10th January 2004, 4:25 PM
It's so sad that you actually believe such things... or it would be if it wasn't so scary.
Money alone doesn't solve problems, no. However, given that funding cuts in education is one of the first things any decent conservative political group does when it can, and that public education is chronically underfunded, more funding will go a long way to help... more funding and raising the pay of teachers. That is critical. Teachers need to be paid well enough so that good people will actually want to teach -- right now that just is not true in the majority. But there are other things too... standards? Yes, if they are targeted well and are balanced and respond to local conditions and don't discriminate against some schools because they have more minority groups or special ed students... oh yeah, and are aimed to actually fix public education and not just destroy it like Bush's are trying to do.
The problem dates from far, far before recent attempts at reconciling with centuries of unfairness.
Another classic right-wing tactic -- act like schools are so broken that they cannot be fixed. Like so many things right wingers say, it's just lies.
Underpriviliged people aren't necessarially dumb... and there is a big, big difference between being unintelligent because your school failed you and you can't see a reason to care and actually being dumb. You seem to see those as the same, but they are't at all.. if public schools were perfectly funded we could seriously work on fixing the reasons that first group doesn't succeed and it would be a great thing.
It's pretty depressing that you actually believe that.
Quote:I agree with all of that, except that by that point in life it's too late. If we are to do affirmative action, it needs to be done in schools. Not in the workplace. It needs to be done by doing SOMETHING radically different with the school system. The public system is a tremendous failure. And your only solution is to throw more money at it and hope the problem goes away.
Money alone doesn't solve problems, no. However, given that funding cuts in education is one of the first things any decent conservative political group does when it can, and that public education is chronically underfunded, more funding will go a long way to help... more funding and raising the pay of teachers. That is critical. Teachers need to be paid well enough so that good people will actually want to teach -- right now that just is not true in the majority. But there are other things too... standards? Yes, if they are targeted well and are balanced and respond to local conditions and don't discriminate against some schools because they have more minority groups or special ed students... oh yeah, and are aimed to actually fix public education and not just destroy it like Bush's are trying to do.
Quote:And why does black society not want to get out of its situation? You people and your handout policy. For decades you have given these people money and have completely destroyed their work ethic and motivation. It is the left that have created this mess.
The problem dates from far, far before recent attempts at reconciling with centuries of unfairness.
Quote:Worse? How can they get any worse? To quote Chevy Chase, "we're at the threshold of Hell" education-wise. And while you bemoan vouchers, you don't offer one single good alternative. It's the age-old liberal response: "throw more money at it and hope it goes away".
Another classic right-wing tactic -- act like schools are so broken that they cannot be fixed. Like so many things right wingers say, it's just lies.
Quote:Well, all the left has done is make things worse. They create racial rifts, promote racism and class warfare, all the while doing everything they can to keep blacks as an endandered species. What if we funded public schools as well as they could be? It wouldn't be enough, because you also oppose standardization. If public schools were PERFECTLY funded, liberals would change from "rich vs. poor" to "Intelligent vs. 'underpriveledged'". You would complain, much as you do now, that unintelligent children do not have an equal chance to succeed with standards and it's discriminatory. Obviously, since you couldn't use that terminology, you would replace "unintelligent" with "black", because liberals are fundamentally racist, but too dishonest to be forthright about it.
Underpriviliged people aren't necessarially dumb... and there is a big, big difference between being unintelligent because your school failed you and you can't see a reason to care and actually being dumb. You seem to see those as the same, but they are't at all.. if public schools were perfectly funded we could seriously work on fixing the reasons that first group doesn't succeed and it would be a great thing.
Quote:If people like me think blacks belong in ghettos, why is it that people like you do the most to ensure they stay there?
It's pretty depressing that you actually believe that.