Guest Post by Sheriff David Clark
When all 164 of Washington D.C. Frank W. Ballou Senior High School’s graduating seniors last year applied for and were accepted to college, the whole community—students, teachers, administrators, parents, and education reformers—had reason to celebrate the achievements of these obviously hard-working graduates. With a graduating class the school system considered “academically disadvantaged,” someone in the school district should have smelled a rat.
After all, 98 percent of Ballou’s 930 students were African-Americans, and two percent were Hispanic/Latino, according to data from the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system. One hundred percent of them were considered “academically disadvantaged” by the system. Kids like this deserve the great opportunity that a high-quality, character-building education can help provide. There was a time when good educators, in fact, would tirelessly fight to give it to them. Those days are apparently over.
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Sadly, this happy story collapsed in November, when an investigation by WAMU and NPR found that the much-ballyhooed Ballou graduated dozens of these students despite high rates of unexcused absences throughout their senior year. Half of them missed more than three months of school. One in five was absent more than present. When kids don’t show up for class, no learning can take place. And many continue to be perplexed about the growing achievement gap between black and Hispanic kids and their white counterparts. These truancy rates are a big part of the problem.
All of which means the graduation jubilation in June was not, in any way, justified. Put bluntly, Ballou’s administrators and some teachers cooked the books, used taxpayer money to commit fraud, and above all harmed poor black youths and their futures the most. Quite an indictment.
Perhaps even more alarmingly, NPR’s report led teachers from around the country to share similar situations in many other districts. This is a nationwide academic scandal in K-12 urban school districts, not to mention the serious disciplinary issues they have.
As I recall, when the multinational energy corporation Enron cooked the books and committed private-sector fraud that hurt mostly white-collar investors, people were actually indicted and in some cases sentenced to prison for crimes. Shareholders sued. That scandal ended with Enron closing its doors for good. And even that wasn’t considered sufficient accountability in the private sector: the fraud also essentially ended the life of Arthur Andersen, the distinguished accounting firm Enron had used.
I hope the same kind of attention will be paid to the Ballou scandal. So far, it’s being taken with apparent seriousness. In late November, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson announced two investigations arising out of the Ballou deceit. One will be conducted by D.C. State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang and is slated for completion later this month. Another will be led by two deputy DCPS chancellors who are examining the problem system-wide. I hold out little hope that anything more will come out of this than for the school district to attribute the problem to a lack of teacher training or a misunderstanding with no intent to deceive.
The D.C. Council’s education committee held a lengthy hearing on the matter in mid-December, and Ballou principal Yetunde Reeves has been reassigned, pending the outcome. That is likely the worst of what will happen to her, because the teaching establishment tends to punish only by reassignment.
Two things were left out of the story. First, where were the parents? They had to have some inkling that their son or daughter was not attending school regularly and certainly were not learning. They have a duty to see that their child shows up to school everyday in a state of readiness to learn. Second, what colleges accepted the kids who can’t read or write? They should be outed.
Whoever is responsible for perpetrating, encouraging, or tolerating this Ballou fraud should be held as accountable as those who were behind the Enron scandal. Having helped to deny real opportunity to mostly poor black kids who deserved it, the fraudsters should receive what every such crook deserves. Jail.
But that will require major change in America’s schools. Today, Enron’s cheating is a felony. Teachers’ cheating is job security.
More dead weight for the economy- except the very profitable policing/ prison complex.
I wuz grdumated wid a 4.0 . I be really learnt. Fur senior english, we be readin from da classic komic books. id hope to be a dokter sum dae. We had dis relay hard final – wed hav ta memorize da ABC stuff. My mom said dat ABC is really hard. Ma sista, well she be a ho, but make da good buck.
It isn’t happening just at systemically disadvantaged schools. My best friend who teaches at the school from where my niece “successfully” graduated explained it this way.
“They are all precious snowflakes and I don’t have time to fix them.”
