No Wonder the Students Can’t Add

02 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by perrinlovett in News and Notes

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Almost 2,400 North Carolina elementary school teachers have failed the math portion of their licensing exams, which puts their careers in jeopardy, since the state hired Pearson publishing company to give the exam in 2013, according to a report presented to the state Board of Education Wednesday.

Failure rates have spiked as schools around the state struggle to find teachers for the youngest children. Education officials are now echoing what frustrated teachers have been saying: The problem may lie with the exams rather than the educators.

Teachers in Florida and Indiana have also seen mass failures when their states adopted Pearson testing, according to news reports from those states. Concern about the validity of the Pearson licensing exams is so pervasive that it was discussed at this year’s National Education Association conference, said North Carolina Association of Educators President Mark Jewell.

There are such things as bad tests. There are also ways to beat them if they are a problem. However, that doesn’t explain away the low proficiency rates among the students. This looks like the fruit falling near the tree. Except that, in the woods, gravity operates for free. American taxpayers spend a lot of money on failure. I’d drop some numbers here, but: 1) I’ve done that so many times, and; 2) I don’t want to confuse anyone to the point they have to consult with their ninth grade child…

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See. It should have said, “Solve for x.” It’s 5 cm, by the way…

When 189% Isn’t Enough

30 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by perrinlovett in Other Columns

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education, money, schools

No, this isn’t about Elizabeth Warren’s proposed new minimum tax rate.

Young Charles Donaldson III thinks we as a nation are hoarding the cash in an effort to keep education off-limits to someone.

“America to Me” subject Charles Donalson III used his platform during the Starz docuseries panel at the Television Critics Association press tour on Saturday to call out what he called America’s “hoarding” of wealth, citing examples he saw right there at the conference’s Beverly Hilton setup.

The gap of financial resources is particularly prevalent in the entertainment industry, Donalson added. He’s now a small part of that business, and so is everyone he addressed.

The high school graduate pointed out “all the money it takes just to set up this room,” referring to the Beverly Hills Ballroom. He continued, “Jesus Christ, you know how much food you have out there? Y’all are laughing, but I’m being dead serious right now. You all know how much food it is out there?”

One might wonder how a TeeVee show, spotlighting a school, somehow takes money (and food) away from the school. One may wonder…

Donaldson is a recent graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High (Chicago). It’s obvious the school needs more money. (Isn’t that always the solution?). The district only spends $14,822 per year per student on instructional costs, compared to $7,853 per student state-wide. That, by the way, is where the 189% comes from. This also exceeds the national average. It’s not enough…

For all the money, only 15% of the students get “free” lunches. Maybe that’s what Donaldson was getting at. Maybe Starz could donate some biscuits or something.

Also, for all the money, less than half of Donaldson’s peers are proficient in reading; only 12% understand math. Yet, per the fraudulent national trend, the school graduates 93% of its students. These numbers might explain – to someone who did not graduate from Oak Park – that the money isn’t the issue or, at least, that it is misplaced.

Oak Park is a “Title One” school. That means, well, nothing. In 1994, a useless Congress declared:

it to be the policy of the United States that a high-quality education for all individuals and a fair and equal opportunity to obtain that education are a societal good, are a moral imperative, and improve the life of every individual, because the quality of our individual lives ultimately depends on the quality of the lives of others.

Declarations like that are meaningless, but they are not cheap. We spend and spend. All measures of progress drop and drop.

Ah well, what’s the point? Nothing college for all won’t surely fix.

Screenshot 2018-07-30 at 11.41.04 AM

The AP success rate is impressive… USN.

Public School is Valedictorian Abuse

01 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by perrinlovett in News and Notes, Other Columns

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academia, child abuse, decline, education, fraud, schools, Texas, Valedictorian

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:

Screenshot 2018-07-01 at 1.43.00 PM

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.

A Maryland Public Middle “School” Has a Problem

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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#ShoeControl, culture, decline, education, gun control, immigration, Maryland, MS-13, schools, society

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

Posted by perrinlovett in Other Columns

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child abuse, education, evil, freedom, schools, Valedictorian

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.

nimbus-image-1528734681297

YouTube.

Another Good Alternative to Public “Schools”

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

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education, freedom, Ron Paul, schools, TPC

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?

…

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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academia, culture, education, schools

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:

…

The Original.

Homeschooling Rising in Popularity

01 Friday Jun 2018

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education, homeschooling, schools

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

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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academia, children, education, Piedmont Chronicles, schools, TPC

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

2013FallOpening1

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

Remedial America: On the Public Schools

24 Thursday May 2018

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America, education, failure, government, Piedmont Chronicles, schools, TPC

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

…

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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