Posted on 02/09/2010 3:07:11 PM PST by jazusamo
A recent flap in a Berkeley high school reveals what a farce "fairness" can be. Because this is ultra-liberal Berkeley, perhaps we should not be surprised that a proposal has been made to eliminate four jobs as science teachers and use the money saved for programs to help low achievers.
In Berkeley, as in many other communities across the country, black and Latino students are not performing as well as Asian and white students. In fact, the racial gap in academic achievement at Berkeley High School is the highest in California— no doubt a special source of embarrassment in politically correct Berkeley.
According to the principal, "Our community at Berkeley High School has failed the African-Americans." Therefore "We need to bring everybody up— that's what this plan is about."
Surely no one, not even in Berkeley, seriously believes that you will "bring everybody up" by eliminating science teachers. This is a proposal to redistribute money from science to social work, by providing every student with advisors on note-taking, time management and other learning skills.
The point is to close educational gaps among groups, or at least go on record as trying. As with most equalization crusades, whether in education or in the economy, it is about equalizing downward, by lowering those at the top. "Fairness" strikes again!
This is not just a crazy idea by one principal in Berkeley. It is a crazy idea taught in schools of education across the country. A professor of education at the University of San Francisco has weighed in on the controversy at Berkeley, supporting the idea of "projects designed to narrow the achievement gap."
In keeping with the rhetoric of the prevailing ideology, our education professor refers to "privileged" parents and "privileged" children who want to "forestall any progress toward equity."
In the language of the politically correct, achievement is equated with privilege. Such verbal sleight of hand evades the question whether individuals' own priorities and efforts affect outcomes, whether in education or in other endeavors. No need to look at empirical evidence when a clever phrase can take that whole question off the table.
This verbal sleight of hand is not confined to education. A study of incomes of various groups in Toronto concluded that Canadians of Japanese ancestry were the most "privileged" group in that city. That is, people of Japanese ancestry there had higher incomes than members of other minorities and higher than that of the white majority in Toronto.
What makes the "privileged" label a particularly bad joke in this case is a history of blatant discrimination against the Japanese in Canada in years past, including a longer internment during World War II than that of Japanese Americans. But, to some on the left, the very concept of achievement must be banished by all means necessary, regardless of the facts.
Achievement by overcoming obstacles is a special threat to the left's vision of the world, and so must be magically transformed into privilege through rhetoric.
Those with that vision do not want to even discuss evidence that students from different groups spend different amounts of time on homework and different amounts of time on social activities. To admit that inputs affect outputs, whether in education, in the economy or in other areas, would be to undermine the vision and agenda of the left, and deprive those who believe in that vision of a moral melodrama, starring themselves as defenders of the oppressed and crusaders against the forces of evil.
Redistribution of material resources has a very poor track record when it comes to actually helping those who are lagging, whether in education, in the economy or elsewhere. What they need are the attitudes, priorities and behavior which produce the outcomes desired.
But changing anyone's attitudes, priorities and behavior is a lot harder than taking a stance as defenders of the oppressed and crusaders against the forces of evil.
To the extent that doing the latter misdiagnoses the problem, it makes solving the problem even harder. That does no good for those who are lagging, however much it exalts those who pose as their defenders. "Fairness" indeed!
Mr. Principal, you're either a liar, or stupid, or both. If you "bring everyone up" there will still be a gap.
So very true. I heard somewhere that liberals are addicted to the feeling of moral superiority but because they can’t actually BE moral in any traditional sense of the word, they substitute FEELINGS and become Berkeley residents.
If I understand......If blacks and latinos didn’t do well in math, history, English, wood shop, metal shop, etc.....they would get rid of the classes? Make the dumb, dumber sounds like the rule of the day. The state needs to step in on this one.
Shoot, liberals believe more in manipulating inputs to change the output than anyone. They just want to do it for everyone at once in an evil, collectivist, enervating manner.
Unfortunately in this case, "the state" is California. The legislature's probably studying the Berkeley program in order to make it mandatory statewide. :-(
I grew up in a suburb of Newark and being close to New York, boy did we learn. Trips to the Museum of Natural History, a trip to a Broadway play, a trip to Edison's laboratory, and history readings in science history, literature history, and broadway's history including visiting George M Cohens stature at Times Square sure did the trick!
Another of my teachers was the USA 1960 Assistant Olympic Swimming coach. I earned my Water Safety Instructor certificate by following his teaching paradigm.
D.O.T. First your must Do. Then you must Observe. then you can Teach. A DOT. com before the Internet!
Why couldn’t Thomas Sowell have been the “First African American President?”
This would have been the step towards a colorblind society. Instead we get the Racist in Chief Obama who will leave no stone unturned in an attempt to force the nation to bow to his version of colorblind - which means dragging down those who DO by forcing them to give to those who DON’T. Whether you are white or black, Obama wants to discourage hard work and reward those who merely suck off the system and bow to ‘the one’s” greatness.
If that’s true, they better get rid of basketball because white kids can’t jump. It ain’t fair. Everone knows that.....even Hollywood knows this.........since they made a movie about it.
Leave it to a Berkeley educator to come up with a hair brained plan like that, it really isn’t surprising.
I know. I love it! I always bring up the NBA when anyone wants to argue affirmative action. I’m honest because I oppose it in the NBA and everywhere else. Watch them squirm as they try to explain how they’re not hypocrites even though their support for the policy depends on whose ox is getting gored. Plus you can frame it as Asians vs. other minorities. Asians are discriminated against even more heavily than whites, so ask supporters to explain why the biggest losers in a program to help minorities, are minority!
We need thousands more like you had. I had several but I also had some duds and that was a lot of years ago.
I love Dr Sowell.
I doubt that the Berkeley school board or even principals can understand that clear sentence.
The retards in Berkeley are getting the government (and the education) that they deserve.
On the bright side, think of the money they'll save not having to travel to Sweden to celebrate Nobel Prizes!
Just saying...
In CA more and more of the educational dollar is going to underachievers and non-english speakers. It is being done at the expense of the accomplished students. Like many other states, people are leaving the underachieving districts and going to private schools or schools that have a high percentage of Asians and Europeans. Parents will look after their kids.
Don’t say “retards”. It’ll be a thread hijack for sure. I’m series.
LOL! Now that's funny, and true.
The point is to close educational gaps among groups, or at least go on record as trying. As with most equalization crusades, whether in education or in the economy, it is about equalizing downward, by lowering those at the top. "Fairness" strikes again!
Another reason to homeschool?
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
Bump for later reading.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.