Comments on: How the Atlanta school system became a hotbed of cheating

By: Juli

Juli — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:06:06 +0000

Sharon W – wow – powerful article!

” The few who spoke out against it either were ignored (some of the higher-ups to whom they complained were in cahoots with the cheating as well) or transferred to the school equivalent of an even-colder Siberia.”

How tragic – the few who had the moral courage to speak up being ignored or worse…

By: Don Carlos

Don Carlos — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 23:34:42 +0000

Oldflyer:
Yes standards are the problem, when set from afar in D.C., applicable to faceless millions, and accompanied by $ penalties if not met. This is basically asking for fraudulent statistics in return.

In the Old Days, public schools had standards. They were locally set and locally achieved (as well as locally funded). So there were good school districts and not-so-good and bad districts.

Now we have national standards. The chicken brains in the ‘disadvantaged” sectors cannot meet them; their teachers and administrators know this full well, and send up false data to keep the federal funds flowing to themselves from D.C.

We’re not talking FAA flying standards here, standards set for a trained and motivated elite. We’re talking public schooling for the masses, least common denominators.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:31:51 +0000

The next thing they will say is that officers can’t win battles because their troops have low IQs. Talk about great officers.

By: ErisGuy

ErisGuy — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:01:45 +0000

Once again the self-proclaimed party of science either takes no measurements to confirm their theories or falsifies the measurements so as to confirm their theories.

By: expat

expat — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 13:23:16 +0000

bob sykes,
I think there is more to the problem than low IQs. And the same thing is happening with lower class whites. It is all part of a big jumble of changes our society has gone through with out looking at the societal underpinnings we were destroying. Some factors are that our increasing wealth has led to less interaction among social classes and less transmission of societal values to the lower classes. (Charles Murray has shown this.) This wealth has also allowed people to purchase very expensive items to signify their class, and those lacking money for in brands frequently lose all sense of financial common sense.

Another factor is feminist goals, which said that women should have careers and that homemaking skills were totally yesterday. But if someone doesn’t make the home (and in a less rigid society men can certainly be a part of this), kids don’t grow up in a home: they grow up in a house. Here is an example of this effect (HT Real Clear Politics):

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/07/the-importance-of-eating-together/374256/

And then here is the push to get a college education. As a result, many young people with no curiosity and no academic interests are spending years getting credentials. Today’s teachers are a prime example. They are brainwashed by Bill Ayers-type education leaders. Since teachers no longer have the standing in society that they used to have, there is no loss of prestige when they fail and little honor for those who do a good job. There are all too many people today who would rather have a “journalist” daughter write stories about Kim Kardashian’s neckline than a daughter like the teacher who mentored Homer Hickam.

Somehow we have to find a way to identify lost values that held us togther and to sell them to the lower classes. It’s gonna be a hard job.

By: bob sykes

bob sykes — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:19:18 +0000

This post and the comments miss the point. The problem in the Atlanta schools and in nearly all other failing urban schools is the students. They are genetically low IQ (<80) blacks who cannot learn the prescribed curriculum. Many of their black teachers are also mentally challenged. There is simply no cure for this problem.

The problem is exacerbated by socialist delusions of all sorts. One of these is immigration amnesty. The Mexican and Central American mestizos and Indios that comprise the overwhelming majority of legal and illegal immigrant are displacing blacks from whatever meager foothold they currently have in American society and its economy. In terms of its results (and likely intent) our immigration policies are the most anti-black laws since those of the Jim Crow era. The Jim Crow laws sought to isolate blacks; current immigration policy seeks to eliminate them.

The black underclass is the greatest threat to America's future. Some role must be found for them. They are not going away Pretending they are just impoverished whites won't do. Allowing uncontrolled immigration of poor Hispanics that compete with them won't do. Those paths lead to race wars.

By: Doom

Doom — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 06:55:33 +0000

I kept want to write something. Sometimes even I wonder if I have a bit too much bite. Nope. Ymarsakar said it pretty well, right off the bat.

The only possible fix is to yank federal and state out of education, outlaw the teacher union, and leave education to local choice and oversight. All of it. If they want God in school, so be it. If they kick out troubled kids, that is wise. If they fire teachers and administrators for any reason, moral, ethical, social, good call. Look, if schools want to conglomerate? Let them, if locals agree to it. There is no other solution, save homeschooling. Unfortunately most parents aren’t capable or interested and an uneducated populace is not a good thing. Then again, that is exactly what schools are churning out. And worse, immoral, unethical, entitled people who think they are educated.

By: blert

blert — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:49:20 +0000

This kind of social ‘logic’ is to be found across the Federal government.

Scary… no?

By: n.n

n.n — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:21:50 +0000

Religion is a philosophy of morality. It offers a uniform moral code. Whether its philosopher is divine or mortal is irrelevant. The principles of the philosophy must be internally, externally, and mutually consistent. As people are encouraged to reject religion, in favor of a secular basket of alternatives, we will create moral hazards on principle. The doctrines of inherited and collective sin are degenerate. The doctrine of selective exclusion is degenerate. The doctrine of selective value (e.g. pro-choice, “diversity”) is degenerate. Unless we find religion soon, progressive corruption will be normalized, and a dysfunctional convergence will be inevitable.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 01:54:29 +0000

For as much as I am against public service unions, this is why they can justify their existence in the first place.

The teacher’s centralized boards and various functionaries are allied with the unions in the first place. Who do you think is actually in the Leftist alliance to begin with?

It’s All Of Them. What do you think all means in this context? It means all of them are involved, whether they know it or not.