and minority students persists. A third of the city's families with schoolchildren choose private schools.The mantra of "achievement gap between white and minority students" is not just wrong (I've been pointing out for years that the most successful students in Seattle are not white, but Asian). It's also poisonous in its implications and leads to idiotically misguided solutions.Can either of two superintendent finalists chosen by the School Board lead us out of this educational desert?
If a third of the district's families have already fled, it should be apparent that its dysfunctions are profound and systemic. It's delusional to look to a new Superintendent to perform a turnaround miracle.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 05, 2007 11:08 AM | Email ThisSee how easy it is.
Posted by: JCM on April 5, 2007 11:30 AMa. Secular progessive ideology has destroyed
the Black family
b. Secular progressives view Blacks, people
of color and low-income people in the
tradition of "noble savages" and
now secular progressive ideology which
ghettoizes them is an impediment to
advancement.
c. Secular progressive ideology is as toxic
to Black people as hip hop.
Now, in the area of education, Dr. Bill Cosby is spot on. There are high achievers in communities of color. Asians, although, not all Asian groups are high achievers and non-native Blacks from Africa and the Carribean. It is not rocket science as to why these groups achieve, they have certain characteristics:
1. Stabile and supportive families
2. Families that value education
3. Communities that value education
4. Strong education work ethic
a. kids spend hours studying and reading
b. parents sacrifice to provide educational
opportunities and enrichment
Until people of my community stop calling Dr. Bill an Uncle Tom or oreo or say he shouldn't be airing our linen in public there are going to be problems. Until people like me, who are called by secular progressives like Bruce, not credible because we call bullsh*t on their destructive ideology, there will be problems. I am at a point in my life where I realize that a life worth living is a life that has made a difference. So, there it is, in my opinion.
Yet political correctness plus the "Jesse Jackson" mentality of "modern" educators continually hammers-home the message that "white racism" is repsonsible for the poor performance of certain minorities in the education system.
That's my biggest problem with the left: they ignore the cause of many problems and abrogate personal responsibility to the waste heap.
Bill Cosby is totally correct in his ascertions that black "leaders" have figuratively sold their own peole down the river.
Posted by: Libertarian on April 5, 2007 12:26 PMKid will be Chairman of the JCS in about 30 years, another Colin Powell but more conservative.
Posted by: JCM on April 5, 2007 12:35 PMWhat do you want to bet that to the politically correct, politically charged Seattle school board, the fact they worked in a democrat controlled system and that they were black were big criteria and the fact that the schools were still failing didn't even merit consideration?
There are public school systems out there that effectively teach kids and where the answer to every question isn't "It's the parents fault and we need to raise more taxes." Too bad the Seattle school board put their blinders on and wouldn't look around for candidates that were able to foster that kind of environment for the kids.
Posted by: johnny on April 5, 2007 12:54 PMWhat do you want to bet that to the politically correct, politically charged Seattle school board, the fact they worked in a democrat controlled system and that they were black were big criteria and the fact that the schools were still failing didn't even merit consideration?
There are public school systems out there that effectively teach kids and where the answer to every question isn't "It's the parents fault and we need to raise more taxes." Too bad the Seattle school board put their blinders on and wouldn't look around for candidates that were able to foster that kind of environment for the kids.
Posted by: johnny on April 5, 2007 12:54 PMWVH, please stop repeating this misquote. I said you lose credibility when you blame "secular progressives" because you never make a case for what secularism has to do with education problems. And the word "progressive" is meaningless in this context -- it just means you are trying to improve things. And of course no one favors low expectations. Feel free to call bullsh*t on anything I say, but what "destructive ideology" of mine are you referring to?
In the past you've cited some specific suggestions. I've agreed with some and not with others. But I'm not sure why you bother cutting and pasting the same diatribe into every education thread these days. You certainly won't persuade anyone of anything.
Posted by: Bruce on April 5, 2007 01:09 PMThe reason why "whites" (and as Stefan points out, it's actually Asians) do well, is not because they are white, but because they have embraced a Western culture that values hard work, restraint, tolerance, nuclear family, parent involvement, home tutoring, etc. On the other side, you have a culture that embraces destructive elements. One parent families, drugs, victimization, violence, hip-hop values, etc. There is little incentive for students to stay motivated, and latch-key issues leave kids without supervision. On the failed ghetto culture side, there simply are not dinner table talks, strong discipline, and the promotion of characteristics that lead to success. Or if there are, its is to a limited degree, absent the strong organization of many parents and many students who are rigorously focused on success.
Given that Seattle Public Schools has chosen to embrace the culture of failure, savvy parents have simply abandoned that culture in favor of private schools where they can assure than ghetto influence, drugs, fatalism, youthful political activism, New Math, handguns in schools, etc. are not even a possibility.
As the Progressives who run Seattle Public schools continue to focus on race and multiculturalism, it won't matter how brilliant a new administrator is, they will be destined to failure. Because, they glorify cultures that by any metric, ARE failures.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 5, 2007 01:20 PMMaybe these crazy politically correct follies are the explantion for the re-naming of King County in MLK's honor. King County was in existence for many, many years before MLK can along, yet somehow the county is now named after him! Sounds like political correctness BS run totally amok.
Hmmm....maybe us folks in Pierce County should move to make it that our county is named in honor of Haykeye Pierce, the character Alan Alda played on the TV series M*A*S*H. So what if Hawkeye's a fictional character? He was a "good guy."
It makes about as much sense as the moonbeams from King County "naming" the county after MLK! I really feel sorry for you poor folks who have to live among those idiots.
Posted by: Libertarian on April 5, 2007 01:30 PMYou can already hear it now--"if we only had more money for more fuzzy wuzzy social engineering, all would be good". And then the superintendent will tearfully resign after a few years for "another growth opportunity', leaving the system in worse shape than when he/she started. Bleah!!!
Posted by: Burdabee on April 5, 2007 01:41 PMDid the bowel movement incident occur at a Seattle Border's or the one on 38th Street in Tacoma? The crowd that hangs out at the Tacoma store can be pretty "granola!"
Posted by: Libertarian on April 5, 2007 01:48 PMThanks to King County, those who happen to have more melanin in their skin are judged more by pigment, and the expected association and behaviors of others of the same pigment, and less by the content of their character. It's disgusting. And it's totally racist.
The comment from JCM @ 7 above is particularly disturbing, and yet one could easily envision such a situation in Seattle Public Schools where the teaching is to be culturally sensitive. Culturally sensitive meaning that students are encouraged to divide themselves into multicultural cliques, and then focus on their own "cultural" behaviors.
Where does any of this fit into academic values, real world social skills, preparation for higher education, etc.?
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 5, 2007 01:52 PMActually, what's telling is that these appear to be the only kind of candidates desperate enough to apply for the job...!
Posted by: Patrick on April 5, 2007 04:46 PMLike Cato and Ivan, you simply ignore any statements you disagree with. You must have missed my past few months of posts. If you don't think I've made a case, well you ar entitled to your opinion. See, Sowell, Williams, Mc Whorter and Monyihan. It seems I always provide cites and you provide platitudes. Do you have any studies that show the salutary effects of the policies that you, Cato, and Ivan espouse on the Black family and people of color? I am open minded and I certainly will read them. Until then, secular progressive ideology, like hip hop is and has been toxic waste to the Black family. Your cites, please?
Posted by: WVH on April 5, 2007 09:40 PM