"The student uproar is now forcing district officials to take a hard look at the leveling system and decide how to strike a balance between their two main goals - celebrating diversity and pushing academic achievement."
One of the school's two main goals is celebrating diversity? You would think it would have something to do with education.
Im with you - Diversity is being pushed by business as well, citing bogus statistics that it improves profit - because I have a personal interests in this subject I have researched most of the statistics only to discover that they are extremely biased (conflict of interest) or completely unfounded.
Make no mistake - the term "Diversity" is being used to create an atmospher which is hostile to white males and Christians. Speak out against what they call 'tolerance' and you will be labeled as combative, racist or probably unemployed. Companies should be in the business of maximizing profit not social engineering - diversity training only focuses on the latter.
Someone on this board has a great moniker which says - Diversity is where everybody looks different but thinks alike, true diversity about thought not race, gender, sexual preference.
their two main goals - celebrating diversity and pushing academic achievement."
Diversity is the Peter Principle in Action. I am surprised that academic achievement is even mentioned.
Presumably there is no Level 1, because students at the bottom would get their feelings hurt if they were in Level 1. Fortunately, their math skills are so poor that they fail to notice that they're at the bottom, as long as the school calls it "Level 2".
Interesting that the author apparently believes that being present at school should be equated with achievement. Affirmative action at its finest - destroy the achievers, lift up the rest, and pretend that statistics are as important as the exercise of one's abilities. Sheesh!
In other words, the school needs to dumb down the curriculum so whites don't learn any more than the blacks. It's the Bell Curve they just can't seem to accept.
And anyone who believes this is due to some sort of deliberate discrimination on the part of the staff or district, has hit the old bong a few times too many. Educators are the most liberal folks you could imagine. (In general, but there are exceptions, few of which are likely to be found anywhere near New York City.
The only contributions teachers and staff are likley to make is one of lower expectations for the black and/or hispanic students. In general, liberals are big offenders in this regard. When black and hispanic students are held to high standards, they meet those standards.
It's all race and has NOTHING to do with brains, discipline, achievement or hard work.
Result: One ASSUMES white excellence and applaudes, celebrates and otherwise puts in on a pedestal, worshipping, ooh-and-ahhing non-white excellence. as if it's something so extraordinary and worthy of celebration--SIMPLY because it IS non-white. The kicker is that this non-white excellect is sometimes suspect it because it might be just from affirmative action, lower standards or dumbed-down exams.
That is educationese.
It's all a load.
People achieve, or don't achieve, regardless of their race. They achieve if they are smart, work hard and have self-discipline.
Parents are part of the deal. No parents make it just that much harder for ANY student of whatever race, etc., to succeed.
That 75% of black children in this country are born out of wedlock makes it that much tougher for those children, not impossible, just tougher.
SCHOOLS CANNOT REPLACE PARENTS but educators are too arrogant and stupid to admit to that fact.
If the black community wants that to stop, it has to look in the mirror for the blame, the solution and the resolution to change. If they want to change, then they have to do things they've never done before.
Lol. That last sentence was from John Agee, believe it or not.
Let the computer decide who gets assigned to which class based on their test scores and grades to date. If kids dont like it they can call the computer racist; they'll feel better, and the computer wont have hurt feelings.
Didn't the author or editor realize how stupid this sounds? I'm sure the school staff would say their goal was "fostering" or even "managing" diversity, but not "celebrating" it. They are so far beyond paroday that even their champions sound sarcastic.
It's mind boggling what this world has come to, and if you are a high acheiving student in that school, black or white, I'd say GET OUT NOW! Because the CELEBRATING is about to put the kibosh on the ADVANCEMENT.
Here, let me quote the person who made the most sense in the article, and good for the author for including him. It makes up for the silly statement at the start of the piece.
"Stewart Hendricks, a senior whose father is from Guyana and whose mother is Swiss, said that some teachers do seem to have lower expectations for black students but that he did not let them get him down.
"The purpose of high school is to prepare you for the real world," he said. "And in the real world, you can't listen to other peoples expectations, because in the real world, people are just waiting for you to fail."
Because of his mixed racial heritage, he said, "I guess you can say I'm in the middle of all this."
And in a way, that is why he sympathizes with the principal.
"She's got an entire black population that wants to get rid of the leveling system and an entire white population who would leave this town if they did that," he said. "What's she supposed to do?"
That's the whole end, I didn't want to leave any of it out, as it is almost all a direct quote from this kid. Who sounds like a cranky teen in a way, but that's a heck of a lot better than being an hysterical adult.