tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post3445277626979725877..comments2024-01-26T00:52:04.340-08:00Comments on SBPDL: 'The Onion' Reports the Truth on the Chicago Public School SystemStuff Black People Don't Likehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07923871032509110194noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-73902652720741932782012-09-17T13:39:32.097-07:002012-09-17T13:39:32.097-07:00Welcome. We need more like you. I know you and oth...Welcome. We need more like you. I know you and others exist as I have met you before, you are far too rare!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-88367449939366324532012-09-16T17:29:20.617-07:002012-09-16T17:29:20.617-07:00Thanks to both of you answering my questions. I...Thanks to both of you answering my questions. I'm sure a very good blog of just teacher postings their experiences would be great but I guess potentially dangerous for said teachers.MuayTysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-11020978367604482732012-09-16T14:44:17.755-07:002012-09-16T14:44:17.755-07:00MTF, there are still some Whitopias in the north. ...MTF, there are still some Whitopias in the north. If you intend to stay in teaching, toward Canada is not a bad direction to look.Mr. Rationalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-34804104484384729692012-09-16T11:55:39.338-07:002012-09-16T11:55:39.338-07:00"My question to MTF what did she see in unive..."My question to MTF what did she see in university of the quality of her peers?"<br /><br />Well, like most of my favorite colleagues, I didn't study education in undergrad. <br /><br />I got accepted into the Memphis Teaching Fellows without a single education course under my belt. Then, I started on a Master's in Teaching program while teaching full time. <br /><br />Yes, okay, the majority of my classmates were kind of dim (and some- unbelievably dumb), but I don't think my experience with them is a fair metric of teachers as a whole. This is a shitty, 4th tier, regional university. <br /><br />My own school days were quite nice, and my teachers ranged from passable to extremely awesome. Having grown up in a suburb, I thought that teaching is a good career choice for someone who isn't of rocket scientist caliber, but enjoys reading, watching documentaries and going to museums. Memphis Teaching Fellownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-62049732756436779962012-09-16T10:20:08.337-07:002012-09-16T10:20:08.337-07:00Well, apartheid in SA is long gone, but the black-...<i>Well, apartheid in SA is long gone, but the black-on-white killings proceed apace, as well as anti-white discrimination, with scarcely a protest from the self appointed guardians of the moral highground.</i><br /><br />And black on black killings which were rare under Apartheid have increased significantly. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-43918344071149444702012-09-15T23:12:28.142-07:002012-09-15T23:12:28.142-07:00Face it, the teachers are just $76,000 animal trai...Face it, the teachers are just $76,000 animal trainers, passing them through until they enroll at NU ( Negro University), otherwise colloquially known as prison. School curriculum should just prepare them for the future, such as how to make hooch and craft shanks.City residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-37058481566346391192012-09-15T23:10:54.757-07:002012-09-15T23:10:54.757-07:00Zenster: "Championing such campaigns—even to ...<i>Zenster: "Championing such campaigns—even to the point of feeding their own children into the meat grinder—gives these bleeding hearts their political bona fides."</i>><br /><br /> Amy Biehl. <br /><br />Her story ought to be required reading for all race realists...for everyone. An exemplar of the suicidal nature of modern liberalism. Thing is, I have conducted numerous debates about South Africa with people of the liberal persuasion--and often conservatives. No matter how much you demonstrate the futility of trusting black-majority-rule in Africa, they still insist that ending apartheid was one of the primary moral imperatives of the last half century. Even when it meant that their own children were to be cut to pieces by a mob. <br /><br />Well, apartheid in SA is long gone, but the black-on-white killings proceed apace, as well as anti-white discrimination, with scarcely a protest from the self appointed guardians of the moral highground. Then again, the anti-white killings and discrimination go on in the USA (and Europa--those pesky youths!). And DWLs are blind to all this.<br /><br />Gets back to the point about modern liberalism being not merely an ideology, but a pathology. It's a form of mass hysteria which the world has seen before, say in the Ghost Dances of the Native Americans. But at least with the Indians, they were up against a vastly superior White civilization and grasping for anything to bail them out. What is bizarre today is that white people have the military and economic power to clobber all foes globally, yet they act as if they are a defeated people, to the point of sacrificing their own children.