Tag Archives: education

Harvard’s Secret ‘Special Sauce’

05 Thursday Jul 2018

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The Crimson have a lot riding on their defense in a particular lawsuit (filed by Asian students alleging racial discrimination in admissions). The revealing or keeping of this important trade secret (it’s probably politically correct racism, BTW) will affect other groups of potential students.

“Colleges are looking for a student who, yes, is bright” and has a resume full of traditional accomplishments, like leading the student government or an athletic team, said Mimi Doe, the co-founder of College Admissions Consultants, an independent college counseling service. “But they’re also looking for a student who can add that special sauce to a campus.”

I didn’t make up the sauce part.

Of course, there is some publicly available information about what’s required to get into a top college, such as average standardized test scores and grade-point averages. But meeting that criteria will only get students in the door, Doe said. Harvard could admit several classes worth of students with essentially perfect academic credentials. Of the roughly 26,000 domestic applications Harvard received for the class of 2019, 3,500 had perfect SAT math scores, 2,700 had perfect SAT verbal scores, more than 8,000 had a perfect GPA and nearly 1,000 received a perfect composite score on the SAT or ACT, according to court documents. The incoming class had about 1,600 spots.

The nation’s “top” college has 1,600 spots. And they say the first trait they look for is brightness. So … they have, any given year, several times as many bright applicants as the number of available slots. Surely all of the newbies will be drawn from those highest echelons of SAT and GPA performance, right? There has to be some sauce somewhere amid 1,600 young people.

The secret – like it’s really a secret – is that they draw from outside, from below, the top applicants in search of that very special and very secret sauce. (“Special sauce” is about as lame of cover for discrimination as “tasty ethnic food” is for the wholesale destruction of Western civilization). Given the money at stake, this secret could have huge ramifications. Also, given that anyone even of plain sauce variety can grasp what’s going on, there’s the loss of credibility.

There’s a good reason why Trump is pushing to abolish race-based college admissions.

And, since Harvard have moved onto the incredible and they want sauce, then they should launch a special recruitment drive to get this guy to attend. Just think of what fun and excitement he’d add. I’m sure his SAT is close enough…

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Gooseberry Patch.

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Public School is Valedictorian Abuse

01 Sunday Jul 2018

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The following story would almost be unbelievable if it didn’t come out of an American public “school” system.

Being your school’s valedictorian might be the greatest honor a student can achieve. But what happens when there’s a mixup? After delivering a valedictory speech at DeSoto High School’s graduation in May, Texas student Destiny Brannon was told she wasn’t the school’s valedictorian after all.

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On June 12, Destiny’s parents were told that the school had made a mistake calculating the students’ final rankings, the Dallas Morning News reported. Even though she had already spoken at DeSoto’s graduation on May 31, Brannon was apparently third in her class, according to the new rankings, which put a student named Brian Uzuegbunam in first place. According to the Dallas Morning News, the error happened because DeSoto had calculated the final rankings based on grades through the school’s fall semester, not the spring semester.

The mistake is more than just an embarrassing moment for the school too; it’s a potential financial nightmare for the Brannon family. Texas state universities give each of the state’s public high school valedictorians the opportunity to attend one year at a state university tuition free. Destiny had planned to attend the University of Texas at Austin. The family claims she had already gone through the school’s first-year orientation when her family learned about the valedictorian mixup.

The biggest twist in the story, though, is the fact that Destiny and her mom apparently don’t think the mixup was an accident at all. Destiny’s graduation speech criticized the school’s administration for valuing athletics over education, according to the Dallas Morning News. The outlet reported that although former DeSoto principal Arista Owens-McGowan had approved the speech, Destiny and her mom think the new rankings came in response to the criticism.

Given how “schools” are desperate to shut down dissent, I buy the retaliation angle. However, given that some American public school teachers can’t read, it’s likely that some school administrators can’t add.

Destiny Brannon, Gloria Akinnibosun, and Brian Uzuegbunam are three of those very high IQ students I’ve noted before, the ones you can’t stop from learning even if you try. Their grade averages, for any semester, are likely all high “A’s,” separated by some small fraction. They excel because they’re smart and certainly not due to being in a school that can’t tell spring from fall.

For Ms. Brannon and all the graduates, I am happy they are free from this stupidity. The Brannons should seriously consider legal action due to the financial bite. The State and the People of Texas should consider shutting down this failed system. The system owes them all an apology.

