SAT Reading Scores Fall to Lowest Level on Record

www.foxnews.com ^

[kabar]

I understand what you’re saying, and I don’t really disagree. However, my point is that I don’t believe immigrants and immigration are responsible for the decline in educational outcomes. We could have schools that successfully educate students from Mexico and Central America, just as we once had schools that successfully educated students from Russia, Germany, Italy, and Greece. We could have schools that successfully educate blacks, just as we once had schools that successfully educated blacks.

The problem is complex. We are not living in the same country or under the same conditions that existed during former waves of immigration that essentially stopped in the 1920s and we stayed at fairly low levels of immigration, 250,00 to 300,000, for 40 years. The current huge numbers help form a critical mass that inhibits assimilation and acculturation. As an outgrowth of the Civil Rights movement, our political "betters" decided that we needed an America that looked like the rest of the world and not just Europe. Thus, we had the Immigration Act of 1965 that abolished national origins and made it easier for Third World immigrants to enter. It has changed the demographics of this country forever. In 1970, non-Hispanic whites comprised 89 percent of the population; today they are 66 percent; and by 2039, they will be 50 percent.

The 1965 Immigration Act: Anatomy of a Disaster

Our schools have become infected with multiculturalism and diversity. American exceptionalism is no longer considered to be a virtue. Our history has been revised so that we view this country as being founded by white racists and a nation that is the cause of most of the world's problems, not a force for good.

Huntington: "In the past, immigrants originated overseas and often overcame severe obstacles and hardships to reach the United States. They came from many different countries, spoke different languages, and came legally. Their flow fluctuated over time, with significant reductions occurring as a result of the Civil War, World War I, and the restrictive legislation of 1924. They dispersed into many enclaves in rural areas and major cities throughout the Northeast and Midwest. They had no historical claim to any U.S. territory.

"On all these dimensions, Mexican immigration is fundamentally different. These differences combine to make the assimilation of Mexicans into U.S. culture and society much more difficult than it was for previous immigrants. Particularly striking in contrast to previous immigrants is the failure of third- and fourth-generation people of Mexican origin to approximate U.S. norms in education, economic status, and intermarriage rates."

The education problem originates with those at the top of the system, just as the immigration problem largely originates with similar people. We don’t have to have schools that predominantly produce failures. We don’t have to have unlimited immigration and large numbers of people who don’t assimilate linguistically or culturally. We don’t have to have a permanent, uneducated, unemployable welfare class. And yet ... that’s what we have.

No, we don't the current immigration policies or schools. But unless we have engaged, informed citizens who are willing to get involved to change things, we will lose this country. Have you been involved with the Tea Party movement or other grassroots organizations that are trying to change things? If not, then get involved and not just leave the other side a free pass to continue to shape and destroy this country. We get the schools and country we deserve.

[Tax-chick]

Have you been involved with the Tea Party movement or other grassroots organizations that are trying to change things? If not, then get involved and not just leave the other side a free pass to continue to shape and destroy this country.

I'm involved in producing the next generation of "non-minority" Americans, such as it is ... one adult child in the Coast Guard, eight at home, and one to be born next year.

I'm active in town, county and state-level elections: I see a candidate I like, and I call or email him and say, "I want to help your campaign, with my (6, 7, 8) children." Batty Pat, age 9, has been working the polls since infancy, and he's a heck of a campaigner ... fixes his huge, crazy, green eyes on the voter and says, "Have a MINT! You WILL VOTE for Mr. Blackwood for State Representative! And HERE is a ticket about the JUDGES! VOTE for the judges!"

Nonetheless, it doesn't seem to make much difference. Certainly there's nobody running for school board who believes the whole concept of government schools is Totally Dead Wrong, as I do. The best I can do is support the one who's not a crook trying to make a fortune of school-contruction real estate finagles, or the local union boss.

[Tammy8]

And everyone is being too PC to admit that illegal immigration especially is ruining our education system. I say especially the illegals because they are the least likely to want to assimilate.

When I went to school there were no programs for ESL/LEP, etc. students and they had to sink or swim. Most swam, fast. I have noticed the more money we spend on them and the more we try to help them the worse it gets.

From personal experience those that truly want to succeed will and those that don’t really want it will fail. In my daughter’s graduating class there was a girl that graduated with honors that got a standing ovation. Her family legally immigrated here when she was in mid-school and she did not speak/read/write English. She and her parents refused the acronym classes- she wanted to be immersed. From mid-school to graduating from high school she learned to speak/read/write well enough to graduate with honors and earn a scholarship to a University.

[kabar]

However it’s true...kids have learned to do poorly on their tests, even though the law, only allows them to stay in ESL for 2 years.

First, this is just Connecticut law. And reading the law, it says " Each local and regional board of education shall limit the time an eligible student spends in a program of bilingual education to thirty months, whether or not such months are consecutive, except that summer school and two-way language programs pursuant to subsection."

Bilingual education is defined as:

Program of bilingual education” means a program that: (A) Makes instructional use of both English and an eligible student’s native language; (B) enables eligible students to achieve English proficiency and academic mastery of subject matter content and higher order skills, including critical thinking, so as to meet appropriate grade promotion and graduation requirements; (C) provides for the continuous increase in the use of English and corresponding decrease in the use of the native language for the purpose of instruction within each year and from year to year and provides for the use of English for more than half of the instructional time by the end of the first year; (D) may develop the native language skills of eligible students; and (E) may include the participation of English proficient students if the program is designed to enable all enrolled students to become more proficient in English and a second language.

Once that 30 months is up, "the local or regional board of edu­cation shall provide language transition support services to such student. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, English as a second language programs, sheltered English programs, English immersion programs, tutoring and homework assistance."

So reading the law, students can receive ESL training and other services. ESL is not limited to 30 months like bilingual education.

English as a second language program” means a program that uses only English the instructional language for eligible students and enables such students to achieve English proficiency and academic mastery of subject matter content and higher order skills, including critical thinking, so as to meet appropriate grade promotion and graduation requirements.

[kabar]

Why not form a group of like-minded citizens and start running for the school board? Sarah Palin did it because she got fed up with the system. The other option is home schooling.

[SaraJohnson]

Whites tended to bring up the scores in national averages. (See the Bell Curve) Whites are a minority among young people now. We often talk about the “tipping point” in a city or town that becomes minority white and decends into serious social and economic problems. Then Whites would move out and gather elsewhere (because they are rrrraaaacis).

We are going to have middle class white flight out of this country. This is especially true because diversity racism/tribalism precludes any “white” solutions. It’s Africa and Mexico all the way!

[Tax-chick]

I’ve been homeschooling for 17 years. This makes me an unlikely candidate for school board, as I don’t see voters supporting someone who believes the system should be dismantled ;-).