<br /><br />As I say, modern liberalism is a pathology.Californiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-14184967588067579562012-09-15T22:35:34.715-07:002012-09-15T22:35:34.715-07:00Muay Tyson: Answering the question you put to Memp...Muay Tyson: Answering the question you put to Memphis Teaching Fellow, it's been a long time since I earned an undergraduate degree, but I had to take "continuing education" courses until I got out of teaching. There were a fair amount of online assignments, and we could all read and comment on each others work. Very few Hispanic teachers could write a complete paragraph without obvious errors in grammar. There were few Blacks in my classes, but they were even worse, of course. <br /> It must be said however, in the school I worked at for the longest time, many of the the Mexican teachers were superior. I attribute that to having an excellent, long-serving Principal. The one Black teacher, the most highly credentialed of us all, was a moron. SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT CANADA WAS A SEPARATE COUNTRY FROM THE U.S! YJCMTSU. Discardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-64322674369671973062012-09-15T20:31:53.179-07:002012-09-15T20:31:53.179-07:00In today's America; who believes schools are a...In today's America; who believes schools are about teaching?<br /><br />I'll tell you. Naive, wet-behind the ears liberals fresh out of some Whitopia. Thinking they are going to change the world. It's the same lot who people the various "charities" for Africa.<br /><br />Government schools have perverted "education" into government programming. And what intellectually honest person would expect any less? <br /><br />In a mere couple of generations, government schools (government is the word, not public) have ingrained in the pliable young minds that government is good. Government knows best. Government is here to lovingly, without ulterior motives like those evil capitalist pigs and rugged individualists, mold you into a good Citizen!<br /><br />And if they can't do that, they will babysit you until you die. Whether in government school, in government housing living off government money, in government penitentiaries, or in government burial plots.make it rain TRUTHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-62341754301551575502012-09-15T17:20:20.758-07:002012-09-15T17:20:20.758-07:00MTP, sounds like you are good at your job and you ...MTP, sounds like you are good at your job and you care. I'm afraid that is not always the case. I went to a rural school with zero blacks for most of my education and the teachers were abysmal. In fact my school had a very high rate of teacher sexual impropriety.<br /><br />I think MTP is the exception to the rule. She has even let on to some information that is very important. Many teachers left to take lesser jobs because they could not effectively teach. Logically these leaves a high percentage of teachers who could care less and just collect the paycheck as they babysit.<br /><br />One of my best friends is an English teacher. The head of his department decided to mainstream Hispanic students who could not speak English. Even on spelling tests they were allowed the use of their electronic translation device resulting in a lot of A's but not grasp of English.<br /><br />Teaching done well and right is a very important and noble job but I feel that too many Left leaning wastes of space take it as their profession. I've watched many of the interviews from the Chicago teachers strikes you would be hard press to find less intelligent speeches from the local dock workers union.<br /><br />My question to MTF what did she see in university of the quality of her peers? MuayTysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-45863221747079164522012-09-15T10:14:33.055-07:002012-09-15T10:14:33.055-07:00The administrators turn off the metal detectors so...<i>The administrators turn off the metal detectors so the kids will come to school. </i><br /><br />That-is-scary!<br /><br />Still, it's cheaper than handing out athletic shoes so the kids will come to school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-66275089961995728312012-09-15T10:12:25.963-07:002012-09-15T10:12:25.963-07:00Memphis Teaching Fellow: That's the ultimate a...<b>Memphis Teaching Fellow</b>: <i>That's the ultimate argument against tracking, isn't it? A system that would place so many blacks and Hispanics at the bottom track can't be fair, nor can it be beneficial to anyone.</i><br /><br />Except Whites or fully assimilated Asians, and we can't have that, now can we?<br /><br />Plus, another vote for <b>Memphis Teaching Fellow</b>'s comments. This sort of boots-on-the-ground reporting is priceless. No amount of statistics can replace the authenticity of someone who is out at the sharp end of the spear.Zensterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12004871212603603831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-64987758795684875642012-09-15T10:05:46.386-07:002012-09-15T10:05:46.386-07:00W74: The fact that many (millions, tens of million...<b>W74</b>: <i>The fact that many (millions, tens of millions?) have tried to help them, for no gain unto themselves and for little to no improvement in the lives of those they attempt to help speaks volumes.</i><br /><br />Don't deceive yourself. The Liberal establishment attaches high value to the "moral virtue" of negro uplift and similar such (often hopeless) causes. Championing such campaigns—even to the point of <a href="http://library.flawlesslogic.com/biehl.htm" rel="nofollow">feeding their own children into the meat grinder</a>—gives these bleeding hearts their political <i>bona fides</i>.<br /><br />As with any smarmy, altruistic garbage of this nature the single most important question is, <i>cui bono?