Here’s how the DeSoto High “School” breaks down:

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US News.

This school boasts a 91% graduation rate even as they admit, by their numbers, that only half the students are proficient in reading. It’s a 97% minority school; where’s the feigned outrage from the usual suspects? Oh, yeah. They don’t really care.

I do. So I’ll leave bright, young Ms. Brannon with this: You cannot be stopped. Forget these fools. (Sue them maybe). Destiny, your destiny begins now.

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Bright woman, recent prison escapee. USN.

U of C: Forget that Saturday Afternoon Test!

15 Friday Jun 2018

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I assume they’ll develop and implement their own rigorous testing in lieu of mandatory SATs and ACTs.

For years, a debate has simmered at the nation’s universities and colleges over how much weight should be given to standardized tests as officials consider students for admission — and whether they should be required at all.

A growing number, including DePaul University, have opted to stop requiring the SAT and ACT in their admissions process, saying the tests place an unfair cost and burden on low-income and minority students, and ultimately hinder efforts to broaden diversity on campus. But the trend has escaped the nation’s most selective universities.

Until now. The University of Chicago announced Thursday that it would no longer require applicants for the undergraduate college to submit standardized test scores.

While it will still allow applicants to submit their SAT or ACT scores, university officials said they would let prospective undergraduates send transcripts on their own and submit video introductions and nontraditional materials to supplement their applications.

Or that. Transcripts from a government high school graduating 90% of seniors, of whom 25% can read (no fraud there!), and a cat video! Our future academic success is guaranteed!

This will have consequences.

A Maryland Public Middle “School” Has a Problem

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Some are blaming this on MS-13:

Gang-related fights are now a near-daily occurrence at Wirt, where a small group of suspected MS-13 members at the overwhelmingly Hispanic school in Prince George’s County throw gang signs, sell drugs, draw gang graffiti and aggressively recruit students recently arrived from Central America, according to more than two dozen teachers, parents and students. Most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of losing their jobs or being targeted by MS-13.

Although administrators deny Wirt has a gang problem, the situation inside the aging, overcrowded building has left some teachers so afraid that they refuse to be alone with their students. Many said they had repeatedly reported incidents involving suspected gang members to administrators, only to be ignored — claims supported by documents obtained by The Washington Post.

“Teachers feel threatened but aren’t backed up. Students feel threatened but aren’t protected,” one educator said. “The school is a ticking time bomb.”

The gang’s presence at Wirt comes at a time when the Trump administration has declared war on MS-13, and communities throughout the country are confronting a surge in MS-13-related violence.

Nearly a dozen parents told The Post that they were worried about gang activity at the school, which is 10 miles from the White House. Many said they were intent on transferring their kids. Several said they were scared their children would be killed.

The blame may be a little misplaced, methinks. I looked into this story.

The problem at William Wirt Middle “School” is not:

A culture decayed to the point of collapse;

Incompatible immigration (can’t really call it “policy” anymore);

MS-13;

Any other gang;

Gang violence;

The brewing race war;

Guns or the NRA (Young Hogg would have blocked the local dairy aisle if that was it);

Rapes, drugs, or fights;

The moldy, leaky building;

The 8% math proficiency rate;

The 20% reading proficiency (better than Detroit!);

The total failure of a “school” that should be closed;

The failure of a “school” system that spends close to 50% more per student than the national average;

The total failure of the police; and

Most certainly not the failings of any particular individual students (civilized behavior is, like education, so yesterday).

The real problem, which I have identified following hours of research, is:

THE NIKE CORTEZ.

Who, police and the military aside, needs such a dangerous assault shoe with hi-capacity laces and “bump” soles? This is not the footwear the Founders had in mind. No hunter wears them. You’re 285,000 times more likely to be killed in your own shoes than to use them to outrun a perp. Sweden made the Cortez illegal in 1979.

Ban them!

#ShoeControl! #NotAnimals #PublicSkoolz

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How many children? Nike.

*I wasn’t sure, am still not sure, if this one was education or 2A related. Maybe both. Is what it is.

Government School is Child Abuse – and Attempted Cover Up

11 Monday Jun 2018

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More and more and more reasons manifest – causes to keep children out of the failed American “public” school cabal. Here’s another stunner: Valedictorian’s mic was cut off when she brought up sex assault in grad speech:

A California high school valedictorian was abruptly cut off when she tried to speak about sexual assault during her graduation speech, according to reports.

