Are education reforms hurting the students who need the most help, poor and minority kids?
In his blog “becoming radical,” Paul Thomas, a Furman University associate professor of education, contends that the education reform movement perpetuates inequity and increases segregation. Thomas draws on the findings of the Civil Rights Project, which has done extensive research on the resegregation of schools.
While the South once led the nation in integrating its schools, it’s now become a leader in the resegregation of America’s classrooms, largely as a result of housing trends.
In 1960, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Only 7.8 percent of the Negro students in the South are attending integrated schools this year, a hundred years after our emancipation from slavery. At this pace it will take 92 more years to integrate the public schools of the South.”
King would likely revise his prediction dramatically upward if he observed his namesake schools in the Atlanta region, most of which are now attended by all black students. That’s because schools mirror the resegregation of neighborhoods.
Here is an excerpt of Thomas’ blog posting, but please read his full piece before commenting:
Changing standards ignores that children in poverty and children of color tend to experience test-prep courses regardless of the standards, and thus receive a reduced educational experience when compared to middle-class and affluent (and disproportionately white) students.If education reform were committed to equity, public schools would insure that all students, regardless of race or socio-economic status, would receive rich and engaging educations.
Increasing the amount of testing and the stakes associated with that testing (for both students and teachers) ignores that standardized testing remains more closely linked with the child’s home status than with the child’s learning or their teachers’ effectiveness.If education reform were committed to equity, high-stakes standardized testing and using test scores to label and rank students and teachers would be completely eliminated. Test-driven education stratifies students by race and socio-economic status, discourages teachers from seeking opportunities to work with high-needs students, and misrepresents school quality (see the historical failure of relying on the SAT, for example.)
Charter schools are not producing outcomes superior to public (or private) schools, but charter schools (such as KIPP) are stratifying (re-segregating) schools and focusing education for children of color and children from poverty more on authoritarian discipline policies and test-prep than rich experiences being experienced by their more affluent (and white) peers. If education reform were committed to equity, children of color and children from poverty would be provided public education that mirrors the education being experienced by affluent whites; instead, charter schools are segregated and “no excuses” environments designed for “other people’s children.”
Funding and expanding TFA candidates in high-poverty and high-minority schools ignores that the single greatest inequity experienced by children of color and children from poverty is being assigned un-/under-certified and inexperienced teachers. If education reform were committed to equity, education reform would abandon test-based teacher evaluations as well as supporting TFA, and instead would insure equity of teacher assignment for all students while also acknowledging the importance of experience and expertise for teachers.
Focusing on school-only reform (the tenet of “no excuses” school reform) ignores the corrosive power of poverty.
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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127 comments Add your comment
DB
February 26th, 2013
9:28 am
I don’t see schools as being the driving force against poverty and economic hardship. Schools are a mirror to the communities they exist in, which is why schools that are high performing tend to be in areas where high performance is valued, and families who want and embrace that degree of scholastic rigor flock to that school and it’s surrounding neighborhoods, paying a premium to be there. A family teetering on economic disaster (and there have been plenty of those in the last few years) has priorities that do not include field trips and “educational enrichment” — they just want to get shoes on their kids’ feet, and are glad that they serve the kids a free lunch.
“Self-segregation” isn’t a matter of race — it’s a matter of culture, of what each culture values. No matter how many opportunities a school may provide (and in spite of the lack of opportunities), if a child’s parents, regardless of color, aren’t passionate about their education, if a child is growing up in a family with multiple baby daddies, drugs, alcohol and welfare as a right instead of a crutch, where gangs are street life and everyone knows someone in prison, no school is going to be able to overcome a basic don’t-give-a-flip attitude.
Digger
February 26th, 2013
9:33 am
Walk into any ’segregated’ school’s cafeteria. Blacks on one side, whites on the other. People want to be with their own. It’s called Nature.
BellCurve
February 26th, 2013
9:41 am
Two many of the posters seem to believe all students can graduate from an accredited four year university and become a contributing member of the middle class. They cannot. While environmental factors like family life and the quality and focus of education have an impact, the princpal inequity is innate, the inequity of intellectual capability.
Michelle-Middle School
February 26th, 2013
9:41 am
The basic problem with education reform in America is that it refuses to recognize that there are two tracks for individuals. Some deserve and are capable of the college prep route and others never need this level of education. Look at Korea and China as examples. They have designed two tracks that WORK. It is not an insult that someone goes to the individuals who take the non-college prep route.
