Affirmative Action

blatham, I think you are partially right. What I base my opinion on is what this president says, but doesn't support it with $$$$$. "Leave no child behind" sounds grand, but it's worth is only as good as how much funding the federal government is willing to spend to "leave no child behind." Talk is cheap. Many of us call it political rhetoric; highly blown empty declarations. c.i.

It's similar to his "compassionate conservative." c.i.

...or, "Leave no child behind", or "affirmative access".

Cicerone,

The phrase, "No child left behind" does involve a bit of political hype, and therefore likely does deserve your criticism. However, it is also plainly true that the pillars of the Republican and Bush educational policy are that our education establishment has become corrupt, ossified, and oblivious to its own many failures. It needs the shocks of competition through the availability of vouchers as a matter of parent choice, and of accountability through objective testing and consequential management actions against failing schools. With these goals in mind, it would hardly make sense to increase the funding and autonomy of these same institutions, even though such actions could be construed to support the goals that could be assigned to the political slogan.

It is true, you know, that the correlation between percapita funding in public school districts and measured student proficiency in them is very low, as is the correlation between teacher salaries and student performance.

Washington DC public schools have the highest (or nearly so) percapita budget, and are overall among the lowest in reading and arithmetic proficiency. Currently five top salaried officers of the Teacher's union there are under indictment for embezzling several millions of dollars from the Union local, one while also receiving a salary as a full time employee of the Democrat Party. The parent Union, the AFT, has offered the remarkable explanation that it had no legal obligation to audit the books of this Local, even though its own bylaws require annual audits. (It turns out none were done for about eight years.)

Objective tests have established that a very expensive Head Start program contributes almost no measurable improvement in the subsequent academic performance of its beneficiaries. What are the reactions of the NEA and the AFT to this? They now propose increased funding for Head Start and the elimination of current references to academic performance in its charter and enabling documents and legislation.

Can you really fault the attempts of the government to bring some level of accountability and competition to the educational establishment?

...just for the record, CI wan't the one who cited "no child left behind" as an example of the loudmouthed hype - I was.

Blatham,

While everyone in this debate likely asserts the desire to achieve a first rate education for everyone, it is also evident that all are willing to suboptimize the education of some for the benefit of others. All deal with situations in which the educational needs of some students are seen to trump those of others, This takes the forms of bussing to achieve racial quotas, added resources dedicated to various 'enriched' programs for high performing students, other added resources dedicated to 'head starts' and remedial training for failing students , and the like. No one in the debate is free of this, yet all proclaim their actions are intended to achieve a first rate education for all.

While it is true that the goals of a "first rate" education are knowledge, right understanding, and the inclination and ability for independent thought, it is also true that an inclination to independent thought without knowledge and understanding is of little merit or value. Certainly filling young minds with only the predigested values of any orthodoxy does not constitute a first rate education. That is equally true of the orthodoxies of bible thumping fundamentalist Christians, Sharia-advocating fundamentalist Moslems, Zionist Jews, and the modern secular religion of political correctitude. Replacing one with another does not constitute a first rate education.

A serious problem we face today with the decline of organized religion is that the state is gradually invading the realms of moral values to which religions once held the key. While there were evident flaws and worse in the manner in which religions have done this in various times and places, it is far from evident that the state will do any better. Indeed our only experiences with states that actively opposed religion and even advocated atheism are among the most ghastly in human history.

Dr. Zill, Vice President and Director of the Child and Family Study Area at Westat, a survey research firm in the Washington area, and project director of the Head Start Performance Measure Center, presented data on the quality of Head Start classrooms, and the social, emotional, and cognitive and social advances made by children in Head Start classrooms. Head Start children make gains toward national norms during their year in the program, especially in vocabulary and early writing skills. Social skills improve and hyperactive behavior decreases, but improvement is still needed in math, letter recognition, and print concepts. The latest program initiatives are addressing these areas of concern, including: 1) Emergent literacy and numeracy, 2) Improvement of teacher credentials, 3) Child outcomes assessed by programs, 4) Quality and expansion, and, 5) Early Head Start.
Dr. Steven Barnett, Professor of Education Economics and Public Policy and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, presented information summarizing some of the key points of 40 years of Head Start research. Dr. Barnett says Head Start, which provides education, health, nutrition, and social services to children and their families, is effective. In response to some critics charging that Head Start produces no lasting academic benefits for children, Barnett says, "Head Start fade-out is a myth. Studies that measure school progress find lasting impacts on grade repetition, special education, and high school graduation." Barnett also responded to the charge that Head Start's effects are smaller than model preschool programs that led to Head Start's creation. But Head Start has never been funded anywhere near the levels of the model programs, and yet is asked to provide far more comprehensive services. Barnett says, "Inadequate funding hurts Head Start's ability to hire and retain highly qualified staff and hurts staff morale. Both of these things are likely to reduce educational quality." Click here for a copy of Dr. Barnett's September 13th press release.