Schools are meatlockers. Snowflake crystal preservation’s got nada to do…it’s about preserving the moo until time for consumption.
if you have ever had to speak to the current wave of “teachers” say 20s-30s you would find that these folks are just as dumb as those students…cant formulate proper sentences, grammar, vocab …math and science often skip subject content because they cant teach it … the mess isnt just the students being passed along for the sake of funding and stats, they are passed boosted and rewarded because if someone was to evaluate the teachers that are teaching their kids (well no one would probably do anything but fume) their should be riots outside education depts and mass firings.
if someone WERE to evaluate… THERE should be…
True. The GRE scores of education majors are, on average, more than 100 points worse than every other major. Since a fair number of teachers are intelligent, that means that many are complete morons.
Wondering how you know, since you certainly can’t write (or spell, or punctuate) worth a fuck.
Yes. My daughter goes to a “prestigious” school, full of PHD’s and masters recipients. If you see an email, or have a conversation with them, it becomes quite clear that those pieces of overpriced paper are worthless.
Spelling is atrocious, following some of their thought streams or persuasion is like reading the manual of a Chinese product from the dollar store. Sometimes they can’t even be bothered with informing parents about events more than, and I am not joking here, 6 hours before the event, and sometimes the email will have the wrong day. Really? This is coming from a building with the supposed best and brightest? WTF….
My daughter is a analytical thinker, and literally knows how the game is played. She wants the merit the school has to get in to her college of choice. Nothing more. But, she is keenly aware of the stupid, as is her piers. I suspect that in most cases the kids are FAR more intelligent that a lot of the teachers and “authorities” in these schools. The smart kids just play the game and move on.
The calibre of university education is no better. You can get straight As if you can manage three letter words and sentences with just a noun and a verb. Math is not a requirement, nor science, nor foreign language, nor history, etc. But what the hell, all that is important is the degree, right?
Exactly it is just a piece of paper these days. All you gotta do is get it and the world is supposed to be your oyster….
University education is still varied and uneven (thank the God they don’t believe in); STEM has pockets of brilliance still. I went to three different state schools over forty years, and was able to learn the appropriate material each time.
Part of the fraud is the idea that graduating from an Ivy League school means you are smarter and got a better education. Another is that the quality of your education depends on how much money you spend. Yet another is that having a famous name (or eight) guarantees that you will learn the latest discoveries from the wisest researchers.
Those who are forced to deal with reality teach reality; STEM is usually like this, as long as you don’t confuse sociology, psychology and ” ” studies with science. Learning math, science and computer tech does not depend on having privilege, melanin, chromosomes of a particular variety or connections. It does require discipline to arrive on time every day to class, enough brain cells to do math and logic, determination to stick it out and a little genuine native ability doesn’t hurt.
But neither will it reward sloth, envy, ignorance, depravity or denial.
There will NEVER be accountability with a government entity. Enron had accountability BECAUSE it was a private business. People had contracts, people had money they voluntarily invested, etc. In the case of the worthless government monopoly day prison system (aka-da publik skoolz), the money is STOLEN, kids are FORCED to attend, the government runs the “justice” system, everyone hides behind “sovereign immunity” statutes, and the parents (of ALL socioeconomic classes, BOTH major political parties, and ALL races) continue to BEG the government to keep STEALING from their neighbors, local businesses, and other private property owners, to fund the “education” of their children. So the schools will stay open (unlike Enron), the teachers will, for the most part, avoid prosecution (the boat rockers will be thrown under the bus to save the completely worthless friends of administration), and calls will go out for “more funding for education.” A special 1 cent sales tax referendum will be put on the ballot during an off year, likely during an off time of year, that will pass with only 5% voter turnout and 51% of the vote (all teachers and other parasites who profit from the theft).
Until ALL government involvement in education is GONE, there will NEVER be a market of educational institutions that will ever fully address the varying needs/demands/requirements of our diverse society of kids. Until parents wake up and pull their kids out of this day-prison system and start DEMANDING an end to government involvement in education, there will never be any real changes. Everyone said that the cheating scandal/crime spree in the Atlanta Public Schools was an “anomaly,” but clearly that was not the case.