</i><br /><br />Please keep in mind that this Multiculturalist rot has spread into ostensibly "Conservative" territory as well. In order to burnish their professional resumes, corporate CEOs willingly allow their employees to be browbeaten into donating towards corrupt agencies like <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2008/10/26/279680/united-way-paid-some-salaries.html" rel="nofollow">United Way of America</a> whose longtime (and now-fired) President, Gloria Pace King, received a pay package worth $1.2 million last year. That compensation represents almost <i><b>three percent</b></i> (2.7%) of that agency's total donations of $43.5 million.<br /><br />What's more, United Way of America has established several "in-house" programs that have experienced significantly higher increases in allocations of donated funds than other more well-established charities operating under the United Way umbrella. In this manner, United Way diverts extra millions of dollars towards enriching its own hires or preferred causes.<br /><br />Some interesting figures from <a href="http://charity.lovetoknow.com/What_Percentage_of_Donations_Go_to_Charity" rel="nofollow">Charity Watch</a>.<br /><br />American Red Cross: <b>Less than 5% overhead</b><br />World Vision: 12% to overhead<br />Doctors Without Borders: 11% - 14% overhead<br />Invisible Children (of <i>Kony 2012</i> fame): 20% overhead<br /><br /><b>30% Overhead</b>:<br /><br />The Nature Conservancy<br />World Wildlife Federation<br />World Vision<br />CARE<br />Oxfam America<br />Natural Resources Defense Council<br /><br /><b>+30% Overhead</b>:<br /><br />George Bush Presidential Library Foundation<br />Alzheimer's Foundation of America<br />The Cable Center<br />Jewish Guild for the Blind<br />American Printing House for the Blind<br /><br />As always, wherever there are millions of dollars floating about, remoras—frequently of a very Liberal stripe—will attach themselves with epoxy-like firmness. <br /><br />There's big money to be made tilting at these windmills. If lavishing countless millions of charitable and taxpayer dollars on the hopeless task of learning, doctoring or feeding some semi-retarded Black cretins is what it takes to keep a privileged few farting through silk, you can bet the farm they will.<br /><br /><b>Bogolyubski</b> has invested considerable effort hereabouts to show how these immigrant advocacy groups are dedicated to bolstering their own overhead numbers. This, despite how <i>the money they spend bringing illiterate Somali goat herders here to America could achieve <b>100 times the impact</b> were those funds capably administered in the nations of origin</i> for these unassimilable colonists.<br /><br />Staunchly defending these hopeless Liberal causes are badges of honor flaunted by culturally Marxist <i>apparatchiks</i> on the Left. Selflessness and altruism have <b>nothing</b> to do with such matters.Zensterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12004871212603603831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-28275822476710808172012-09-15T09:42:44.059-07:002012-09-15T09:42:44.059-07:00Memphis Teaching Fellow said:
"The vast major...Memphis Teaching Fellow said:<br />"The vast majority of these kids are not passionate about anything. At all. We break our necks trying to spark their interests or incorporate something they might like. No luck. The only two things that light a small spark in their eyes are money and food. They say over and over again, "I loooooves money! I loooooves me some good food". But they are not interested enough to learn how to cook or to work towards becoming wealthy."<br /><br />I Can See, and live in amongst other blacks in Milwaukee. I find it hard to even have a basic conversation with any of them. Basic formalities, interest in anything but their little box that's the hood, the 'sto,' and gettin' $$$$. They have no interest in anything; at this point, its funny. It has to be because otherwise it'd be tragic. <br />These same people complain about lack of jobs and everything being out in the (white) burbs. I wish I could ask them, "how would you even relate to them if you were to go there?<br />I like a lot of "white things." I can throw around a few Office Space quotes, Family Guy jokes and pair anything with the appropriate beer or wine. These are relatively basic interests any one could have. But blacks have no drive or desire to be interested in anything "white" or expected in a polite, functioning society.<br /><br />"They are violent often, for no reason and at predictable intervals. Their sexuality lacks passion, romance and aesthetic."<br /><br />BINGO! Imagine being a black woman who can see and often on the receiving end of their vacant desires. They ape around singing dumb as lyrics. They wander over to you and half mumble 'hey baby girl...whats up wit u...' This drive me crazy considering the meme about black male sexuality. They're not very confident at all. It's chest puffing and copy catting.<br />I find the number of R&B/Hip-Hop/Rap songs about love and marriage ironic. When I was younger, we'd go to a lot of black weddings (funny right?) and they still, 20 years later, dance to the same songs (Al Green's Let's Stay Together and the like). They sing about these notions, but have no concept of how to live them. It's like lip synching....<br /><br />"But I think it's a good thing that I can't relate to them. What kind of a shallow, vulgar moron could?"<br /><br />Exactly; I "ax" myself the same question every time I leave my house. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />BlkGrlSEEaLOTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-34560020127868405182012-09-15T08:30:40.352-07:002012-09-15T08:30:40.352-07:00europeasant: Stop feeding the Africans, wherever t...<b>europeasant</b>: <i>Stop feeding the Africans, wherever they may reside!