So Berkeley types want to explain this away?

[Whoozyerdaddy]

The "Berkeley Type" is someone that believes non whites(excluding Asians however) are entitled to be lazy and stupid because they aren't white.

Which somehow isn't racist at all because they are trying to "help" in their own demented way.

Not 'entitled' to... EXPECTED to...

 

[Moonbeam]

How can you lump Washington DC into that mix?

The founding fathers and the Declaration and Constitution.

 

[JSt0rm]

I'm surprised to see that from you. Merit and increased funding would be a good start to fixing education, and our military can certainly survive some cuts. End a couple of wars for starters...

I think you and I agree on something. There should be a bell to ring or something ^_^

 

[werepossum]

Reading, writing, and arithmetic form the foundation of all higher-level educational study. Above all else, pupils in primary and secondary educational institutions must master these core subjects. If a large portion of the student body is deficient in these skills, the logical course of action is to redirect resources from electives to core subjects to correct the deficiency, particularly if funding for the school's operations is based on the performance of pupils in those core subjects.

With regards to Berkeley High, high schools all over California have had to eliminate elective courses to make room for more core courses ever since standardized testing was implemented in the early 00s. This is not a new issue, it isn't limited to Berkeley, and it's not an assault on "whitey." Junior and senior high school students that want to take an elective course that isn't offered at their school can take it free of charge at any California Community College, which are much better equipped to teach technical courses anyway, and the courses count as both high school and college credit.

The race issue is a red herring. Move along folks, there's nothing to see here.

Um, these folks are cutting science classes, which is another thing used on standardized tests. Berkeley is cutting the hard classes to help non-whites catch up to whites in academic "achievement". Besides being racist at least on the surface, this is indicative of the problem with so many liberal solutions which hurt society as a whole. Berkeley's solution is to punish the high achievers, thereby equalizing outcomes at a new, lower level and provides society with fewer science-literate graduates. A far better but more difficult solution would be to learn why blacks and Latinos cannot compete with whites and Asians in these courses and fix that, which would help society by providing a larger pool of better-educated people. Perhaps blacks and Latinos tend to go to failing primary schools which need to be fixed and would therefore benefit from a year of intense remedial work - they would spend an extra year of school, but would emerge better prepared to compete in the job market and bring more benefit to society. Perhaps blacks and Latinos have less family and cultural pressure to get an education, especially in the sciences, and would therefore benefit from counseling or classes showing them the different possibilities and careers with a good background in science. Point is, these aren't puppies, they are human children, and there's absolutely no reason why they can't learn science just as well as white kids. It might be harder to teach them science, but they can learn it.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Um, these folks are cutting science classes, which is another thing used on standardized tests.

Did you not read my post? Even if Berkeley High cuts science classes, students can to take the classes at one of the community colleges in Berkeley. The only real losers are the high school science teachers.

Berkeley is cutting the hard classes to help non-whites catch up to whites in academic "achievement".

Berkeley is cutting the "hard classes" because they're federally mandated to achieve a certain amount of academic progress, they've failed to do so for low-income subgroups that tend to be more heavily minority, and they'll be penalized by the state and/or federal government if they fail to rectify the situation. Consequently, electives like AP Science classes are the first things to go when a school needs to increase its focus on core subjects.

Besides being racist at least on the surface, this is indicative of the problem with so many liberal solutions which hurt society as a whole.

As I said previously, this is happening all over the state. The only reason this caught anyone's attention is because it happened in Berkeley.

BTW, many of these cuts are being imposed because of mandates from the No Child Left Behind act, which was pushed by Republicans. Hardly a "liberal" solution.

Berkeley's solution is to punish the high achievers, thereby equalizing outcomes at a new, lower level and provides society with fewer science-literate graduates.

Again, nothing is truly being cut for students. Struggling students receive more attention from the school, and high achievers will simply take the classes they need at a community college on the school district's dime. There is nothing to see here.

 

[DrPizza]

And there is the problem. Who the fuck gives a shit about what the teachers union thinks. Let them try and find other jobs as relaxed as teaching.

Their jobs would be relaxed if they were able to simply get rid of the kids who don't give a shit, are disruptive, and come from a family that doesn't care about their kids getting an education. Merit based pay is based on an assumption that all kids are equal. They're not. Also, for the school district this discussion is about - are all of the students segregated from one another until they reach high school? If not, why is it that the white and Asian students are successful, but the black and latino students are not?

I do 100% agree with this.

I don't think that their pay should go *DOWN* on average, but there should be additional compensation packages for certain subjects (math, science, and comp.sci./logic).

