Diversity or intergration by quota.

The point, steissd, is that we will do that in the future after having minorities in positions where they can help dispell ignorant myths about themselves.

Because for too long, women didn't have equal opportunity. The obstacles were many, overt or not. Women can be excellent scientists. Women are becoming scientists more and more. Women are out there are as role models and examples for girls who will then become scientists. Eventually, the playing field will be level, and judgements can be made solely on professional grounds. But while we've made a LOT of progress, and that's great, we ain't there yet.

You're going around in circles steissd. Affirmative action addresses the opportunity to achieve the professional skills to compete. The scales have been tipped for so long that to achieve any kind of balance, they had to be tipped the other way for awhile. I'm glad that sozobe wrote about the woman benefitting from affirmative action. The naysayers tend to forget that people of color are not the only ones to benefit.

littlek
Why rebuild schools. After all a school is just a building. If you want to learn the physical plant should make no difference. That is just an excuse. Maybe we should have public whippings of parents of failing students to make them aware of the fact that they are the problem. Not the schools or the buildings.

No, we should just let the kids currently being screwed out of an education suck it up, and we'll worry about fixing education when we can afford it. :wink:

Sorry, just had to let my sarcastic side out for a stroll. No offense intended, and I know that's not what you meant!

I didn't mean that we should raze schools to the ground and build new buildings, I meant create a new school--new administration, new policies, new rules, new teachers; whatever is necessary--in the place of the old one. There's no reason we can't use the same physical plant.

But, even that, tw, would cost big. Here in massachusetts they've cut the school funding 3 times since this summer. 3 times! And, Romney hasn't even told us what he wants to cut......

Basically, I'm jabbing a big pointy stick at the exasperating irony that is our education system.

there can't be a complete turn-over without disrupting countless student-years of learning.... There's got to be another way.

On the other points, athletes salaries, funding for warfare, tax cuts for SUVs and wealthy families, prioritization of spending..... all very good points. We've had teachers in my family for generations. I want to be a teacher. Until recently, I thought trying to work within the system would kill me. Recently, MA put new regulations into effect and things started looking better to me, then the budget crunch... I can't go to school to get certified until the economy picks back up.

Of course, I oppose benefits to athletes and alumni offspring as well. The only category of people that should get benefits are soldiers that fought for their country in the wars the USA took part in.

I suspect that there are economies to be had in improving failing schools, but I'm not ready to get into a detailed discussion of what they might be.

I will however help you with that stick! (poke-poke)

steissd
Things never change in Russia. My mother came from what was than Russian-Poland in 1906 and she told me the same story. Her sister was one of the few to get into the gymnasium, I think that is how you spell it.

And in spite of this, the Soviet Jews managed to promote themselves to the leading positions in fields of science, industry, mass media, medicine and music. Maybe, American minorities should try such a way?

By the way, as far as I know, there is no ethic discrimination in the modern Russia; both Yeltzin and Putin have never practiced the state-sponsoed anti-Semitism.

By the way, as far as I know, there is no ethic discrimination in the modern Russia; both Yeltzin and Putin have never practiced the state-sponsored anti-Semitism.

Steissd - Ok, good for the jews! I still think affirmative action is helpful.

Whom does it help to? Do you really think that Blacks or Indians are unable to compete with Whites on the equal grounds? Hmm, it sounds somewhat racist...
BTW, sorry for posting twice the same thing; something happened to the delete option, I failed to delete the excessive posting.

The way it seems to work is to pat those people on the back who have excelled already. Those same people wh may be overlooked for less than ethical reasons. If an employer interviews a woman and thinks, "well she's good, but she might get preggers and leave for 3 months, but I'm low on my quota for women, so I guess I'll hire her." than I think it's a good thing.

Or if an employer is racist or if an employer is anti-semetic.....