Posted on 11/06/2009 5:35:44 AM PST by reaganaut1
WEST PALM BEACH — Incited by poor graduation rates in Palm Beach County, a national civil rights group sued the state Thursday, alleging it failed to ensure that all students receive the high-quality education guaranteed under the Florida Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the school district directly last year, but the case was dismissed on the grounds that the district was not the right party to sue.
Now the national and state arms of the ACLU are bringing a class-action suit against the state on behalf of Palm Beach County students and parents.
The lawsuit, filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, does not seek monetary damages but asks a judge to step in and set goals for increasing the graduation rate over time.
About a quarter of Palm Beach County seniors do not earn a diploma or GED after four years, according to the school district's own calculations. That number creeps up to 40 percent among black students. And the lawsuit alleges that the district is being generous with its math.
In 2004, for example, county schools reported that 66 percent of high school students graduated on time. But Harvard University professors estimated that just 56 percent of students graduated that year, using a formula that counts only students who graduate with a regular diploma in four years.
"When you have a student going into a public school system where the graduation rates are maybe that one-third to one-half of the students don't graduate, they're in an environment that is not conducive to their graduating in four years with a regular diploma," said Muslima Lewis, an attorney and director of the racial justice project for the ACLU of Florida.
(Excerpt) Read more at palmbeachpost.com ...
Sue the so-called families of the non-performing students, who have probably been raised to reject success in school as “acting white”.
Look at the track record of African and Asian immigrants for comparison. It’s all about ATTITUDE!
But But.....No Child is Left Behind?
Liberal solution: hand out free diplomas. Problem solved.....
hh
Locally theres a growing push to merge all the school districts in the county into one. The reason they want to do this is because some of the schools are failing.
Apparently the only “fair” thing to do is drag the other schools down with the failing schools.
When will they realize, ya gotta wanna. These kids that don’t graduate have exactly THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES that the kids who DO graduate have. They are lacking only one thing- the will to do so. You can lead a horse to water, you cannot make him drink.
My 2 older boys went through the public school system. It was full of kids who did NOT want to graduate, participate, do the work etc. My kids knuckled down and had to have a B or better average or they lost everything they loved til the next report card came out. Each only tested my resolve one time, and after being grounded to their rooms with only school books for 9 weeks, regardless of what activity they might miss (it was their own fault for being there, not mine, so too bad for any event they thought they should be exempted for) it never happened again. They were grounded for C’s or below in any subject because my kids were told I expected them to be above average. (this did NOT apply if they were staying after for help, asking hubby and me for help in a particular subject and turned in all assignments and still got a C, but amazingly, that never happened as long as they put that much effort in, they always squeaked out a B or better).
This is a BS line of thinking, and only further damages our next generations ability to live with the consequences of their choices.
My youngest is homeschooled. He has a learning disability that requires more attention and less distraction than a public school can provide, and it is not their responsibility to provide for my childs education, it is mine, it is God given, and I accept the consequences of MY choice. No better teacher for your child, than the actions of a parent.......
...one of the hallmarks of the Anglo-European/Judeo-Christian culture is it’s reverence for education....not all cultures share that view....they have difficulty assimilating the A-E/J-C attitudes towards work,school, marriage,language and dress...a law suit won’t chaange them.
I’m not criticizing you for grounding your kids for failure to meet your expectations, in fact I find it laudable. I just want to point out that what you did for your kids is also routinely done in Asian households, and is apparently part of their family culture. The only difference is that you grounded your kids if they got less than “B’s”. Asian kids are punished if they get less than “A’s”.
Think about that.
Thats exactly right. Actions have consequences. They hold their children accountable, and teach them these lessons from a young age. It is why when they grow up, they hold jobs. Bosses do exactly the same thing, perform or be fired. It is a lesson well learned in your youth. A look at just who is faring how in this economic nightmare will show that. Asians are least affected, can we guess who is most heavily affected?
While some may disagree with my methods, none can argue the results.
One group routinely criticized standardized testing as being racially biased, the tests having been written by white people. Asian students statistically outperformed the white students.
Logic leads to an inescapable conclusion but no one dares mention it. Not even here.
A-yup!
Too many in this country have decided that children are children even through their 20’s. They constantly tell them they are incapable of making good decisions, too young to know better etc.
If you keep lowering the bar, you will get exactly what you expect from your kids-nothing. I have chosen to raise the bar for mine, and they practically kill themselves trying to get over it. Kids only give you what you expect of them. The perpetual difficulty of being a good parent is knowing how high to set the bar and being ever ready to tweak the level to allow success but not to reduce the effort required to achieve it. That requires vigilence and compassion coupled with being willing to love your child enough to cause them some pain (growing pains are named such for a reason). You must also be willing to be a parent and cry in private when they tell you that you are the worst mother in the world through the process. I assure you, in the end, it is worth it, and they do thank you for loving them enough to be their parent. Mine did, and I did the same with my parents.
One day someone will sue who is really responsible for the failing schools.
The Teachers Union.
We we try to sue our government, it is generally thrown out as we taxpayers “have no standing” .
What keeps giving the ACLU standing in these cases?
We are ALL equal, shove the Bell Curve! "I am someone!"..trophy for ALL who compete! etc etc etc etc etc ...ad infinitum...I am reminded of Ol'Rabbi Kahane who said, re Israel, that 'they' will outnumber us and take control by sheer numbers.....
The poor graduation rates have little to do with the bell curve and everything to do with our culture.
This is absolutely the worst thing that could happen. In the 1970's the black grievance crowd sued to make forced busing the law of the land in East Baton Rouge Parish. A judge was appointed to oversee the school district and make sure it complied with the terms of the lawsuit. Once given this power, these judges NEVER give it up. They get to approve not only school attendance but bus routes, and all sorts of minutia, including school lunch menus. Every lawsuit that is filed to remove the school from the judge's supervision is lost.
If one of my children gets below an A, we kill them to make an example to the others. My FR name used to be christianhomeschoolmommaof10. ;)
“Too many in this country have decided that children are children even through their 20’s. They constantly tell them they are incapable of making good decisions, too young to know better etc.”
And they have the priviledges of an adult but the responsibilites of a child. I think a boy of 10/11/12 years old should have work like a man and earn his priviledges as he increases his responsibilities. Thats just me and I am sure that alot of people would think I am “stealing” their childhood away.
agreed. My kids didn’t get cell phones til they had JOBS to pay for them. They were not permitted to get a drivers license til they had JOBS to pay for gas and insurance. They have to work for these things in order to appreciate them, respect them, and respect themselves. Funny, my sons used to bitch all their friends didn’t have to deal with stuff like that, now, their parents are taking away their stuff cause they can’t afford it, and they can’t find jobs. My boys already have them. Life as usual for them, now THEIR FRIENDS are bitching at their folks for NOT making them get jobs, because now they can’t find one.
Kids come into their own in every major religion at age 13. That is the God ordained age of manhood. It is only in the US (and other spoiled, westernized societies) that we make excuses for them not knowing any better. I call BS on that one, kids are just getting away with murder, and everything else, because of this mentality.....
Also..It is very difficult to determine how much of black underachievement is due to their culture or IQ. Even if ( generally) as a group they have lower IQs, what is the reasonable expectation for the percentage of graduates if culture issues could be corrected? Probably a lot higher that what we have now.
A son of a friend of mine said it best when he was about 6. "If everyone's special then no one is special"
How odd that a six year old can see it but a liberal cannot.
Muslima Lewis?
Terrorist watch candidate?
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