The article addresses the failure of black schools so why is this article using a picture of white high school graduation.
Probably because the black kids didn’t attend their graduation either.
Or to keep the makeup of the student body hidden from casual observation.
What, are you some kind of racist? Please correct your vision so that you don’t notice color. You white men are all alike.
I thought the exact same thing. Townhall being politically correct.
The inexcusable scourge of the Potemkin education cartel will continue to be be forgiven, excused and eventually applauded by democRAT pols (and Big Media) as long as they remember to remit a LARGE percentage of their union dues back to the democRAT party coffers, and in a timely fashion.
How in the hell did any teacher or administrator ” hurt the poor black kids “. Bullshit.
Was there a school? Was it open? Did they let them in? Looks like yes to all the above the dumb fuckers decided not to show up and the “parents ” was ok wit dat.
Who they hurt was the taxpayers who fund this defective product. They deserve a refund.
Come on fourth turning. Even this shit out.
What we need is a raging liberal willing to throw more money into the failing system. Will it work? No. America has the most expensive education system and ranks 14th out of developed nations in academic achievement. The additional money will provide false hope, and shut people up while it fattens public employee wallets.
The Swamp Creatures That Ate Over 2/3 of GDP:
The University Hustle – Andrea Iravani
Bimbo, don’t you have some tricks to turn? How many times are you going to post the same links?
Llpoh, I simply couldn’t believe she actually thinks that the US spent $11.4 trillion in government pension payments in 2013. So I clicked the link.
She actually thinks that the US spent $11.4 trillion in government pension payments in 2013.
Fuck me dead, maff is hard. I found that there were roughly 9 million folks drawing a government pension at that time. So I guess they were getting an average of nearly $1.3 million dollars each for that year.
Andrea, you might want to remove that article, as you do not understand the difference between “liability” and “payment”. Anybody that suspected you of being clueless now has no doubt.
Andrea, I actually read your link above (University Hustle) and you make many good and salient points. In my opinion however, the far bigger problem stems from the “gatekeeper” HR people.
Most managers (I was one before I sold my businesses) know what type of employee they need, and most of them want someone who is A: Either already doing the job for someone else, and therefore qualified from start day to do the job here, or B: Is capable of learning the job quickly.
The problem is that in the larger companies, the HR drones conditioned all the managers that they need to specify on the job description that a minimum bachelors is required. As the HR people state that it is necessary to “weed out” candidates of poor character. I have found this to be true in some cases, but in most cases, it was actually the high school graduate (and in one case a GED holder) that ended up being the best employees. Why? Lack of arrogance. They simply were so grateful to actually be given a chance, instead of being told “sorry, no degree” that they ended up being great employees. Most of the college educated, degreed people had this sense of entitlement (most likely due to being told the expensive degree entitled them to be smarter than everyone else) and just treated the jobs like a stepping stone to their devine right – the executive suite….Point being, if you take the HR drones and their “college is necessary” crap out of the corporate culture, a lot of these kids will not NEED these libtard colleges, and the price will have to come down, simply because they will not have the students (and the funds that come with them) to continue the charade.
To a great extent, the US Government’s student loan program is a giant welfare program to occupy young adults and “keep them off the streets.” It’s especially true of Black kids.
By the time black kids reach Grade 12, some 50% have already flunked out. Of the remainder, only 7% and 17% of those kids perform at “proficient” levels in math and reading, respectively. So about ~10% of black kids can perform at Grade 12 levels, but 70% are going to college thanks to “free” US Government students loans!! And virtually none of these loans to Blacks will be paid back. You can safely bet that $Trillions of these loans will be forgiven and put on the taxpayer’s debt load and a disproportionate amount of those loans forgiven will be those made to blacks.
Overall then, only 3.5% to 8.5% of all blacks can do school work expected of 18 year old high school seniors. This is entirely consistent with black IQ distributions where less than ~10% of the black population has an IQ of 100 or more (100 is the white average). A score of 100 signifies a mental age of 18 years old or that of a high school senior. The vast majority of Blacks are basically stuck at or below the 9th grade level or age 14 for their entire lives. And every other standardized test says the same thing.