“I felt like I was worthless,” recent Petaluma High School grad Lulabel Seitz told CNN about the incident.

The 17-year-old began her speech on June 2 recalling the students’ first days as freshmen, then went on to talk about devastating wildfires, teacher strikes and her own family’s struggles.

But when it seemed like she was about to bring up her own sexual assault, which allegedly happened on school grounds — her mic was cut off.

In a video of the incident, the teen is visibly upset as she yells inaudible words to someone off camera.

Moments later, her peers and people in the crowd started chanting, “Let her speak! Let her speak!”

After nearly a minute of silence, she returns to her seat.

Seitz — a member of student government who played trumpet in jazz band and maintained a GPA of over 4.0 — said administrators warned her not to “speak against them” in her speech.

But the night before commencement, as she watched Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, she was inspired to speak out.

“When they cut my mic, I was appalled at them,” Seitz told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “I thought this is a public school with freedom of speech.”

Seitz, who is heading to Stanford in the fall, decided to post the uncensored version of her speech on YouTube.

That speech contains the line: “Even learning on a campus where some people defend perpetrators of sexual assault and silence their victims, we didn’t let that drag us down.”

The teen said she reported her assault, but that the school did nothing about it.

The definitional best student at this “school” was assaulted (I’ll just take her word) and the school did nothing (for her). They did do something against her, shutting her speech down following intimidation. Double abuse. This case is reminiscent of an episode in Florida wherein a middle school girl as abused on campus. Her school did nothing. Frustrated, she reached out to local talk radio for support and help. The school responded – by suspending her.

Our valedictorian by no means should feel worthless. That sentiment is rightfully reserved for her failed school. Thank God she’s moved beyond their reach. Of course, they did nothing about the abuse! They’re in the same business themselves.

She now surely knows that public “schools” and freedom, of speech and otherwise, do not go together. She’s going to be fine. She’s one of those high IQ students who simply cannot be held down, no matter who tries. She’ll do well at Stanford. She’ll be a success.

The “school” won’t. It isn’t. It cannot claim any responsibility for the success of those who happen to excel despite the torment. I don’t even need to consult with one of those services that tell just how bad the schools are; I know this one is failed. Abolish it. Now!

I’m sure they did warn her not to “speak against them.” Her disregard speaks to her fortitude. I’ll also speak against them. Damn you morons to hell! Stop harming children. How’s that?

This is pathetic. It is also the norm these days. As these are our children, can we really continue to tolerate this? I think not.

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YouTube.

Another Good Alternative to Public “Schools”

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Last week’s TPC column on high schools and its predecessor generated heavy readership and commentary. The people, some of them having direct experience in the government prison schools, raised a myriad of issues even I hadn’t thought of – from expenses to parent disinterest to fidget spinners. All seemed willing to explore options in search of real education.

In furtherance thereof, here’s a piece from LRC, today, on Ron Paul’s Curriculum:

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Of course many parents choose homeschooling as a means of protecting their children from federal education “reforms” such as Common Core. Other parents are motivated by a desire to protect their children from the cultural Marxism that has infiltrated many schools.

The spread of cultural Marxism has contributed to the dumbing down of public education. Too many government schools are more concerned with promoting political correctness than ensuring that students receive a good education. Even if cultural Marxism did not dumb down education, concerns that government schools are indoctrinating children with beliefs that conflict with parents’ political, social, and even religious beliefs would motivate many families to homeschool.

Even when government schools are not intentionally promoting cultural Marxism or other left-wing ideologies, they are still implicitly biased toward big government. For example, how many government schools teach the Austrian economics explanation for the Great Depression — much less question the wisdom of central banking — or critically examine the justifications for America’s hyper-interventionist foreign policy?

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Another installment of TPC cometh tomorrow – and of a totally different make than the usual. Stay tuned.

Valediction – from 2015

01 Friday Jun 2018

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Seems appropriate to run this one again:

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At ceremonies coast to coast these meanings serve a justifiable purpose. The valedictorian speaks first to bid the class farewell to the sheltered academic lives the members have known. The salutatorian then speaks to the promise of the coming years. Or, something like that.

Those acquainted with the works of John Taylor Gatto or who have children of school age, surely understand the decline of quality in American public education. Gatto was formerly New York’s teacher of the year (State and City). His distinguished career spanned decades. Now he speaks and writes of the critical need for drastic school reform. His writing is frequently published at lewrockwell.com. He is the author of The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling (2000).