</i><br /><br />Kenyan economist James Shikwati agrees with you. Read an interview with him titled, “<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,363663,00.html" rel="nofollow">For God’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid</a>”. An excerpt:<br /><br />(Note: In British English, wheat is called "corn". What we call corn is called "maize".)<br /><br /><i><b>Shikwati</b>: Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: <b>Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.</b><br /><br /><b>SPIEGEL</b>: Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them.<br /><br /><b>Shikwati</b>: But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help. <b>This call then reaches the United Nations World Food Program -- which is a massive agency of apparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of, on the one hand, being dedicated to the fight against hunger while, on the other hand, being faced with unemployment were hunger actually eliminated.</b> It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help. And it's not uncommon that they demand a little more money than the respective African government originally requested. They then forward that request to their headquarters, and before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...<br /><br /><b>SPIEGEL</b>: ... corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidized European and American farmers ...<br /><br /><b>Shikwati</b>: ... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. <b>A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program.</b> And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle. </i> [emphasis added]Zensterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12004871212603603831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-43351292267262148952012-09-15T08:15:36.178-07:002012-09-15T08:15:36.178-07:00Anon (9/14 7:50 PM): As George Bernard Shaw said, ...<b>Anon</b> (9/14 7:50 PM): <i>As George Bernard Shaw said, "If you tell people the truth, you better make them laugh or they will kill you".</i><br /><br />Sweet merciful crap! Is that ever a keeper.Zensterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12004871212603603831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-2098567418955312762012-09-15T08:10:53.403-07:002012-09-15T08:10:53.403-07:00Great Job Paul! The truth is hard to swallow! I ha...Great Job Paul! The truth is hard to swallow! I have taught in these holding pens in Ohio and other places and can tell you stories most people would not believe. In my one school when I asked an "old timer" how to survive he said "Remember one thing, these kids, the parents can't control them, the cops can't control them, you can't control them! Give them some work, if they don't want to do it, fine! Do not get in their face! The administrators turn off the metal detectors so the kids will come to school. Many of the kids carry weapons. If you get in their face you could get stabbed or shot!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-86497288285534673842012-09-15T02:03:11.285-07:002012-09-15T02:03:11.285-07:00Yes, W74, the little darlings were still being fed...Yes, W74, the little darlings were still being fed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-88716165578656531632012-09-14T23:52:05.719-07:002012-09-14T23:52:05.719-07:00europeasant said...
Stop feeding the Africans...
...europeasant said...<br />Stop feeding the Africans...<br /><br /><br /><br />yeah right...<br />read a little about Foreign Aid, UN, US, Bob Geldof and Ethiopias overpopulation. etcetcetc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-8580114206497095852012-09-14T23:50:48.707-07:002012-09-14T23:50:48.707-07:00Northern Liberal has it exactly right. The bulk o...Northern Liberal has it exactly right. The bulk of the money spent on "the poor" actually goes to administration or to vendors and contractors. That is, to the non-poor. Discardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-67490494444201107822012-09-14T22:15:22.407-07:002012-09-14T22:15:22.407-07:00"Californian, the poor are a gold mine. Milli..."Californian, the poor are a gold mine. Millions and millions of white liberals and "black middle class" folks make a fine living in the social service economy. If we ever recognized the futility of it, millions of liberal arts and black studies majors would be lining up in front of Starbucks for $8/hr jobs pulling lattes."<br /><br />If you are talking about the admin jobs, then I'm inclined to agree. But the job market of teaching in an inner city is a veritable revolving door. Teachers just up and quit because they can't take it anymore. A good portion of the first year inner city teachers don't come back after Christmas. I believe half of them quit when the year's out. Most are gone within the first 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if Starbucks had better worker retention stats, even knowing that teachers invest and go into debt for their careers while baristas don't. <br /><br />Anecdotally, I know someone who's been delivering pizzas for 2 years now after teaching a year. Her principal called her personally several times, asking her to come back, but she'd rather knock on unfamiliar doors in Memphis after sundown- says it feels less dangerous too. There were 3 former Starbucks employees in my circle who were seeking refuge from menial work in teaching. Two of them now found refuge from teaching back at Starbucks. One former colleague now works at a gaming store, for minimum wage. Says that being poor sucks, but he is soooo much happier and healthier now. Once these kids leave inner city teaching, it's very