Teacher: African-Americans Most Poorly Behaved Students

NBC4.tv ^ | October 22, 2002

[maxcygregg]

LOS ANGELES -- A high school science teacher in Pasadena is on paid administrative leave for claiming in a letter to teachers that African-American students are the most poorly behaved at the school.

Scott Phelps has taught at John Muir High School for 12 years. He was put on leave Monday by the Pasadena Unified School District for what board member Ed Honowitz calls a "disturbing" letter placed in teachers' mailboxes on Friday.

Phelps denies he is racist, saying he was trying to make a point that standardized test scores will go down next year at Muir because ninth- and 11th-grade classes are primarily low socio-economic African-Americans lacking academic focus.

"If you look at their scores and track them over the years you will see that they're horrible,' Phelps said. "I'm not singling out a group. I'm not saying that low test scores are caused by low socio-economic students, I'm saying that low scores and low socio-economic students are directly related."

"There are cultural behaviors... but once you talk about it racist," said Phelps.

District spokesman Erik Nasarenko would only say there was an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

"People found the material within the email to be offensive. That is what is under investigation right now," said Nasarenko.

If misconduct is found, Phelps could be terminated.

Phelps wrote that "overwhelmingly, the students whose behavior makes the hallways deafening, who yell out for the teacher and demand immediate attention in class, who cannot seem to stop chatting and are fascinated by each other and relationships but not with academics ... are African-American."

"You can't classify whole groups of kids based on stereotypes," Horowitz said. "In addition, we need to do a good job educating every kid in this district no matter what background they come from."

The Muir student body is about 47 percent African-American and 42 percent Hispanic.

[KSCITYBOY]

Great post John - It's the culture that must change not the skin color.

[john in missouri]

It would appear that perhaps there is some progress in the range of 6 or 7%. That is to say, there is an enlightment rate exceeding 6%. Many say the goal should be enlightenment of 10+%. It looks like there might be good progress.

There is another characteristic of that 6 or 7%: given that seemingly the entire tide of black public opinion is against them, they are likely to be quite solid.

In other words, they're not just "along for the ride," as so many of the 90% are.

[bert]

...they're not just "along for the ride.....

There has been some thinking going on...... enlightenment requires some effort.

[john in missouri]

That is to say, there is an enlightment rate exceeding 6%. Many say the goal should be enlightenment of 10+%. It looks like there might be good progress.

I'd like to add to what you said: Under the right conditions, and with the right leadership, social ideas can change quickly. Under the right conditions, enlightenment can come much quicker than one would necessarily believe.

I can't immediately define the conditions, but it usually takes a well-organized, self-multiplying movement, or a dynamic leader, or a splash of some kind.

And if you get those 3 things together, you can get somewhere quickly.

[lonestar]

Agree.

[Inkie]

Gosh, if I learned that my child's ethnic group (Jewish) was the worst behaved at school, there would be hell to pay FOR MY KID. I would read him the riot act and follow up with teachers to ensure that he got the message and wasn't contributing to the problem. What a concept. Personal responsibility.

[bert]

...Under the right conditions, and with the right leadership....

This is an important concept. I think that Free Republic is now providing an example of the "right conditions" and some "right leadership" appears to be growing. There are several posters who have begun an active campaign and I hope their popularity grows.

I suspect there are a great black people uncomfortable with the liberal message who might learn to be comfortable here.

[bert]

ammend to "great many black people"

[eddie willers]

For an entire generation, we've had the same tired bleatership running the same tired show,

It goes back further than a generation.

The defining point was near the turn of the century when Booker T. Washington was turned out in favor of W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey.

That they were communists is the important point....not that they were black.

BTW...your post #48 was super.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

You're being an ass.

This thread is sickening in the racist attitudes displayed.

I expect better of you people.

[Jeff Chandler]

You're being an ass.

Emotional outbursts do not add anything constructive to the conversation. (As an aside, lack of self-control among a particular group of students is exactly what the teacher in the article is concerned about. Ironic, eh?)

This thread is sickening in the racist attitudes displayed.

Could you cite some examples to back up your claim?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Emotional nothing. You are being an ass.

Your facile use of fake ebonic dialect was immature to say the least, and cowardly in its portrayal, since you don't own up to being the racist you are.

As far as the attitudes, yeah, they suck. Status blame is not what real conservatives or libertarians do - they look for the actions of the individual.

[FormerLib]

Rome? Isn't that somewhere in Georgia?

