If you would notice, I said some folks. I went to school in the 70"s and I say it was better than today, though I still think some things could have benn improved. I went to MPLS Central, and it was a magnet school, drawing folks from all over the city. Then it closed, for reasons I had trouble going for, and that help the neighborhood decline.
I have 12 older brothers and sister, some of whom went to the MPS before I did. The picture was not all rosy. So as I said, it comes down to one's perspective. I never professed to speaking for all African-American's and minorities. He gave his, I stand by mine. And, from the hand of the attached post writer, he further illustrates my point, whether he meant to or not, that we need to do things differently in our schools. He may not agree with my thoughts on methods, but I don't have to agree with his "blood in the streets" extremism either. I have choices. That I learned, not in school, but at home. I choose to remain true to my thoughts. Pamela Taylor (Still African-American and still opinionated) --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Pamela Taylor wrote: > >I don't mean to offend, but some folks have a > memory > >of school being so great because they are white. > Funny, but I remember the high schools of the > 1970s working a lot better than they do today - and > I > am definitely not white. Nor were most of the kids > who > graduated from the DC public schools in those days, > either. > > >African-Americans can give you a different view. > Lots > >of other cultures have different ways of learning > that > >are just as valid. Since this country professes to > be > >the great melting pot, and we are so strengthened > by > >our diversity, then we need to accept the FACT that > we > >need to embrace a different reality than 20 and 30 > >years ago. It is called progress. > It is not progress when the average teacher > goes to college twice as long and is half as > competent. It > is not progress to see graduation rates below 50% in > the public high schools of major American cities. If > > other cultures' learning methods are "just as valid > as > ours", why aren't we importing teachers from the > former > Soviet Union or Japan, where the economies are > pretty > awful right now? > Trying to understand the miseducation of our > children by looking through the lens of race and > color > is like trying to read a book while staring through > the > bottom of a Coke bottle. The simple facts are that > our > children are not being taught as well as they were > 30 > years ago. Handwaving and flaming about different > cultures and different learning systems has gotten > us > where we are today, and it has to stop if the > constant > waste of brainpower is to be stopped. > Colin Powell was right - if some foreign nation > > tried to do to our children what the public schools > do every day in the cities of America, there would > be a > blood in the streets. > > Kevin Trainor > 6-10 > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic > Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