On the other hand, the system also encourages students to perform in school if they wish to go to college. Everything is based upon test scores. The better you do, the farther you go. Of course there are those in America that say that this is discriminatory, and it is. It discriminates in favor of the hard workers. In fact, the student population in Korea that does the best is “orphans.” Why? Because the orphanages teach the students the value of hard work and, because they actually study, orphans have a better track record at getting to college than most other groups.
All education should be based upon intelligence, not position or social status. Teach the best the college prep route, and teach the lowest whatever is needed to incorporate them in to the workforce with realistic skills and knowledge.
As long as America has it’s present system our system will continue to fail many.
gsmith
February 26th, 2013
9:45 am
some mistakes you never quit paying for
misery loves company ( if our school is failing then your school needs to fail in the name of fairness.) we will just bus our kids into your school until your school is failing and your test scores come down to our level)
you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken ———– !!
these phrases sum up public education over the last 40 years in Georgia
Dr. Proud Black Man
February 26th, 2013
9:46 am
Digger@ 9:33am
“Walk into any ’segregated’ school’s cafeteria. Blacks on one side, whites on the other. People want to be with their own. It’s called Nature.”
Uhh….no its not. If this WAS the case toddlers and baby’s would “want to be with their own.” this is a LEARNED behavior.
Digger
February 26th, 2013
9:50 am
Plural of baby is babies, ‘Doctor’.
Dr. Proud Black Man
February 26th, 2013
9:57 am
@Digger
I didn’t realize that punctuation was the issue being discussed. Nice straw man. Now go; I hear a ditch calling your name…
Follow the Money
February 26th, 2013
9:59 am
I think that everyone can agree that more resources — smaller class sizes, enrichment programs, etc. — could contribute to better educational outcomes. Since the mid-eighties, we have doubled spending per pupil in real dollar terms. The problem, however, is that much of that spending has gone not to the classroom but to central administration — local, state and federal — and to functions that have nothing to do with the core mission of education in skills.
If there is to be any hope for a different outcome than the one we have, administrative forbearance and efficiencies must be widely introduced. As it stands today, efforts to reform the system by adding to the top will make a lot of politicians more powerful, but will do nothing to help the kids.
Digger
February 26th, 2013
10:03 am
It’s not punctuation. It is very basic grammar. Generally a sign of intelligence or lack thereof.
bootney farnsworth
February 26th, 2013
10:11 am
so much of this is 19 kinds of stupid.
-race has no bearing on the ability to learn. this ain’t nazi germany.
-ability to learn comes from two areas: natural ability and culture.
-ability is (or should be) self evident
-culture makes or breaks learning in most cases. if you come from an environment which expects and supports learning, you’re gonna have a much better chance to learn. if you come from an environment which doesn’t expect and support learning….rarely ends well.
-sad observational truth is: when left to their own devices, people WILL gather with the group the feel most comfortable with. if no other factors come into play, people do gather in racial groups.
at GPC, the asian students tended to gather at the libraries. the black students in the student center, and the white kids in the hallway alcoves.
but don’t confuse this incidental activity with anything like a indication of anything other than people naturally seek the comfort of safety in familiar numbers
Dr. Proud Black Man
February 26th, 2013
10:13 am
@Digger
Thank you Ms. net nazi. Still didn’t answer my rebuttal to your pseudo sociology. Generally the sign of a toothless, living in the basement, lack of a life, internet troll.
bootney farnsworth
February 26th, 2013
10:13 am
@ michelle middle
while I’m not crazy about tracking kids, I agree the value and respect of skilled trades has gone way down.
Jono
February 26th, 2013
10:16 am
We measure academic success, in part, by high school graduation rates. Surely no one paying attention to the graduation rates of metro Atlanta can claim that years of expensive, disruptive so-called “reforms” are actually working.
Bureaucrats and administrators keep searching for the magic bullet . . . if only we spent more money, reached out to children earlier, etc.
It’s obvious (to me) that cultural values make a huge difference. Look at the cultures and groups that have very high rates of success — e.g. Asians, Ashkenazi Jews, etc. You’ll find that they are nurtured by cultures that place a premium on education and scholarship. Un-P.C., but operationally valid nonetheless.
We’re looking in the wrong place and at the wrong things. And unfortunately, our culture of political correctness won’t allow us to ask honest questions or give honest answers about why things aren’t working. At the end of the day, it’s (mostly) all about values.
