Back to school

townhall.com ^ | 29/08/03 | Oliver North

[thesharkboy]

The reason public school students aren’t faring as well as they should is because they are being lead by politicians and education bureaucrats who care more about politics and political correctness than they do about educating America’s youth.

As an exercise, find the mistake in grammar in this sentence, Ollie.

[EdReform]

"And at its most recent convention in New Orleans, the National Education Association ( UNION ) (NEA), which purports to be dedicated to teaching the nation’s public school students, had its delegates spend their time discussing and endorsing proposals that have nothing to do with education. For example, the NEA endorsed family planning, discrimination against home-schooled students, sex education, a national health care policy, statehood for the District of Columbia, and the International Court of Justice. Oh, yes, it also took the time to devote $1 million to electing Democrat candidates."

About the NEA

[ImaGraftedBranch]

One reason public school students aren’t faring as well as they should is that they are being lead by politicians and education bureaucrats that care more about politics and political correctness than they do about educating America’s youth.

[thesharkboy]

Nope.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Half the people and 85% of blacks have IQs of less than 100. All the education in the world is not going to make these people intellectuals. One does not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

It's no longer about education. It's all about taking our money and raising our taxes, and figuring out how to take more...Schools have turned into a giant money pit, socialist cesspool.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[Tired of Taxes]

Half the people and 85% of blacks have IQs of less than 100. All the education in the world is not going to make these people intellectuals. One does not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

I disagree completely. I don't know if your statistics are correct or not (I'd like to see your source). But, poor educational standards, together with the breakdown of the American family, is the root of the problem. Don't buy into the nonsense about IQs - that's just an excuse.

[Tired of Taxes]

You are emotional and wrong.

Nowhere in my post was I "emotional". Are you projecting?

Are you sure that you are not a Democrat?

I'm growing quite used to Republicans calling me "Democrat" and Democrats calling me "Republican". The other day, I was called a "racist" by a Democrat on another board, just because I oppose Affirmative Action. Now, I come here and am called "Democrat" by you.

If I have to classify myself, I'm a libertarian. The underlying principle of "conservatism" is "individualism", and I really do see people as individuals.

I read once that reportedly 70% of American "blacks" can trace their heritage directly to Europe, as a result of generations of "race-mixing", so I don't put much stock in the notion of "race" or "race studies", either.

The summary of the study you linked admitted that the "black" children adopted were adopted at a later age, on average, that other factors could've come into play, and that no study is perfect. There are many influences outside the family, particularly if a child attends school.

The study you linked also put "mixed-race" children in the middle IQ group. I have personal experience raising "mixed-race" children. My oldest son, now only age 7, could read at a fifth-grade level by age 5. He would read astronomy books and knew more on the topic than most adults. Last year, my husband introduced him to algebra, and he picked it right up.

So, why is he performing so well? I think the reason is that we homeschool our children, and that is why I said that "education" makes the big difference. Also, we don't teach our children to identify only with certain people, or to define themselves in a limited way, and that makes a big difference, too. This past summer, we sent our oldest to school, and he was way ahead of his classmates, the vast majority of whom were white.

We know other "mixed-race" homeschoolers performing well above other students, too.

Maybe my one child (and probably the other two, though they're too young to tell) plus these other children are exceptions to the rule. But, then again, I know so many "black" people who are intelligent and "whites" and "Asians" who are not that, at this point, I just don't believe the "race statistics".

BTW, I guess you don't support Proposition 54- the Racial Privacy Initiative - on the ballot in CA to stop the CA state gov't from "classifying" people according to race...? It is backed by Republicans and conservatives, while the Democrats and liberals oppose it. Which side are you on, with that one?

[vikingcelt]

Okay now just exactly where do you get this statistic: 85% of blacks have IQs of less than 100. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm???

[vikingcelt]

Oh since August 9, 2003. And you are here calling people "silly fool"." It appears to me that you are the "silly fool." My daughter is (oh how I hate this term...mixed race...so I won't use it) mulatto. Her dad is black and I'm white. I don't know her IQ but I do know that in a lot of ways she is much more intelligent than I am and, being much more ambitious than I ever was, doing very well in life. She has a fantastic career and is now working on her Master's Degree. And it all started out at an elementary school in East Oakland which is basically a "ghetto." But the teachers back then (I don't know how it is now) were extremely dedicated and they really led her in the right direction.

[vikingcelt]

You, my dear, are COMPLETELY INSANE.

"Isn't affirmative action wonderful? It is so gracious to give a hand to those who are less able."

I suppose that if you were anywhere near me I'd give you a good slap up the side of your head (figuratively speaking of course). My daughter has never benefitted from affirmative action because she did not need the benefits that affirmative action would give her. She has done it all on her own.

"Let me guess that your daughter's Master's degree is in some soft subject like social work or English or history and is not in hard discipline like physics, chemistry or engineering. Blacks are perfectly capable of blathering or bullshitting but seem to have considerable difficulty in those subjects that require a demonstration of real competency."

Well, you are quite the bigot aren't you? I really hate to run into your sort of ignorance on Free Republic. No my daughter's Master's Degree is not in some "soft subject." She is currently a computer engineer. She is quite good at math which is not a "soft subject." And she has done quite well in "those subjects that require a demonstration of real competency." She is working on a Master's in Business Administration in order to further her career at the excellent company where she works. Needless to say, she got a job there on her own merits and without the benefit of affirmative action.

What planet are you FROM anyway? BIGOT.

[vikingcelt]

Again, you are quite the BIGOT and I don't believe your statistics. Why on earth are you so obsessed with this subject?

[freedumb2003]

I think I doth detect a lurker.

I have seen this before -- get an ID (note the sign-up date), take up an outragous very right-wing position and run around saying you are a Libertarian (that seems to be good cover since no one really knows what a Libertarian is).

Then they piss people off on purpose and then slink back to their slime-caves where they refence thier own posts of examples of how FR is a racist site.

They usually slip and get banned but sometimes it takes a little while.

In the meantime I would say to pay no attention to the big guy with the little member behind the curtain.