Double Standards

From today's AM New York

The Fix That Started years Ago

Before there was a de Blasio and a Farina there were politicians like Bush and Obama and billionaires like Gates making school graduation rates a priority.  No one stopped to think about why all of a sudden schools had such tremendous growth in the number of graduates.

My former AP wanted everyone to set passing goals for their classes.  Since I usually ended up with the most at risk students my stats were usually lower than many others.  It did not bother the Principal since he understood the challenges I faced and respected the number I got through and how I was able to work with them but it bothered the hell out of my AP, a guy who only saw life in black and white.  I refused to give him a number.  When he pushed, I said my goal is 100% passing.  He told me that was unrealistic and wanted a number around 80%.  I finally told him I could not be comfortable with a goal of 20% failing.  Of course he mumbled something and I left with no goal set.

Other teachers were not as gutsy and he did get them to set goals.  If they did not meet these goals he badgered them and berated them in public (not by name but everyone knew who the senior teacher was  who taught geometry period 8).  Teachers were forced to stretch grades and give credit for names on papers.  No one would believe some of the regents answers that were given points.

Phony diplomas are not a new thing and they need to stop.  Maybe the Post's story will finally help to bring an end to this horrific problem.

Marching For Change

I am not exactly sure where this post is going and hope it comes out coherent.

I just saw Selma.  I heard the director say that it is not a documentary, but a movie based on fact.  The things portrayed in this movie are factual even if some of the characteristics of the main players have been changed.  The movie, at times, is hard to watch.  The violence hurts to see but it happened.  People were clubbed, beaten and murdered just for trying to get their constitutional right to vote.

Here is why I began this post.  I keep thinking about the Staten Island choke hold victim, the Ferguson victim and other Black men who have recently died at the hands of the police and think about justice.  There are good police and bad ones just as their are good and bad in every profession.  The protesters are only out there protesting the bad ones.  De Blasio is only warned his son about what could happen, not what will happen.  He hasn't said anything that I never said to my students when I taught high school.

The people in Selma marched to create drama and to get change.  I believe that is what today's marchers are also looking to do.  They want justice.  They want all people treated equally.  They know police come in all kinds.  They are protesting the bad, following in the footsteps of Dr. King.

Why I Was So Pissed

It wasn't that he opened schools.  I am used to NYC never getting a snow day.

It wasn't that I would have had to take a sick day if I did not go in.  I always felt fortunate to have those to use.

It wouldn't have been for my own kids.  I let them stay home, attendance be damned, when the weather was that bad.

It was the arrogance that pissed me off.  De Blasio and Farina could have said NYC schools stayed open because they felt that was best.  Period.  They didn't have to talk about how wonderful the city was running when, in reality, it wasn't.  Trains and buses were running late and canceled in many places.  Cars were skidding and getting stuck.  Sidewalks were slippery.  It was not a day to be out.  They heard the same weather forecast we all did and chose to ignore it.  They should have said they were in charge, they made a decision and everyone had to accept.  I wouldn't have liked the words but they would have been better than the lines they fed us.

The Perfect Attendance Award

I remember Angela coming to school with 103 degree fever.  Her mom insisted she come and truthfully, she wanted to be there too.  She wanted to keep her perfect attendance and get a certificate at graduation.

I wonder how many kids braved the elements this morning, risked getting hit by skidding cars, falling on ice and waiting hours for buses just for that perfect attendance award?

Schools should have been closed today.  I have no sympathy for teachers who wouldn't use a sick day, but I have lots for the kids who went in, not willing to give up that perfect attendance or afraid a day out will hurt their grades.  I know some parents depend on the schools to babysit while they work, but schools are not babysitters.  Perhaps the city needs to set up a babysitting alternative for school days.

My daughter reminded me that there were no snow days when she was growing up.  It was wrong then.  That doesn't make it right now.  I am one who always took public transportation and went it.  But even I would have stayed under the covers this morning.

De Blasio-A Bloomberg Clone?

De Blasio was standing at the podium talking about the state of emergency and telling everyone who did not have to go out to stay home.  After much BS he got to schools.  From what I gathered, in his mind, schools are day care centers for people who need safe places for their children while they work.

CBS news was great.  While he rambled on about how the city was up and operating fine, they kept showing stalled trucks, cars sliding all over the place, parents struggling to get to school and a jackknifed bus on Queens Blvd.

The arrogance he and Farina showed was no better than the arrogance Bloomberg and Walcott showed during their reign of abuse.  If this is any indication of what the next four years will be like, the city is still in trouble.

What Farina Needs To Do

Instead of raising the graduation rates of NYC high schoolers, Farina and De Blasio should improve education.  What good is a 70% graduation rate if the majority of the graduates can barely read, write and do arithmetic?  What does a 70% graduation rate mean when the majority of college freshman must take remedial classes and many do not make it through?

If Farina and De Blasio are really serious about improving education in the city, the graduation rate will fall and only those who have earned the diploma and are ready to go on to college or careers will be getting them.  They will do away with phony online courses, boot camps and administrators who brow beat their teachers into giving answers during exams.

I predict this won't happen over night (or at all.)  This country is too hung up on numbers and no one will stop to look at what the lower statistic means in terms of a real education.