BT
February 26th, 2013
10:17 am
Political Correctness is destroying our society and public education. No one wants to address real issues and how to solve them. We like the victim mentality. As stated before, no one is enrolling in an inner city school if they dont have to…why would you want to? So there will never be equality until cultural issues in the inner city are addressed. You can call it racial all you want to be reality is reality.
BT
February 26th, 2013
10:21 am
I will admit, I have always been impressed with the way the Decatur City Schools operate. So they are doing something right. You always hear of the problems with Dekalb county but rarely do you hear of issues with the city schools.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:23 am
Digger, I would appreciate you not challenging my formerly unquestioned title as the King of Typos, crazy grammar, repeatedly reversing their / there, even though I know the difference, and typing “f” in place of “s” to strongly submit such counsel as, “We all know there if a better way,” which will leave you reading, “If a better way?”
____________________
I am taking of millions of men who have been skillfully interjected with fear, inferiority complexes, trepidation, servility, despair, abasement.
-Aimé Fernand David Césaire, Discoure on Colonialism
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:24 am
correction: “talking,” not “taking”
V for Vendetta
February 26th, 2013
10:26 am
There is a pretty clear lack of respect for education permeating some geo-cultural areas. If anyone wants to admit that, we might have a fighting chance. Until then, little will change.
Maude
February 26th, 2013
10:27 am
Any reform will not help the poor and minority until you get the parents to take an interest in their child’s education. My school had a parent night to give the parents an idea what their child does all day at school. My school has over 700 students and only 5 parents showed up for the entire school. Written notices were sent home several times, calls were made to parents, teachers discussed it for several days ahead of time in class, the class with the highest number of parent come would get a treat. What else could the school have done to let these parents know? We can’t make them come. I wanted to cry! All the teachers were present with great things to share with the parents and no one cared enough to show up. We can talk about reforms but nothing is going to work until get somehow get the parents to value education.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:29 am
Maude, However, as professionals, we should control what we are able to control on our side of the fence.
_______________
I just got a political email that says, “Washington, DC is the only place in America where bad ideas… are treated like good ones.”
Spartacus
February 26th, 2013
10:29 am
Schools cannot make up for the deficiencies of an unstable home. If you have an unstable home, you could be enrolled in the best private school and will still perform poorly. Liberals would love to believe that “the village” (paid for by taxpayers) could easily replace the nuclear family model (which liberals detest)…….but it ain’t gonna happen.
If the shool system fails like my DeKalb County School System, I will pull my children out. It was the best decision we’ve ever made. If you say you can’t “afford” it, get a night time job delivering pizzas…..your kids are worth it.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:33 am
Ugh… my hard working parents never attended a parent night and would not want to, either. I know what you describe is heart-breaking and all, but in my family, teachers were viewed as professionals who provided a service. We also did not attend dentist’s night, or civil engineer’s night (for the person who designed the road and drainage where we live) or fireman’s night, etc.
As a teacher, I want to go HOME at the end of the work day. As a teacher, I would rather teach the students and have the authority to do so, rather than having to teach both the parent and the student, while not having the authority to effectively teach the student, or else being harassed for it when I do.
catlady
February 26th, 2013
10:42 am
Aqua Girl: Almost 100%. We have plenty of spots.
indigo
February 26th, 2013
10:42 am
Dr. Proud Black Man – 9:00
No.
That is not what I asked you.
Spartacus
February 26th, 2013
10:46 am
@Private Citizen….my unsolicited advice to you? Go work at a private school. Less money….less headaches (not no headaches)….more job satisfaction
The utopian dream of lifting poor, uninterested students and parents into academic achievement is a mirage perpetuated by liberals who want more money for their own personal fiefdoms (see DCSS)
Richard Braswell
February 26th, 2013
10:48 am
“Changing standards ignores that children in poverty and children of color tend to experience test-prep courses regardless of the standards”….and Thomas goes on to call for the same ‘rich education’ environment for all children. I agree. However, at some point in every child’s ‘rich education’ experience there should be an evaluation to determine suitability for next level specific course content. Placement tests. Why are placement tests so difficult to accept? Rich education environments are not practical without placement tests. Every child deserves recognition. People must have recognition and self recognition is the cornerstone of one’s life. Self awareness and the inkling of critical thought are the first recognition steps and come from the home. All homes are different, and so are the children from those homes. Placement tests are not biased.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:49 am
Very proper evaluator slips into back of classroom, sits down, opens wirelessly connected mini-laptop, starts typing.
