MaxedOutMama
Thursday, February 09, 2006
The Tipping Point
Al Gore ought to be worrying about things like this instead of global warming caused by human-generated CO2. The real tipping point into disaster for a culture comes when it ceases to make demands upon itself, which necessarily entails making demands upon its members. That would include demands like passing a test to graduate from high school:
Setting standards like this is not discriminatory. Passing kids through school who haven't learned what they need to learn is discriminatory.
On Wednesday, 20 high school seniors and their parents sued the state Department of Education and school Superintendent Jack O'Connell, claiming the exam is illegal and discriminatory. They worry the test may prevent the students from graduating.So all that's really required of these kids is that they learn the material. If this lawsuit succeeds, they'll have no incentive to do that, will they? And as it turns out, not having these basic skills will really hurt them in later life - because reading, writing and arithematic are even more important skills in the 21st century than they were in the 20th century. "Just showing up" doesn't get you a job or that promotion.
...
"Many students in California have not been given a fair opportunity to learn the material on the exam," Gonzalez said. "These are good kids who have worked hard for 13 years to pass their courses."
...
O'Connell has said that students who fail the exam can take another year of high school, get extra tutoring, enroll in summer school or attend community college until they pass. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger included $40 million for tutorial programs in his budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Setting standards like this is not discriminatory. Passing kids through school who haven't learned what they need to learn is discriminatory.
Comments:
<< Home
I completely agree with you on the absurdity of the lawsuit. But, how does this have anything to do with Gore? Did he say something about it that I missed?
Howard, you're right. My mother was a public school teacher and she was charged with assault for grabbing a kid who was about to punch another one. It wouldn't have been the first time, either.
Some of these kids slap and hit their own parents. The atmosphere in many public schools prevents teachers from doing their jobs.
Dingo - Al Gore was giving a speech in the Phillipines in which he claimed that global warming was by far the most dangerous issue confronting the world today. He explicitly included terrorism in the "minor technical difficulty" list. The worst threat to the US (and also the most manageable) is our own incompetence.
An educated, functional and critically thinking population is necessary to combat everything from disease to climate issues. Kids that can't add and can't read will not fall into that class.
Post a Comment
Some of these kids slap and hit their own parents. The atmosphere in many public schools prevents teachers from doing their jobs.
Dingo - Al Gore was giving a speech in the Phillipines in which he claimed that global warming was by far the most dangerous issue confronting the world today. He explicitly included terrorism in the "minor technical difficulty" list. The worst threat to the US (and also the most manageable) is our own incompetence.
An educated, functional and critically thinking population is necessary to combat everything from disease to climate issues. Kids that can't add and can't read will not fall into that class.
<< Home
