Don't Give Me or My Child Crutches!

I disagree with the (July 5) opinion piece, "Finally, a LAUSD Plan to Help Black Children." We (black folks) are always passing the buck and looking for someone or something to help us out of the miry clay. Black children are at the bottom of the totem pole in public schools, but we should not blame the schools for the failure of our offspring.

I am a single parent with a full-time job. Nevertheless, every day for one hour, I sit with my four-year-old to do phonics, simple math, spelling, critical thinking, art, coloring, perception and watch educational videos.

On weekends, I take her to the library, or to the California Science Center where she sees chickens being hatched and the heartbeat of an elephant.

I take her to parks that have ducks or other educational aspects. I read to her. I read books to her at least three times a week and I point my finger at every word that I read to her. I tell her that learning is fun & and reading and books are great. And now she enjoys creating her own stories. She is motivated and excited about learning as she explores the world around us. My child was psychologically tested one week after her fourth birthday and the results indicated that she scored between first and third grade levels in the superior range in reading, mathematics and written language skills.

It's about time we take responsibility of our own problems and stop looking for others to help us.

There are times when I don't physically feel like working with my child or reading her a story, but she is MY responsibility, not the school's! If we send our children to school unprepared, the schools are not going to work with them or give them individual attention.

Instead they are going to place them in special education classes and label them as "learning disabled.

I am tired of hearing that standards for black folks have to be lowered and that we need a plan to help us. We need to help ourselves! There are too many black kids who come to school with little or no interest in learning. It is not the teachers' responsibility to motivate them.

We as parents need to get off our butts, get off the Internet, get off the cell phone and take time for our children, and if we don't have the time, we need to make the time. When my child is old enough to attend grade school, she is attending a private, predominantly white school that costs $12,000 a year. Why? I want her in a school where being black does not mean, "You need extra help." I refuse to put her in a school where she is an "exception to the rule." I want her to attend a school where she is expected to achieve. I want her to be challenged and not hindered

This letter ought to be in every newspaper across the country and on every bulletin board in every school across the country.

Thanks for posting it paltz

Enough of this racist talk! You mean to say that blacks have equal ability? Every good liberal knows that blacks (as well as hispanics and women) are not as able as their white male counterparts. Any conservative who says minorities have as much ability as white men is clearly a racist.

Uh-oh! Don't give Jesse or Al her address. She's gonna ruin their gig.

"On weekends, I take her to the library, or to the California Science Center where she sees chickens being hatched and the heartbeat of an elephant."

Neat trick, that. Seeing the heartbeat of an elephant. Golly.

--Boris

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