Teacher: All right students, here’s you assignment. We’ve been studying Italy. All of you have your notes. Today’s newspaper headline (written in big letters on the board) is Italy Confronts Vacuum as Leaders Seek to Avoid Election. Jeromique, will you pass out these papers to students and make sure everyone gets a copy? (each paper has an image on it: http://www.happyhavens.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MieleS7210.1-930×930.jpg ) Work in your small groups to each make a drawing to illustrate the headline. Begin!
A minute later the evaluator slips out the classroom, and with a very concerned look tells the teacher, I’ll talk to you after class.
Meanwhile in one of the small groups, one of the students says, “Oh, I get it!” and the rest start laughing.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
10:57 am
Proud Indigo, Why in the world are you harassing Proud Dr. Black Man and not harassing Spartacus? Why are you… (hint: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/thumbnail_570×321/2012/06/spartacus_a.jpg )
Inernet rule #1: In discussion groups, you can not tell other people what to say. You can tell them what you think about something, etc. (what you have to say).
mathmom
February 26th, 2013
10:57 am
The GADOE and the USDOE have clearly joined forces to ensure the perpetuation of an underclass – too stupid to question what the government does. Although many of these “stupid” people are minorities, my experience has been that the DOEs don’t care what color they are, just that they remain ignorant and incapable of critical thinking. I recently attended training using materials developed under a grant from the Gates foundation. Of the two classroom activities provided for this workshop, one was incorrect and the other explored socio-cultural attitudes instead of the mathematics provided in the problem (there was no correct answer – students were supposed to discuss the fairness of the situration in the problem). I assure you that children in other countries are not worrying about the fairness of the situation in their “word problems.”
catlady
February 26th, 2013
11:00 am
Aqua girl: Sorry; incorrect information. About half of our kids go to preK. Not sure what percent that is of the at-risk kids. I know it is heavily Latino, but strictly first come. There are no state private Preks here. Virtually ever 5 year old goes to kindergarten.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:01 am
Indigo, Are you flirting with Proud Dr. Blackman, trying to engage his attention?
living in an outdated ed system
February 26th, 2013
11:01 am
This is the first post in 2013 that I must take serious issue with. You lost me when you chose to promote the ramblings of Paul Thomas, who does not deserve to be promoted anywhere and I refuse to read his drivel. My rationale?
1. Paul Thomas has demonstrated that he is a disillusioned teacher who wants to battle any type of change to a dysfunctional system.
2 If you were to look at this blogs (Radical Scholarship, Daily Kos) you will find that he makes hostile, very personal attacks all the time. Instead of civil discourse, you should review his disrespectful attacks on folks like Bill Gates and Michelle Rhee. Regardless of whether we support their perspectives, Mr. Thomas has time and time again hidden behind his written word and write things that he would never say to someone’s face. I find many of the blogs, especially those in the NEA camp, write this way. We would never allow our children to speak like that, so why is it ok for grownups to act that way?
3. His blogs get picked up by the NEPC, a hack organization for the NEA. There is no journalistic review done here – they simply republish blogs that support the NEA platform (e.g., Bruce Baker, Diane Ravitch, Paul Thomas, etc.)
4. He will promote his writings anywhere, especially on Anthony Cody’s “Living in Dialogue” blog on Education Week.
It is important for the readers on this blog to know more about this man, and while we live in a democracy, we should recognize that folks like this can have an adverse impact on your brand.
I have debated Mr. Thomas ad nausea, and he is factually incorrect on the relationship between poverty and education reform. He has a personal agenda against TFA, for example, as well as successful charter school organizations such as KIPP. Everything in this post is likely on the national platform of the NEA. I could go on and on about examples on the ground with programs that are teaching children character – grit, tenacity, teamwork, commitment, etc., and helping children acquire the non-cognitive skills needed to succeed. And they are breaking the notion that poverty can’t be overcome. As such, I do not read anything that Mr. Thomas says anymore. Take it for what it’s worth.
Comment in Moderation
February 26th, 2013
11:05 am
Rev. Trotter:
Bill Gates actually funds the programs he promotes. Would you care to fund educational programs with the $44/month you collect from your members or is that money just going into your vacation home(s)? What exactly do members of your organization receive for the $44/month deducted from their paycheck. I am sure you must have a greater need for it than they do, right?