common for them to have nightmares of being back in an inner city classroom. My facebook feed is flooded with messages about such nightmares. Of course, these are the kids who don't have too many responsibilities, or they are outright privileged, in which case they pull that old trick of going back to school for another degree. <br /><br />But other people are rooted by mortgages, children, loans, ageing parents and they are stuck. Thankfully, I'm not one of them, exactly. Currently, there are people counting on me, so I can't go the much easier and more dignified way of Starbucks, but I'm not rooted here, so I'll be gone come next fall. Memphis Teaching Fellownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-3010770371474947222012-09-14T22:06:30.261-07:002012-09-14T22:06:30.261-07:00It will be the students in the private schools tha...It will be the students in the private schools that run the cities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-70553329639095336532012-09-14T21:41:44.228-07:002012-09-14T21:41:44.228-07:00" I had hoped you would emphasize the fact th..." I had hoped you would emphasize the fact that teachers making the average (75k) either had been employed with the Chicago School System for at least 11 years or 9 with a masters... "<br /><br />Of course, a bunch of them are admins pretending to be teachers. We have a bunch of people here on teachers' pay schedule who lead professional development classes, lead intervention (observe kids in class, pull them out for interviews and special assessments and then make recommendations), head global education programs (some sort of an annual, year long preparation for an international festival that requires posters, costumes and emails sent to parents. To be honest, nobody really knows what these people do, but a lot of teachers are in line for these jobs.) Then, there are those "teachers" who teach only one class and spend the rest of their time helping to write the curriculum, which seems to be rewritten constantly and in very vague language. Also, don't forget those people who manage to teach for a year and then spend years visiting classrooms of new teachers, observing them and debriefing over lunch. They count as teachers too.Memphis Teaching Fellownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-44248583202283683552012-09-14T21:28:20.120-07:002012-09-14T21:28:20.120-07:00"So the bottom line is a great many of these ... "So the bottom line is a great many of these teachers have been there for a decade plus, failing at their job consistently."<br /><br />Failing at their jobs, how? Because they haven't learned how to perform tricks of alchemy and aren't able to turn copper into gold? If soldiers manage to follow every order given and complete every concrete task assigned to them, but their side still loses the war, would you say that it's the soldiers who have consistently failed at their job? You're that guy who doesn't bother to take his dog outside for two days and then beats it for shitting in the house, aren't you?<br /><br />" Now, is it any wonder why they are fighting tooth and nail (and turned down a 16% guaranteed raise over the next 4 years) as to not have their students test scores count more against their evaluations............."<br /><br />No, it's no wonder at all. People, generally, resist being put in predicaments where the outcome that decides their fate is largely out of their control. <br /><br />Tell you what... When Obamacare comes, let's take some steps to ensure doctor accountability. We could apply your logic here and tie the doctors' compensation to the survival rate of their patients. An intelligent person like yourself must have been wondering for decades why brain surgeons get paid more than family pediatricians when the former have an atrocious 5 year survival rate in comparison to the latter. We need to close the survival gap between the cancer patients and people suffering from the common cold. Obviously, the right solution is to fire all the bad oncologists and hire good ones instead. A good oncologist is someone who can close the survival gap and wouldn't mind his livelihood and reputation tied to the disparity between his patient survival rate and some arbitrary "good" rate dreamed up by the wishful thinkers in government medical reforms offices.Memphis Teaching Fellownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3890530692790573387.post-23425093287744079212012-09-14T21:00:44.697-07:002012-09-14T21:00:44.697-07:00"I know it is an old question, but why does t..."I know it is an old question, but why does the educational establishment have such a difficult time understanding that these youths are so difficult to teach?"<br /><br />I imagine it's because any attempt at calling a spade a spade would seem like an open declaration of racial war to the vast majority of Americans. To say that there is a number of students who are ineducable and whose parents take no interest in their upbringing and that THIS is the cause of poor performance in certain regions can't be seen as honest and in good faith when so many of these students are black, not in this country. <br /><br />That's the ultimate argument against tracking, isn't it? A system that would place so many blacks and Hispanics at the bottom track can't be fair, nor can it be beneficial to anyone. If enough blacks can't test into the top tracks, something must be wrong with tracking. And if so many black students can't be taught enough to pass even those ridiculously easy standardized tests, something must be wrong with their teachers. Memphis Teaching Fellownoreply@blogger.com