http://www.i-served.com/072403_SecondaryEducation.html
"This is the direct product of the leftist and Marxist agenda that is
tyrannizing contemporary education. The fault is not with the teachers,
it
is with the social scientists in our universities who design these
approaches to education, and the National Education Association that
promotes them. Following is a report from the battlefield of the left's
war
on black children. Note the reference to the Vietnam War as the excuse
the
left used to impose this racist horror on minorities (from
FrontPageMag):
"I spent 30 years in the Philadelphia public schools teaching high
school.
When I began in 1965 the school was integrated and the students in my
French
class read Victor Hugo and Molière. When I escaped in 1995 there wasn't
a
shred of knowledge, decency or honesty left in anyone's heart, soul or
brain, be it administrator, teacher or student. As you well know, 1968
was
the cut-off point, like B.C. and A.D. (Before Counter-Culture and After
Devastation). You went to bed one night with one set of values in place
and
you woke up in a strange new world. It was exactly like "The Invasion of
the
Body Snatcher." Human beings had mutated over night into apostles of
socialized education-the concept that education was a right, free from
any
attendant responsiblities. This meant caving in to every demand, no
matter
how outrageous, emanating from the most infantile and hate-filled kids
one
could possibly imagine. By 1972 the school was entirely Black and firmly
entrenched in an irreversible policy of passing the greatest number even
if
they had no skills. This was presumably some sort of reparation for the
past
cruelties to Blacks and some sort of redemption for " racist America who
was
waging a racist war in Vietnam." In the classroom, we all began fighting
for
our survival in the same way-by pandering to the kids, appeasing them
and
diluting difficult subject matter on their behalf. The behavior in the
classroom was out of control. Many teachers knew this was wrong but they
put
their heads in the sand and never came up for air. Many left the
system-there was a mass exodus out of teaching back in the seventies.
Sometimes a voice would be raised but the iron curtain of political
correctness stifled all attempts to establish honest discourse among
"professionals." It was no longer a profession but a type of dull ritual
devoid of meaning. My school was typical of the many once excellent city
schools that fell into depravity over the 30 year period.
Kerry's Iranian connection
With his presidential campaign faltering, the last thing Sen. John Kerry needs is publicity linking him to a dubious lawsuit filed by one of his top financial backers that seems intended to silence a prominent Iranian pro-democracy organization. But unfortunately for the Democratic presidential nominee, that's what's coming his way.
Back in April, Hassan Nemazee, who has raised more than $100,000 for Mr. Kerry's campaign, filed a $10 million lawsuit in a Texas court charging the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) and its coordinator, Aryo Pirouznia, with libeling him by suggesting he is a supporter of the Islamist regime in Iran. At the heart of the legal dispute is Mr. Nemazee's connection with groups such as the American-Iranian Council, an organization which has lobbied for a softer U.S. stance toward Iran. Now, according to Mr. Pirouznia, attorneys for Mr. Nemazee — who filed the suit nearly five months ago — want to delay depositions in the case until after the election because the publicity will hurt Mr. Kerry.
Veteran investigative journalist Kenneth Timmerman reported in Insight magazine that, in 2001, Mr. Nemazee joined the board of the AIC, which had long advocated a more accommodating U.S. stance toward the brutal dictatorship in Iran. Mr. Nemazee subsequently said he regrets joining the AIC board and resigned after serving on it for 12 months. He insists he is no defender of the current regime.
But Mr. Nemazee has attempted to do the impossible: defend Mr. Kerry's weak position on Iran. Earlier this year, he told Insight that Mr. Kerry was not calling for a resumption of relations with Iran. Mr. Nemazee offered this disingenuous spin several months after Mr. Kerry's Dec. 3 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, in which he attacked the Bush administration for blocking a dialogue with Iran.
Now, Mr. Nemazee's lawyers are demanding that the student group's attorneys provide information on communications between Mr. Pirouznia and Bonafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, another prominent Iranian pro-democracy activist, whose ailing, elderly father has spent much of the past year in jail for having the temerity to criticize the regime. SMCCDI's lawyers believe that if they are forced to provide this information in court, it could jeopardize the lives of student activists in Iran. Mr. Pirouznia says he would rather go to jail than permit this to occur.
Mr. Kerry's current political difficulties will grow much more serious if a supporter of Iranian democracy is hauled off to jail for refusing to endanger the lives of Iranian dissidents by allowing their names to be publicized in court — at the insistence of a prominent Kerry financial backer, no less. For more information on this case, please see the Web site regimeinfluence.com.