First of all, subsidize the teacher jobs such that they are all highly paid. This will attract the best and brightest to teaching instead of I-Banking. Then pump money to schools such that the teachers have a lot of resources to play with. I don't think the cause is their welfare system. What about you elaborate on how French welfare system caused racial conflicts European countries are mostly single ethnic states to begin with. Our history dictates that we are a country of immigrants. It is not surprising that they have more racial conflicts than we do.
It certainly doesn't cause the racial conflicts, but it makes it worse. In France, you can get welfare and housing with no time constraints at a higher level than in the US. There is definitely racism against African (mostly Muslim) immigrants. There is a stereotype that they are lazy, they won't work, etc. So they have a hard time getting a job, and because they can have a decent (by no means good, but better than in Africa) life without that job. So the employers discriminate, and the immigrants choose not to fight that discrimination, since they can have a decent life without it, thereby perpetuating the stereotype. The African immigrants have become a permanent, separate underclass. This is a problem without a good government solution (at least not one that I've heard). Any solution must be personal. Welfare is far too impersonal.
I definitely believe that teachers should be paid better. Although that doesn't help much. Some of the worst districts are the highest paying. Port Arthur Independent School District, which I mentioned earlier, is one of the highest-paying in the State. It has improved significantly over the past couple of years, but it was the very lowest rated in the State. But for the rest of it, it's throwing good money after bad. What schools need most is involvement. They need you and I to get out of our homes and offices to help.
How does the Zen master find time to manage Kobe's ego and write an article? When you group people,you create seperation.when you treat them as Individuals,you give them hope.We have to start at an early age letting kids know that they have the same opportunities as anyone else.Instead of funding wars in other countries or contributing $ for campaigns to the right wing agenda in el salvador,money should go to schools.Some Schools here in San Antonio, Can't even afford to keep an Arts Program .Education should be Equal.
You can pump all the money you want into poor school districts. Fix the broken chairs, offer great subject matter and pay the teachers whatever you want. Believe me, this all needs to be done. But until there is structure and accountability in the life of the students OUTSIDE of school, it's a losing battle. Yes, the primary and secondary education in the country is broken in many ways, but much of the problem is the students that attend them and funding doesn't fix that. The parents interest and participation in the education of the student is a bigger factor than it's given credit for.
I don't think this is entirely true. Can't assume everyone prefers teaching the same low-level subjects to children year-in and year-out (and chaperoning them part-time) to analyzing billion-dollar mergers, even when you try to even out the salaries. Some do, but the two professions are too different to assume that across the board. There's a catch-22 with teachers too, because you need a larger amount of them to ensure a low student-teacher ratio, but that in turn creates a lower price/salary equilibrium on the supply-demand curve. I kind of think the counseling and administrative function should be heightened, more shrinks, more after-school extracurriculars (more arts, science and less sports) and a workable one-on-one student-faculty advisor function, and maybe a little more district influence and authority in at-risk (which only means low-grade potential) households. Also, gotta figure out some way to get more "outward bound" and Overseas studies programs in place, broaden the horizons, for goodness sake. The big problem with any program directed at low-performing students is that they can usually sense the stigma and will instinctively disengage. We could also streamline the system by tracking kids into professions early on, based on aptitude and job market needs, but that sounds a little too much like central planning. The flip side is that we have such a diverse, wealthy economy that we can provide jobs for people at almost any education level. Does spending extra taxes on K-12 ed take stimulus away from that economic engine?
sharpton and jackson are more interested in making themselves look good by getting involved in racist incidents (Imus thing, Duke Lacrosse thing) than they are in truly helping the black community by stopping the whole hip-hop gangsta anti-education trend. (see this article by jason whitlock http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html)
Yes it is. My parents managed to promote that ideal very well. However, it takes two to tango and lots of these girls can't afford BC and other such things and its all to easy to get caught up in all the lies and drama that men bring. Its much harder when you're just a kid without anyone to guide and help you.
When you say the highest paying, how high is that? How does it compare to other professional jobs in the area? Is it high enough to attract the best and brightest to teaching? I happen to think that education is different from other industries because it is also an investment in human capital. Therefore I think it makes sense for the government to subsidize it to provide the best possible education.
It's not high paying at all for the area, but they consistently lose teachers to much lower paying districts. When the school system is broken, you can't attract the best and brightest no matter how much you pay.
If it is a given that we have alot of parents out their who will not take responsibility and hold their kids accountable. Assuming that's true do we, as a society, then just give up on their kids? The child did not choose to be born into that environment. There is no easy answer to this -- but the right thing is often not easy. How do we reach those kids and help stop the cycle of poverty - when their parents will not take personal responsibility? Equally funding schools is one step --- providing equal pay between school distirscts --- move the majority of the funding away from the local district to the state. You take these kids who already have alot of strikes against them and then send them to under-funded schools. We owe these kids a chance.
I can attest to that, I started my still new and fledgling education career at Dunbar Middle School in Fort Worth. The school is in Stop Six, a neighborhood exactly like the 5th ward only smaller. It was a sad and dangerous place for the kids and the teachers...
Interesting thread, This is not about race, but it's about culture. For the most part, there is no concept of family foundation in African American culture. It starts with the parents saying (and enforcing) to their kids that its wrong, its stupid and, its ****ing unacceptable to 1) being lazy. 2) having kids out of wedlock/having kids early 3) commiting crimes This subject has been beaten to dead by Bill Crosby, and others like him who spoke the truth about this subject. It is mind boggling, that millions and millions of people around the world who would love to come to the U.S for a chance to succeed in life. Even from the ghetto, these black kids are born into a world of privilege comparing to other kids around the world, and if the parents fail to grasp this, and the kids fail to take advantage of this fact, then it it totally their fault and no one else.
The complete destruction of the family dynamic is the one 'curse' that keeps on giving in the Black community; almost everything else is a 'trickle down' effect. Sure, there are always other factors involved, but none bigger than that IMO. ::My Charles Barkley impersonation: "Malcolm X is rolling over in his grave":: Very well put, completely agree.
Opportunism aside, Sharpton does some moderate good in the black community. I wouldn't form a full opinion of any leader based on a few minutes of infotainment. Agreed 100%. In fact, I'd say it would solve 90% of the black community's problems. Not overnight, but over a generation or two. Finding leaders with the balls, will and political capital to do it is another matter . Look at the firestorm Cosby got into sometime back. Even the weight of his reputation only barely saved him from a virtual lynching.
We have learned over and over that you cannot solve problems simply by throwing money at it. If you want to change the problems, you have to change the prevailing value systems. If the youth believe it is wrong to be in a gang...they won't be. If the youth believe that it is wrong to get a girl pregnant and take no resposibility for the child...they won't. Right now, they see nothing wrong with either...so it happens. You cannot change a value system with money.
In Te Rest Ing Rocket River WOW! . . Not a single clue or concept of Family Foundation Who's definiton of Family Foundation??? don't matter black folx have NO CONCEPT of it . . . Incredible
2 parent households with a present father. basically, the exact opposite of the trend that has occurred in american black society in the past 30 years.
