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On another post Questioner wrote:
Questioner said...
From the article:
"City schools last week began a full-day, month-long summer program in which 32 black male students in 9th and 10th grades receive a $100-per-week stipend for participating. The program, paid for by Heinz Endowments, helps East End students who struggle with math and reading."
-PPS does seem to be focused on gender distinctions these days. Why not a program for girls struggling with math and reading? And why only black students?
And then Anonymous wrote:
You forgot the famed Derrick Lopez quote:
We incentivize them enough so we can (instill) ... that this should be a pattern you follow during the school year," said Derrick Lopez, assistant superintendent of secondary schools.
Just a few points-if one does not read the newspaper-we will never know the latest PPS imitative.
Lopez is a great Hoover sweeper sweeping under the carpet and resurfacing squeaky clean with agenda.
$400 each for 32 students. -we are really gender specific and race specific here in this Summer Program.
Is it a free Program? As they advertise the other Summer Program.
Why not Black girls are we being sexist?
Let us here of the selection process~from the Board? When?
Girls have a right as well all socio-economic background indicators-not just race and gender specific.
What about the Semolinan children or other immigrants. Why were they not given a chance-Do they have a special ESL program there-maybe they should and work with them?
Are the students selected from all around the PPS district or just the East End?
Where is this program located and housed?are the students being transported and fed?
Is it housed at Westinghouse-how In addition, do we see a goodwill tour for gender specific schools?
Hey, where is the lawsuit against this type of specific criteria?
The Wellness Program involved-are they a separate vendor-health counselors-Phys Ed teachers
With the Wellness Program involved-are they implying health issues as another indicator for selecting the 32 black boys? Heaven forbid-they are saying the boys cannot even get their homework done after school and must participate in some form of athletic activity or they have an eating disorder or need to lose weight.
Are we labeling here in this program?
What are the specifics of the curriculum and behavior modifications for alternative classroom behaviors if necessitated?
Just a little bit of criteria-there should be more.
I guess the Heinz Foundation will write a check –for PPS whims.
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11 comments:
You know, somehow this program does not offend me. If it is a strategy to close an achievement gap, so be it. There is also a prorgam planned as a "ramp up" for kids at Milliones, I believe. Mr. Lopez was grilled about it at the last board meeting or the agenda review maybe by Mrs. Cloaizzi. There is also an initiative announced at an EFA meeting some time this past year to recruit mentors for African-American males in PPS. Doesn't bother me to know about this either, although from the looks on a few faces, it troubled some. What I do have some issue with is the number of programs rolled out all on top of one another with the same end game in mind. How soon before there is a limit reached where it becomes prudent to take a break and direct attention to another group, even temporarily?
Why is it thought that the District believes it would be illegal to take race into account at all for magnet admissions, but that it can take race into account for admission to other programs?
I don't think it is the district's interpretation of the law to disallow race as a consideration for magnet registration. These "other programs" were specifically created for African-American males. We have other programs that have operated with some success for much longer than these new ones. It is an equity issue.
The admin had the solicitor explain that their interpretation of a particular Supreme Court ruling was that race could no longer be considered for magnet admissions.
The Detroit school district had to scrap plans for a boys only school due to legal requirements that a girls only school would have had to be created.
This Topic is a very hot issue-if you look at it from a legal sense-it is pressing the buttons of stretching the law-under Pa law and federal laws.
Subsequently, if it is a mentoring program as a poster, stated- Ira Weiss can wiggle room out of this as usual- but this cements PPS to completea single gender game plan to institute single gender classes all year round. Alternatively, another add-on program for the summer-how many do we have running now? So-it can be considered a short-term program.
People can be afraid to discuss race and sexist subjects because they really touch buttons of sadness for our kids.
However, there are laws out there that can be broken and need to be addressed for all students. They become the victims like chips in a game. Race and race relations seem to the core of all our initiatives to increase African American student learning and achievement.
Whatever increases the PSSA cores-or the initiatives about lifetime learning for success?
Lopez talks so much and so fast for many he becomes very boring and irritating-he lacks the poise.
Questioner @ July 25, 2010 9:47 PM
The famed Seattle case and racial quotas and magnets. WOW‼ The Third Circuit Court of our Region and the Supreme Court has handed down many decisions- they use the word diversity instead of racial quota-which is passe.
Go to the Cornell Law School site and digest many court cases over this issue.
The problem the Board is affiliated with so many local Universities-many lawyers work also, privately-that they tie up all the potential educational lawyers.
They are really crossing a fine line with the law because of their arrogance and elitist attitude. In addition, how can we forget Roosevelt is a Harvard lawyer.
I always state if the lawyers that are our leaders from politicians and now educational leaders were great courtroom lawyers they would never be in their present jobs in public areas-they call public service jobs to justify their jobs-collecting tax dollar as paychecks.
They probably were horrible courtroom attorneys. None of them ever practiced law or have a resume of court room wins.
I was told this ropic is on KDKA Radio 1020 AM- right now as a ralk show topic from one of our elderly neighboes that listen to talk host constant.
Now on the radio-so call in.
Isn't it amazing that students in 9th and 10th grade need help with reading, and yet the PPS's continue to close school libraries? Many of our inner city students are not able to get to the public library, so the school library IS IT for them. I'm a retired PPS librarian and I'm trying to turn the annihilation of school libraries around. Ask me how you can help in your neighborhoods.
justsayin', sounds like you have a vested interest in this program. Are you perhaps receiving a paycheck?
anon 6:47, no, never got a paycheck from an educational employer other than the one year over a dozen years ago where I was a lunchaide in a catholic school.
I just want every option and program to be installed and wait for the saturation point to be reached then sit back and say "now what?"
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