Gatto has related the American model of public education to Soviet-era brainwashing:

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The Original.

Homeschooling Rising in Popularity

01 Friday Jun 2018

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For good reasons.

One is avoiding public school culture and violence.

After a gunman opened fire on students in Parkland, Florida, the phones started ringing at the Texas Home School Coalition, and they haven’t stopped yet.

The Lubbock-based organization has been swamped with inquiries for months from parents seeking safer options for their kids in the aftermath of this year’s deadly school massacres, first in Parkland and then in Santa Fe, Texas.

“When the Parkland shooting happened, our phone calls and emails exploded,” said coalition president Tim Lambert. “In the last couple of months, our numbers have doubled. We’re dealing with probably between 1,200 and 1,400 calls and emails per month, and prior to that it was 600 to 700.”

Demands to restrict firearms and beef up school security have dominated the debate following the shootings, but flying under the radar is the surge of interest in homeschooling as parents lose faith in the ability of public schools to protect students from harm.

That’s violent physical harm, the risk of which is actually, statistically lower than it was 20 years ago. The greater danger, outside an immediate, isolated incident, is the admitted harm the schools do by graduating students who can’t read or calculate.

Five Things to Know Before Getting Started, by Melodie Kennedy.

 

Free Schools, Home Schools, and Un-Schools

31 Thursday May 2018

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Solutions for better, education abound.

From today’s TPC bit:

Today, some good news. Great news. Last week, in PART ONE of this series, we examined the dreadful state of the existing public high schools. The state spends a small fortune per student and then produces horrific academic results, even by its own watered-down standards. And, the kids have the luxury of experiencing this fraud while suffering prison conditions to shock the Nuremberg prosecutors.

I promised I’d be back this week with solutions. We’re about to get to those. First, it occurred to me that this short series on education just happens to coincide with graduation schedules. This is a coincidence, I suppose. I also suppose we can graduate to something better.

The problems in the schools result from many factors. But, they are mostly the product of a never-ending series of increasingly heavy-handed laws, regulations, and rules. Students, parents, taxpayers, and those who enjoy intelligent civil society keep trading one liberty after another in exchange for fake security that resembles illiterate, zero tolerance fraud and little else. The trouble boils down to, in a word: “tyranny.”

The solution, in a word, is “freedom.”

READ ALL AT TPC

 

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The Addison Gallery of American Art, Fall Opening, 2013, Andover.

Remedial America: On the Public Schools

24 Thursday May 2018

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Somewhat fitting with this being graduation season. Yesterday’s TPC piece on schooling, part one of two:

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The top ten schools in several categories are front and center in the USN report. There is other good performance outside the upper extreme, such as one school I found in a large Floridian city: 96% graduation rate; 64.4% college readiness; 84% AP participation with 69% success; and 71% reading and 66% math proficiency.

That school ranks 29th among all Florida schools and 343rd in the nation. However, this “best” school still graduates 96% of students when 29% are not reading at the level and 34% have trouble with arithmetic. It makes one wonder. It should make one suspicious.

Then, there are the “worst” schools. I skewered them recently in a related article. Please pardon any caustic effect therein. The worst offender districts spend more money than the average while delivering single-digit proficiency results. I think it’s safe to say “fraud” again.

The situation, the fraud is much worse than just poor test results. The whole basis and structure of the public schools in this country is so out of touch with American values that placing children in many or most of our schools is tantamount to child abuse. Seriously. The American model, in many states, is built on the fraud and historic bigotry of Blaine Amendment meddling. A beginning based on hating Catholics. Then, segregation and the hampering of black achievement. Next, integration, both of students and of plans to lower expectations and results. No free thinking citizens produced, just barely competent and obedient worker drone units. That was then. Now, the schools have become prisons.

I’ve been to more than a few schools recently. And I’ve been in more jails and prisons (on professional business…) than the average. There really is little difference. To convert a prison into a school, just add some desks. To make a school into a literal prison, just add bars to the windows. Beyond the physical similarities, there is congruence in the treatment of the inmates. And, in many places, the students literally have fewer rights, less freedom that prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Click here, read, and think about the application of these principles to your child’s school: Basic Rules and Protocols. In addition to suspicious, you should now be getting angry.

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READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT TPC

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