Also, the number (and pay) of administrators should be cut. It is a little ridiculous.

As a math (pre-calculus, calculus) and physics teacher, I like your thinking.

Teaching is actually a very demanding job. You need to get your masters in many states and then you need to deal with snobby students who think they're always right. Now, if teachers were allowed to give their students a good beating if they misbehaved like in the old days, I think the US education system would be much better.

Canings. Don't they cane people in SE Asia - aren't they much better at math and science in SE Asia? I think the evidence is clear. (just kidding)

Did you not read my post? Even if Berkeley High cuts science classes, students can to take the classes at one of the community colleges in Berkeley. The only real losers are the high school science teachers.

To even consider that a lab-based science class is a "hard elective" that can be cut from the curriculum is appalling. I'm pretty sure that current educational research demonstrates that the decision to cut these classes was foolhardy and will have a negative impact on achievement. (of course, that's the goal - make the whites stupider so that it appears that the blacks and latinos are catching up.) If you want research-based proof of this, look to University of Arizona.

 

[LunarRay]

No, you racist assholes destroyed their self respect and so they feel you owe them. You do, by the way, or they will make you pay. Law of nature, sucka!

"When in the course of human events it becomes NECESSARY to dissolve ..."

Sorta the same issue but with different folks... 1/3 loyal, 1/3 apathetic and 1/3 about to rampage...

 

[LunarRay]

"All men are created equal ..." And some folks are going to insure that to be the case! It ain't always about elevation when it is just as easy to bring down the plateau or erode it away... Equal is where all is the same... Where that same is depends on who is more determined to insure it occurs. It is not about Science. It is about something much more ummmm Social. I think, anyhow.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I'm still trying to figure out what a "Berkeley type" is. Is it some smelly Hippie in a tie died tshirt?

Liberal, tree hugging, pot smoking, save the planet from bad science, don't offend or oppress the minorities but offend and oppress the majority, douche bags that like the smell of their own farts. Oh and they drive Toyota Prius(s)*

 

[Carmen813]

Again, your ignorance blinds you.
It was a nation wide ban on the use of FEDERAL FUNDS not a nation wide ban on research.

Federal funds which are a huge portion of what pays for scientific research.

 

[quikah]

This story is actually a bit misleading. Berkeley high has science labs that occur before or after school (which sounds a bit dumb in itself). They are moving them into the regular school day to free up the money for other programs. So they still have the labs, they just hold them during class (which is how I did it in my HS).

Better story:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/06/BAR31BE0C7.DTL

 

[piasabird]

If you dont have biology and chemistry who is going to go into the Medical Fields? Nursing is one of the best occupations pay-wise. Maybe they just need to kick the dummies out of high school, that are dragging the public school system down with it. If they are too dumbe to graduate from grade school then make them repeat some years.

Maybe it is influx of uneducated people from Mexico that are bringing down the school systems. Just admit it. Face reality and then find a solution to solve the problem. Education is more than just a money problem, it is a social problem.

Maybe California does not want to pay to educate its slave laborers?

 

[werepossum]

Their jobs would be relaxed if they were able to simply get rid of the kids who don't give a shit, are disruptive, and come from a family that doesn't care about their kids getting an education. Merit based pay is based on an assumption that all kids are equal. They're not. Also, for the school district this discussion is about - are all of the students segregated from one another until they reach high school? If not, why is it that the white and Asian students are successful, but the black and latino students are not?

As a math (pre-calculus, calculus) and physics teacher, I like your thinking.

Canings. Don't they cane people in SE Asia - aren't they much better at math and science in SE Asia? I think the evidence is clear. (just kidding)

To even consider that a lab-based science class is a "hard elective" that can be cut from the curriculum is appalling. I'm pretty sure that current educational research demonstrates that the decision to cut these classes was foolhardy and will have a negative impact on achievement. (of course, that's the goal - make the whites stupider so that it appears that the blacks and latinos are catching up.) If you want research-based proof of this, look to University of Arizona.

Good points. I'm a big proponent of merit-based pay, but as a local teacher said: "These kids can't read and I'm expected to teach them chemistry"? When the system breaks down this badly, merit-based pay is going to be very difficult to implement. We can test the teachers, but measuring how much they teach the students is going to be problematic if the students are incapable of the minimum requirements to learn the material.

In the words of Southpark: These kids need disciprine!

 

[Muse]

Someone want to explain this thinking away?

