From another post:
Anonymous said...
"
Pittsburgh is going to lose most of its students because it is incapable of providing a good education for any but those 'designated' as "gifted" in a particular area supported by certain parents and certain others.
Trust me, those kids/parents are fleeing just as fast as all the others.
And don't worry, I did understand the snark behind the remark, so don't feel compelled to add to it!"
Me either.
I just think It is sad that Allderdice is viewed as nirvana or viewed as the creme de la creme. It is a far cry from that. The bar and our expectations have been lowered by PPS and caring parents throughout the city are trying their best to limbo for their kids.
We ALL want our kids to be SAFE and get a decent education. Our kids ALL deserve it.
If Gates and Broad really want to help they would put their money into social work, community, parental education and
early intervention. This is not about teachers, it is about poverty, rascism, and how divided we are. Until people understand that it really does take a village, (sorry Hillary haters, but it is true) to raise a child and to help lift up parents in need nothing will change.
Allderdice is probably the safest high school. Safety should be a given not a luxury. My child is caucasian, gifted and we live in "that particular neighborhood".
May 27, 2011 3:41 AM
Anonymous said...
What is the "snark" everybody is getting from what was quoted?
Sometimes people create problems that don't exist? Minds are a terrible thing to waste.
Solving problems is what we should be doing here.
May 27, 2011 7:34 AM
Anonymous said...
If you don't recognize the "snark" you either don't have any kids in the schools or you are part of the administration!
The snark says that average performing and above white students have parents who are only concerned with their very own little darling and are out to actively ruin the educations of poor, black children.
This gets extended to the idea that *any* complaint about behavior, about curriculum, and certainly about children being bored or not challenged in the least by the curriculum means you are racist and actively working against the district and the goals of education.
It also ignores that *many* of the parents most concerned about the behavior in the schools are not these same parents!
This is also seen in Broad/Gates districts across the country. It's as effective as "No Child Left Behind" was initially as a slogan. If you pointed to weak aspects of that legislation, questions were posed to you that suggested you really did want to leave children behind -- or why would you question?!
It's now moved up to include charges of racism as well -- if you dare to challenge the wisdom of these reforms, you must hate the black children.
This doesn't work well on the black parents, obviously, but since the district is doing an increasingly good job of having segregated schools, that's less and less of a problem. They can be all sickly sweet, we're so concerned about your babies at some meetings -- though the parents I've seen there are not buying the act.
May 27, 2011 8:13 AM
Anonymous said...
Well anonymous 3:41, if we could only explain why the "funders" have not reached the conclusions you have we might get somewhere. I get tired of any arguements where stones get thrown at "that particular neighborhood" and wonder how nobody notices the decades of parental engagement of the highest level. And I am not from "that particular neighborhood."
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8 comments:
Surely there are more important issues to be discussed seriously. Do we really need to take on ad nauseum a spin off from some one's interpretation or misinterpretation of one bloggers comment?
Looks like some nerves were touched and people prefer, rightly or wrongly, to go off on their own personal tangents.
Is that a legitimate or preferred use of this blog?
This type of reference comes up frequently in many contexts and so it seems worth discussing. On this week's televised legislative meeting, for example, a Board member referred to "certain schools, certain neighborhoods..."
Respectfully, I beg to disagree. It is not at all clear who is being addressed about what or WHY? Particularly, with reference to the comments of 7:34, there is a total disconnect to previous comments. This so-called response is ‘snarkfully’ directed toward a fictitious figment of the writers imagination.
Nothing that precedes it says any of what this person seems so ‘hatefully’ to rail against. The dialogue here is only credible when the responses address a reality or a statement made by someone, somewhere, identified. Otherwise this turns into ranting, raving, and railing in a circular fashion against their own statements. ???
Apologies for the lack of background comments, will add to the initial post.
That's okay. Let's start fresh with a clearly defined topic of value.
The fact that I am likely to pull my last child out of the district should be of concern to someone, yes.
The fact that they are losing parents who were dedicated to the success of the DISTRICT not just their own children, should be of concern.
I once told someone in this current administration that I had kept my kids in the schools they were in DESPITE many of the ways that programs were run, but because I felt that their own individual challenge was less important than the overall social good.
That person looked at me like I was an alien and had no clue what to say. I didn't fit the stereotype he was convinced I should.
12:10 - Thank you, that was nicely stated. There are many who would share your sentiments and have repeatedly stepped forward in an effort to support public education, YET, PPS administration refuses to even listen or if in a situation such as you describe do not GET IT.
There is deep, deep sadness among good people with sincere commitment to educating ALL of our children in the most equitable ways; but, they are voices in the wilderness, refused a hearing, shut off, shut out, or as you say 'listened to with deaf ears' and forced to seek any alternative.
Again, how can we rally in ways that will force 341 South Bellefield to take heed.
Good schools = Good communities
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