Thursday, November 22, 2007

"City on a Hill" Versus Seattle School District

For thoughts on the "first Thanksgiving," see Seattle's School District's Turkey of a Thanksgiving on The Past Is Not Over.
Posted by Babbie at 1:56 PM
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've noticed that Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson is slowly sinking into the middle of this fiasco of Political Correctness in Seattle. Those poor people are slowly discovering that G-J is all about status quo not change as she supports Seattle paying for this kind of out-sourced program of self-loathing that is designed to exclude while calling it inclusion. It's an expensive contracted system of "thought police" that offers little hope for minorities and disadvantaged kids there getting anything more than the same second rate educational services. It's all PC flash and no educational substance in Seattle. They bash and blame the bias of tradition and geography (sounds like our present Super) while still giving poor kids substandard math books and limit access to alternative school choices. Sounds just like Charleston under G-J. She hasn't changed, but I'm not sure anything has changed here either now that she's gone to Seattle. We're still driving students & their parents away from public education, and our most needy students are falling further behind. I'm more worried about the how we've turned this Thanksgiving into a lie and not so much if the one at Plymouth, Mass., nearly 400 years ago meets the PC test.

12:34 PM
Anonymous said...

From Ghostryder,

I don't know about Dr. Goodloe-Johnson. She was not here long enough, but one thing I do not like was the fact that she left without finishing the job. It is disappointing that people pick money, prestige over substance. Finish the job that you started and then when you are done; then you can move on a reap the rewards of a job well done. But leave before a job is done ... that is one of our problems of the day. People think that money solves all problems. We are led to believe that someone who makes a lot of money must be good at their job. Bull. More Money solves no problems. You could pay a hundred thousand dollars a year for a teacher, mechanic, lawyer, doctor, policeman, and any other profession and you would still get poor workmanship if that person comes to work for just a paycheck. They are more concern of watching the clock than doing the job well. Professionalism is in the heart and not in the wallet. One should give you the same effort if one is paid five dollars or ten thousand dollars. One should take pride in their job. Is it not a wonder why our kids act the way they do. Everyday they see adults who chose to do a job for money and do a horrible job at it and expect to be rewarded for a poor job by getting more money. But this is not the only problem we have in the school system.

Politics in our schools system is probably hurting our schools more. The schools take a huge beating everyday from the left and right. The left and the right say a lot and do nothing, meanwhile the students and taxpayers get screwed. Neither side is interested in educating our students. They are in the business of being right and it comes at the expense of our kids education. They use passing or failing grades from the schools to justify their agendas. They truly do not care about our kids. Oh they care about the own personnel children. That is why you have a board member who represent downtown getting their child into Buist or the governor of this state sending his kids to a private school instead of a failing school. I say our leaders should be leading by example and not by do as I say, not as I do.

Schools should be about the students and not adult egos. Who cares who is right or wrong? We need to educate these students. We get one chance to do this with each student and if we fail. We fail ourselves. We could possible be creating the next wave of bad workers, welfare recipients, prisoners, and any other negative assertion of the human spirit one can think of. We could be creating amazing adults who solve problems. But our divided schoolhouse could be continuing to create the next wave of ineffective citizens and maybe that is what both sides of the political spectrum want. As long as we are at each others throats, they maintain their power. If we want a more productive society, we must start it in the classroom. This is the one place in which society has a chance to change minds and molded them to make better choices.

The system we have know was great for factory workers, but those jobs have been moved to China and other third world countries, for better or worse. We are competing with the world and not just someone who lives in California. As long as the middle is silent the left and right will continue to destroy the American way of life. As long as we remain divide, we will continue to struggle and fail. Can we really afford to do so? I think not. Those who cheat to get their kids into the better school are teaching their children that it is okay to cheat and cheating is what it is. Their kids learn that it is okay to cheat if you are getting something out of it. But this is not the only cheating that is going on downtown. Those parents who send their kids to school and allow them to disrupt, act out, and steal precious education time are also cheating. These parents are wasting opportunities for their kids and cheating their kids of a better life.

But as long as we allow ourselves to be divide or silent we get what we get and probably deserve what we get because we climb into our shell and try to ignore all the noise.

7:55 PM
Anonymous said...

Ghostryder, thanks again. You covered it. I believe someone on this blog called these people "roving opportunists".

It would be nice if Nancy McGinley were to prove to have the metal needed to do what's right for our schools & our kids, then stick around long enough to see it through.

I hope she also realizes that her biggest road blocks are to be found on the county school board and among her entrenched senior administrators...not CCSD's critics for the general public or members of fiesty constituent boards. Those are were her allies are, if she can just learn to tap into their passion for the schools and communities they serve...a passion that no superintendent before her or a majority of the current board seems to have ever had.

11:01 PM

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