Grob Hahn
February 26th, 2013
11:11 am
Forcing people to “get along” should never have come under government mandate. They will manage it as efficiently as their $200 toilet seats and $800 hammers. Does anyone wonder why racial relationships have barely made any progress in the decades since we started using our children as social human shields? If anything our government is guilty of child abuse for this whole farce.
Grobbbbbbb
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:14 am
Proud Black Man, you mean like this guy? http://postimage.org/image/6nsnedp77/
Mary Elizabeth
February 26th, 2013
11:20 am
“Focusing on school-only reform (the tenet of ‘no excuses’ school reform) ignores the corrosive power of poverty.”
====================================================
The article by Professor Thomas contains much insight. Key words that come to my mind from having read his article are “Poverty,” Re-segregation,” “Educational reform movement hurts minorities,” “Minority education is not enriching,” “Charter schools are not producing superior outcomes but are re-stratifying schools,” “Standardized tests should not be used to label and rank students and teachers.”
Poverty has a causal relationship to poor educational results (see link below), yet a major way out of poverty is through quality education that genuinely improves. It has been said that “Education is the new Civil Rights Movement.” I believe that statement to be true.
I am old enough to remember the 1940s, 950s, 1960s, and 1970s and the dramatic shift from the Jim Crow South and its terrible and injust inequities. During that time our nation was more focused on eliminating poverty than it is today. Consciousness must be raised. That raising of consciousness will be the foundation for improvement in the inequities in society. We must, again, seek to elevate rather than to castigate. Slavery and Jim Crow created over time profound inequities that will take even more time and effort fully to correct. The answer cannot be found through surface thinking or through blaming, but through support and through authentically recognizing the value of every human being. We learn from one another. Everyone has worth that is far beyond results on a standardized test. There are different kinds of intelligences, just as there are different kinds of music which touch our souls in unique and different ways. We must tap into those natural variances in human beings without labeling some humans as superior to others. And, as educators we must continue to respect and value the differences in all students – without labeling students – even as we simultaneously recognize the differences within their achievement levels. Moreover, as educators, we must help the general public to see these truths which will foster racial harmony and insight instead of racial discord.
People are more than stereotypes. We know that as educators. And, as educators, we must, likewise, not think in educational stereotypes nor in simple dichotomies regarding educational approaches. We can embrace standardized testing, as physicians use test results to analyze a medical problem precisely, without thereafter labeling either students or teachers with those ascertained results. Testing must be used for diagnostic purposes only, and not for labeling or for punitive purposes. Furthermore, testing is only the beginning step toward fostering meaningful and enriching education, but we must not reject it altogether for it helps to analyze varied instructional levels correctly. Professor Thomas, however, is on-target when he states that children of impoverished environments must be given enriching, creative instruction which inspires and motivates them to learn, just as their more affluent peers receive. All students are motivated by larger ideas. We can embrace both testing and enrichment if we do not think in dichotomies and if we refuse to label based on those test results.
Poverty can be overcome and education can be improved but we must re-establish a national will to accomplish these goals. The underlying foundation for accomplishing these goals is to understand – deep within our souls and our individual consciousnesses – that all people are inherently equal as human beings. That was the foundational tenet of this nation. We must return to believing it to be true.
————————————————————————
Some readers may be interested in the study by Dahl and Lochner (2005) which verifies causal relationship between poverty and academic achievement. Link below:
http://www.nber.org/papers/w14599.pdf
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:30 am
Comment in Moderation, Are Mr. Gates doesn’t get any money for his programs and 225,000 sq. ft. fortress home from, say… hmmmm…. seen any Microsoft software in the school house? I know it is rare… rare as hen’s teeth to spot it. Good thing, that, since every machine it’s on requires a license fee to be paid.
Colonel Jack
February 26th, 2013
11:35 am
And this is why I am looking seriously into accepting a position at a private school. The money is much less than what I made as a public school teacher, but you know what? In the private school I will get to TEACH. During my interview, I was told that buzzwords like “best practices” and “data driven” are not used in this particular private school. Hearing that made my day, because this school produces kids who go on to excel in college – and the public system I “retired” from couldn’t even graduate more than 50% of its kids. I blame the “Reformers” for the bulk of that. Oh, for the joy of actually TEACHING, and not worrying about whether the data adds up. As long as my students are learning, I am doing my job…and I don’t have to worry about making some Central Office idiot look good.
Ronin
February 26th, 2013
11:36 am
We are all born the same. We have similar skill sets, some excel in math others in music. However, as we grow, two things affect our assimilation of knowledge: culture and environment.
