How is this even possible: 88% of DC 8th graders can't read?

[WhipperSnapper]

Is it possible that the GENE POOL for the Washington D.C. public school students just isn't very good? What if the average inherited IQ is 75 or 80? I'm not saying that it's true, just that it's a question that should be looked into.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: Xavier434
What we are dealing with here is a multi tiered problem that no single answer will solve

Which I have qualified in other posts as well.

The government CAN do something about it in that they can

1. Remove special needs kids from the mainstream classroom, and
2. Give disciplinary power to the school.

That would solve at least half of these issues.

I agree with #1 and this is exactly what happens already in many states. I am surprised that it doesn't happen with all of them. I know it happens in Florida unless the county is completely fubar when it comes to how they handle ESE.


In regards to #2, that one is really tricky even though I am not completely against the idea. You would have to very strictly define what disciplinary power you wish to give them and that power will need to be agreed upon by the majority of parents who put their kids in public education throughout an entire state. I realize that those restrictions make the entire effort practically meaningless, but without going into detail let me just say that the legal complications involved to do otherwise is far too complex. We can't just make all schools exempt from the related laws in place either which would allow the parents to sue the schools. Wavers only work so well when given to a lawyer. Giving the schools too much freedom when it comes to discipline is a bad thing too. What we would need is a strict form of balance when it comes to the power we give them. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to enforce such a thing without the schools going to ridiculous and expensive levels of Big Brotherish behavior.

In the end, we could give the schools a bunch of power to discipline again, but most likely we would just end up right back where we are now in a short amount of time. I see no way to stop that from happening. Lawyers, bad publicity, and money will always find a way to make that happen and our school systems cannot afford to deal with any of those 3 things let alone all three at once. Tax payers are usually not willing to fund them to deal with it either because they like to point fingers and blame the schools for wasting their money regardless of who was truly at fault.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: JS80
LOL @ VIC

Seriously man, fuck vouchers for private schools and/or religious schools. That crap almost passed in FL recently withe 5-7-9 amendments which thankfully got thrown out and with good reason. It would have completely wrecked public school funding and the quality of public schools would have gone down the drain at an alarming rate. That sort of nonsense is exactly why I will never vote for McCain. I value public education way too much.

On the other hand, Charter Schools are a much better idea to support. They basically work like public schools except they require the parents to be more proactive towards their child's learning and education which is one of the core problems we are dealing with right now. They are not funded by the parents like private schools and that makes a huge difference right there. The higher quality teachers work at these schools and the parents want their kids in them for that reason, but if they want that then they have to work for it which is nice.

 

[MadRat]

The federal courts won't let you remove most special ed kids from the classroom because the kids have some 'natural' right to a "free appropriate public education" in the "least restrictive educational environment" (LRE) whatever the fuck that means. LRE is defined in the precendent as meaning, to the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and supports, referred to as "supplementary aids and services," along with their nondisabled peers in the school they would attend if not disabled, unless a student's individualized education program (IEP) requires some other arrangement. Its been fought out in the courts and that was the ruling that has stuck. See Board of Ed. of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist. v. Rowley 458 U.S. 176 (1982).

 

[newmachineoverlord]

There are a lot of reasons unrelated to school quality that affect the performance of children. In particular there are many issues affecting poor children. I highly recommend that you read A Framework for Understanding Poverty, by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D.

Furthermore, as far as directly comparing school district expenditures per student, don't forget to compensate for the relative cost of living as that can mean that a district that is spending twice as much as another is really spending less in terms of how far those dollars can go in that location. Since good schools cause localized inflation, the better the school the more money they need to buy the same goods and services.

Also there are still significant impacts from environmental pollution, in particular lead poisoning. Lead exposure has recently been shown to lower IQ even at levels previously thought to be acceptable. The DC area still has lots of problems with lead exposure. Many problems in society are exacerbated by lead poisoning. One of the most important things we can do as a society to improve the intelligence and education of the populace is to reduce lead exposure.

"exposing children to toxic lead --
even at levels below 10 mcg per deciliter -- causes some of
them to become impulsive, aggressive, antisocial, delinquent
and violent. The more lead, the worse the behavior. Herbert L.
Needleman has recently suggested that this may turn out to be
the most important effect of exposing children to lead."

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/lead081004.cfm
http://www.bridges4kids.org/news/10-02/Sun5-9-02.html
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009027052
http://www.leadsafedc.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...6/AR2007081602586.html
http://www.ehw.org/Lead/LEAD_CommunityAgenda.htm