This explains nearly everything about the Black cultural divide in the US. It’s not much different for Arab or other minorities either. After all, only N. Europeans and E. Asians have median IQs of 100 or greater. Everyone else’s median is MUCH lower at 80 to 90. It’s the basis of the cultural clashes with Whites and Arabs in Europe and with Whites and Blacks in the US.
And it explains why Blacks would be happier living in all black communities, since they wouldn’t suffer the humiliation of trying to compete with White kids and failing at it. Perhaps segregation was a natural and peaceful way to coexist? That said, the legal “leveling of the playing field” had to done, but “busing” and “desegregation” was a pet project from judicial activist judges who will NEVER be held to account for their failures.
Another problem that falls out of this is the fact that is high schools where the top 10% automatically get acceptance into state colleges and universities. These children that are “socially advanced” obtain these seats ahead of others at the state schools who are more qualified and subsequently drop out after a semester or a year of complete bewilderment. This has happened in Texas annually since the day a federal judge ordered and it is still destroying peoples lives.
It’s called “CYA” by the school and the Dept. of Education that oversees it.
Pure BS and the only people to suffer are the students and anyone who has to put up with them in an advanced learning environment.
Too sad..
muck
None of this is new information , social promotion has been going on for decades especially when the race card is dealt from the bottom of the deck . Many public school systems mainly in black or underprivileged areas have been turning out graduates of lower to no abilities at all . What you will find in many of these systems are a higher than average number $100 thousand a year administrators . A jobs program for school and city council members for their brova’s & sista’s
Everything is related to money. The parents of these kids only birthed them to get government handouts, the schools teach (babysit) them for the rich government benefits and pensions, and the colleges accept them for the big loan bucks. Quality, achievement, and accountability are not even blips on the radar. That’s Murica today.
If an organization is undermining the National Security of the United States, especially if that organization was teaching sedition to the countries’ youth, shouldn’t that organization be investigated by Homeland Security for Treason and evidence presented to a Grand Jury; if indicted, it’s leaders arrested and tried by juries? If convicted, the organization banned.
As a teacher, I find it hilarious when teachers complain about sports programs at schools. In sports, it’s more of a real world market. The best rise to the top, unlike government…and teaching.
I think we should abolish public education. Other teachers think I’m crazy, but I think I would command a higher salary in a competitive private ed system.
Eco yep!
My friend has said much the same thing. He started out with good intentions 25 years ago. Now not so much. Now he is just another lunatic peddling pudding to future Bricks in the wall…
He has given up with the agent of change bullshit that drew him there in first place and now plans on quitting his job and moving to China to teach at a private sckool where kids want to learn. And I don’t blame him one bit.
If folks have any doubts about this being China’s century they need look no further than schools in China. There, they are serious about education and crank out millions of newly minted Doctors, Engineers and Scientists every year.
Meanwhile here the kidz get participation awards and don’t even have to show up to get them.
This is a scandal? If we’re going to start trying to force black kids and inner city schools to achieve and meet basic minimal childish standards, you missed the boat a long, long time ago. Their parents benefited from low/nonexistent standards, too. Nobody expects black kids to meet even minimal standards. They just pass them and get rid of them. And nobody expects much of them in college, either. It’s just another way to show how fair we are by promoting them up the ladder from highschool to college and out into the world, where they can fail their way into government jobs, the post office, maybe the military.
And here’s my favorite part. If you attempt to hold them to any standard, you’re a racist, so now that they’re finally out in the free market, who will want to employ them? Would you go to a black doctor, lawyer, engineer, dentist, etc knowing they were probably the product of reverse-racist preferences? So these libtardz have created the very racism they’re constantly decrying. “Whites are racist because they won’t hire blacks! For shaaaaame! Oh, Malcom failed in five classes, got in 8 fights, and didn’t show up 58% of the semester? He’s going to shine in 12th grade!”