Unfortunately, regardless of how good a school is, if the culture at home does not value education, students are often simply doing seat time during the day and immersed in an environment after school that gives them little hope of excelling academically.
Students have become political funding pawns to champion causes for the left and the right because most people put their party affiliations ahead of education. Dr. Ben Carson MD gave a very interesting speech recently at the national prayer breakfast. In less than 30 minutes this man was able to tactfully provide solutions for many of our most politically divisive issues. It’s really not that difficult to solve some of the issues that we as a nation face. However, until we rid ourselves of the professional political class with term limits for Congress, expect business as usual. For those who may be interested, a link to Carson Scholars.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:37 am
living in an outdated, I could go on and on about examples on the ground with programs that are teaching children character – grit, tenacity, teamwork, commitment, etc., and helping children acquire the non-cognitive skills needed to succeed.
What you are describing is formally called-out and is illegal in Germany. It is specified clearly in legal code that teachers / schools are prohibited from performing “character education” on their student charges. It is said that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, former communist East Germany teachers had a particularly difficult time transitioning to teaching content without “character education” as they had been much indoctrinated in this method and had come to view it as a form of love. Many of them had a difficult time unwinding from indoctrination from the state to use classroom to teach young people to be “good citizens” instead of teaching students content: langauge, math, science, physics, autocad, in the spirit that the mind is free and a person is capable to make their own decisions without state indoctrination. Naturally, after the fiasco with Hitler, the West Germans had a reason for such clarity in purpose.
Ronin
February 26th, 2013
11:37 am
http://carsonscholars.org/dr-ben-carson/general-information
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFb6NU1giRA
Colonel Jack
February 26th, 2013
11:38 am
@Dr. Proud Black Man – You are correct, sir. It is indeed a learned behavior. But please note – it’s learned LONG before a child enters school. (That’s on both sides of the fence, I might add.)
Matt321
February 26th, 2013
11:42 am
Thank you for posting this blog. It is good to see recognition that we don’t have a crisis in our public schools, we have a poverty crisis. Charter schools, teacher merit pay, etc., even if they were worthy ideas on their own, are just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic unless we are really willing to grapple with poverty.
So, let’s talk brass talks. How do we tackle the poverty in our communities, which by the way in Georgia is not just in southwest Atlanta, but all over Georgia (especially in many rural towns)?
1) End local financing (but not local control) of schools. Instead of paying for schools by a county/city property tax, levy an income tax (more fair than property tax) statewide, and pay out to local school districts. Pay the formula based upon number of students, number of special need students, number of English as a second language students, and the local area poverty rate.
2) End the poor tax that’s the Georgia lottery. Fund universal pre-k for ages 3-5, paid for by a small raise in the state income tax.
3) Raise the state minimum wage. Encourage unions in the state, so workers are empowered to make more money. Mandate state-wide paid sick leave and vacation time, so that parents can do their most important job – PARENT. Increase access to health care, including birth control, so that we can completely eliminate unwed teen mothers.
Or, I guess we could follow Bill Gates advice, and hope that turning everything over to the private sector will magically make things better. Because that worked so well for the natural gas industry here in the state.
Really amazed
February 26th, 2013
11:46 am
I am getting so sick of this minority low income crap! They have more entitlements available to them then the middle class student these days. This is going to start even more separation between societies.
living in an outdated ed system
February 26th, 2013
11:52 am
@Private Citizen, interesting info indeed. It also shows the problems with our outdated education system and how we get students to learn. There are ways to teach non-cognitive skills appropriately. I think we agree on this if I understand your post correctly.
Digger
February 26th, 2013
11:54 am
If we can just get the white kids in a different environment, I truly believe they could play basketball better than Michael Jordan.
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:57 am
Good thing the Germans do something more than make street legal cars that go 225 mph and 0-60 in 3 seconds. Yes, my whole life has turned around ever since I dusted off the Sauber C11, changed out the oil, adjusted the suspension, and got the headlights working. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC8mb1XjRhc Too bad about the traffic helicopters.
Please complete
February 26th, 2013
12:11 pm
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1r-h5i5hy2FDiqUBB09q2zaQeLLcA4PoJvPme30DENw0/viewform
living in an outdated ed system
February 26th, 2013
12:16 pm
I guess Mr. Thomas didn’t like my post – he has tweeted it out to the world. I didn’t realize a man of his supposed stature would be rattled by one person’s contrarian POV. The truth hurts….