Michael Atherton said:
"What I am saying is that it's socially irresponsible for the public schools to throw up their hands and say that there's nothing they can do...."
But...
I think that it's quite a revelation that all the MPS are doing is to "throw up their hands and say that there's nothing they
can do." I've never seen nor heard of anyone from the MPS even implying that the present results are acceptable. To say that
they are "throwing up their hands" insults a lot of good and dedicated people.
It seems to me that the MPS, and all school districts, are doing everything that creative people, especially the individual teachers in the classrooms, can think of doing to stem the tide that is running against them. The schools can't stem that tide by themselves. The society as a whole must do that and governmental units that better represent the society as a whole are the most likely to be able to get minorities to believe that nothing stands in their way for maximum achievement as long as they each make a maximum personal effort to achieve a good basis education.
But the message that is coming from those levels of government that could do more to change society's attitude are, instead, sending a message that no only will nothing be done to change society's attitude but that it will frustrate the likelihood of
getting that good basic education. So, the frustration of minorities is coming at every level.
That's one reason why I'm personally so incensed at federal and state efforts at "pay for performance" for teachers. If there's one group of people who are already interested in achieving results and not just putting in their time, it's teachers and school administrators. So, talk about tweaking the educational system all you want. The teachers and administrators will probably be the first in line to try worthy new ideas. But lets not expect the educational system to cure the ills that the
society itself has caused.
Steve Cross Prospect Park
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