george

I'll leave the specifics of educational measuring and achievement comparisons for others who wish to wade into that discussion.

But this line needs attention..."the modern secular religion of political correctitude."

You equate two things (faith and secularity) which are different in very critical ways. That's a common maneuver for faith holders (which you may or may not be) who are unhappy with the diminished influence of the church. Your first post above, last paragraph, makes a clear suggestion that this is your position. Atheism leads to retrograde morals, etc.

You posit that a secular world view and a faith world view are but two instances of the same thing - belief, perhaps. That is absolutely false. It's really rather like claiming that evolution is a belief stance comparable to a biblical conception of creation (and this false notion gets forwarded just like yours). Absence of agreement with a claim is not an epistemologically equal position to a claim. And accepting a thesis founded on faith is not the same as accepting a temporary or interim thesis based on rigorous empirical criteria.

I can claim to you that there is an invisibile and undetectable naked green leprecaun on your head which you are not yet aware of, and he's throwing invisible undetectable pancakes at old people you pass on the street. You'd likely not agree with my claim. That does not make the two positions equal.

The absence of agreement with a popular belief structure does not make for a second religion. Secularity or atheism are not religious positions, they are very simply instances of folks not accepting the green leprecaun thesis.

Your response, blatham, reminds me of the religion classes (as well as those in philosophy) at school, where we discussed exactly the same: is atheism a religion. And also as one of the teachers was an ordinated catholic priest ... we came to the very same result, 45 years back: secularity and atheism are no religions at all.

"Absence of agreement with a claim is not an epistemologically equal position to a claim. And accepting a thesis founded on faith is not the same as accepting a temporary or interim thesis based on rigorous empirical criteria."


Well, here's one person who actually went to school! Thanks, Blatham. One should say, Elementary, my dear Watson, but we haven't yet achieved elementary down here...

George, being a good Jesuit, will now advance with Aquinas blazing.

You are aware that Bush signed the largest increase in federal education spending in the country's history, are you not? (To my and other conservatives dismay, I might add.) Apparently even more money than ever before is not enough for some.

Too little, too late
I have not read this thread from it's beginning so I don't know if the following point has already been made.

If we had more affirmative action from the beginning of a child's school years, there would be little need for affirmative action based on race in the college years. Then, the only type of affirmative action needed would be a college candidate's economic status and needs.

It seems to me that race-based affirmative action for college acceptance is evidence of the failure of our education system from the day a child first enters school.

---BumbleBeeBoogie

Let's get really specific about that "largest increase in federal education spending," okay?

Yes, Scrat, I'm with Tartar; what exactly do you mean by the "largest increase?" Do we not need to weigh the rhetoric against how much of an increase? If the "largest increase" does nothing or close to nothing to help all children achieve some level of achievement, what does it mean? c.i.

An interesting article in today's San Jose Mercury News about discrimination in housing in the San Jose area against blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. It seems property managers tell minorities there are no vacancies or quote higher rents to minorities. What was surprising about the findings was that Asians had the highest discrimination rate at over 22 percent. c.i.

a study released today of real estate agents in the Denver area shows 20% of agencies demonstated measurable bias against hispanic and black americans. Rocky Mtn News 7/02/03

C.I. is not wrong, that the Shrub signed the largest educational increase in federal spending doesn't mean squat--the funds have never been released in more than a dribble, and the responsibility for the disbursement of funds rests squarely with the Executive branch . . . like C.I. said, talk is cheap . . .

an article a few weeks ago in USA TODAY showed many major colleges and universities have affirmative action programs that favor men over equally qualified women in order to maintain gender balance.

Okay, get specific.