No, ya derned fool! That's Athens!

[handk]

Then Chris Rock must be an ass too, right?

[Inkie]

While it is not constructive to paint a whole race with generalized negatives, at a particular school with a concrete and observable population, it could very well be accurate to say that the majority of disrupters are of a certain race, if the observable behavior of said disrupters supports that conclusion.

Individual responsibility is a core value of conservatives, but verifiable statistics derive from individuals who choose to exhibit the defined behaviors. To turn a blind eye to bad behavior by large groups of individuals, just because it is unpalatable to acknowledge these individuals largely come from one racial group, is to do these same individuals a disservice. Anyone behaving badly needs to own up and change. If more of those are black than white, then so be it. Prettying it up with denial only perpetuates the problem.

[Jeff Chandler]

You are being an ass.

That's your reasoned refutation?

Your facile use of fake ebonic dialect was immature to say the least, and cowardly in its portrayal, since you don't own up to being the racist you are.

It's easy to label someone a racist. Might as well add the rest of the typical terms: sexist, homophobe, Eurocentric, male chauvanist, mean-spirited, etc.. They're so overused as tactical weapons that they've become meaningless.

As for my use of ebonics, I was parodying ONE MAN: Chief Moose, not an entire race. I was giving evidence of a possible affirmative action hiring situation. What else is one to infer from the use of ebonics by a man in the position of top cop? And why is it acceptable for this police chief to mispronounce "them" and "with", and practically any other word with "th" in it, yet racist of me to point it out?

Status blame is not what real conservatives or libertarians do - they look for the actions of the individual.

I was refering to the actions of an individual: Moose. You know, if there were no such thing as affirmative action, we wouldn't be questioning whether or not this is a case of it. We would still be shaking our heads and asking ourselves how a man could obtain a P.H.D. without ever having mastered such simple words, though.

I really don't understand why you're so angry with me over my imitation of Moose. I'm just giving you a sneak preview of a future SNL skit!

[deport]

My memory of the 2000 election is 94 or 95% BlackRat vote.

I don't know how much credibility you want to place in the exit polling of 2000 but here is the ethnic breakout ....

---

				GORE	BUSH	BUCHANAN	NADER
	Are you:
	% of total		category	% of category
	81		White	43	53	1	3
	10		Black	90	8	1	1
	7		Hispanic/Latino	63	33	1	3
	2		Asian	55	41	1	3
	2		Other	57	37	0	4

http://members.cox.net/fweil/VNS2000National.html

[Jason_b]

I noticed no one ridicules the accents of Dr. Walter Williams (who does not speak ebonics), Dr. Thomas Sowell (who does not speak ebonics), or even Sec. of State Colin Powell. No one doubts their credentials either.

There is an ongoing struggle between those who see value in formal English, and those who don't.

Those who value it were taught formal English in school, possibly also by parents at home, and taught to believe that lazy or sloppy English is something not to spoken lest others get the impression that you are uneducated, uncultured. Formal English was reinforced as "good." Lazy English was reinforced as "bad." They go on to use formal English at work and find that precision in communication is necessary. That accounts for the attitude of some that university degrees held by those who speak like the negro characters out of "Amos and Andy" are suspect.

Those who don't value formal English simply weren't taught the same way as those who do. Non-formal English was spoken at home, possibly at school too by most of the staff, was not reinforced one way or the other as either good or bad. It just was. Now out in the cruel world, they face rejection of the way they speak by those who were taught formally.

Williams has pointed out that the government run public schools have done a great disservice to all students but especially to blacks. If the KKK wanted to keep blacks down, they couldn't have come up with a better plan than the public schools which don't make the students speak formal English, and don't teach the basics.

The future of anyone who fails to learn to speak and write formal or standard English is at peril. It is just that simple. It is not racism because white illiterates are at peril too for the same reason. It happens that this time, it is not a white person's colloquialisms that are being made fun of.

[bert]

Thanks for posting the numbers.

One question..... are these national or for Florida? My recollection of 94-95% was for Florida. The posted number of 88% was also a Florida number.

If the 90% you posted is for Florida, there has not really been much enlightenment.

[stboz]

....public schools have done a great disservice to all students but especially to blacks. If the KKK wanted to keep blacks down, they couldn't have come up with a better plan than the public schools which don't make the students speak formal English, and don't teach the basics.

Who you tawkin' to mutha fu*ka?

Chipanzees have a better vocabulary.