Your last sentence bespeaks a prejudiced viewpoint. I've lived in Berkeley continuously since 1973, so I have some familiarity with what's at play here. The motivation of the people involved with this (I'm saying this based on the OP, nothing more, besides my considerable experience living here), is to eliminate the sense of disparity, inequality in the schooling of the kids. Understand, they think that those science labs are part of the system that is discriminatory. Berkeley, Berkeley High, have a reputation for being cutting edge in the social arena, moreso than technology. Social justice comes before science here.

 

[piasabird]

I dont believe in merit-based lab science classes! This is just pure baloney. If you cant comprehend the material then move aside and let someone else in who can have a chance at an education. In Illinois you have to take biology just about. Biology helps people to understand what some of the doctors and medical reports are talking about. You are not going to get a pass in Biology in college based on merit or social standing.

 

[Perknose]

Like your job?

There are a lot of teachers in my family, and more in my wife's. She's a college professor.

I won't say there aren't slugs, but those are anywhere. If you do the job right that's not the case, and teachers work a LOT of hours outside of the classroom.

My wife her day starts around 7:00 am and goes to 10 or 11 most nights. I'll also tell you she's more organized and efficient than anyone else I know to the point where it's almost annoying. I'll bet you couldn't keep up with her.

And she married you!

But, damn, Rich, what the hell are "Berkley types?" You sound like a querulous old fart yelling at those gosh darn hippies to get off his lawn.

Shake your cane elsewhere. That high school is facing a budget crunch not of its making and not within its control.

They are practicing battlefield triage under ugly economic conditions.

Anything they do will look hideous to an unsympathetic outsider.

 

[flavio]

Berkeley High School is actually a great inner city high school, and has a problem because people in surrounding shithole cities, like Richmond and Oakland, try and send their kids there by pretending they live with Grandma or an uncle in Berkeley. Instead of ending science classes they need to remove the bad actors from outside Berkeley.

I don't think you have idea what you're talking about. I have a daughter starting at Oakland Tech next year. It's a pretty damn good high school and I have never heard of anyone considering trying to get their kid into Berkeley High instead. Berkeley High actually has a lower rep with parents around here. So if you have any evidence that Berkeley High is a much better school than Oakland Tech I'd like to see it.

The only other nearby public schools I could see anyone trying to pretend they live somewhere to get into would be Piedmont or Albany high schools. But there's no need.

Oakland is a great town with great people. We have a couple shitty areas of town, but then so do most cities this size.

 

[flavio]

Liberal, tree hugging, pot smoking, save the planet from bad science, don't offend or oppress the minorities but offend and oppress the majority, douche bags that like the smell of their own farts. Oh and they drive Toyota Prius(s)*

Let's see...

Liberal - Might be a higher percentage of liberals in Berkeley, that's a plus.

Tree hugging - I'm guessing you mean environmentally responsible. Sounds like a plus.

Save the planet from bad science - I have never heard of a campaign to save the planet from bad science.

Don't offend or oppress the minorities but offend and oppress the majority - I haven't heard of a campaign to offend or oppress the majority in Berkeley. Have you been to Berkeley and saw this? Weird.

Douche bags that like the smell of their own farts - I've seen far more douchebags that like the smell of their own farts in other parts of the country for sure.

They drive Toyota Prius(s)* - Not sure what the percentage of Prius owners is compared with other cities. It's a good car though.

 

[marincounty]

I don't think you have idea what you're talking about. I have a daughter starting at Oakland Tech next year. It's a pretty damn good high school and I have never heard of anyone considering trying to get their kid into Berkeley High instead. Berkeley High actually has a lower rep with parents around here. So if you have any evidence that Berkeley Hish is a much better school than Oakland Tech I'd like to see it.

The only other nearby public schools I could see anyone trying to pretend they live somewhere to get into would be Piedmont or Albany high schools. But there's no need.

Oakland is a great town with great people. We have a couple shitty areas of town, but then so do most cities this size.

I know exactly what I am talking about. Tech may be a good school for Oakland, but I don't think it compares to Berkeley High. You need to do some reading.

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/print.asp?id=17690

One Oakland parent told us that she was driven to enroll her daughter illegally at Berkeley High out of desperation. "Oakland schools didn’t seem to be a viable option, and private schools are exorbitantly expensive," she said.

Coming up with fake documents to enroll her child was simple. Friends who lived in Berkeley agreed to put her name on their PG&E and phone bills, as well as to have mail delivered to their Berkeley address.

The arrangement is taking a psychological toll -- on the parent, and perhaps on her daughter as well. "It’s a burden on my conscience," said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared jeopardizing her daughter’s attendance at Berkeley High. "Truth has been such a high value for me in raising my kids. I’ve always, always, tried to get the message across that they should be honest with me, and with their friends. And then I do this."
But parents and students seem willing to traverse this legal and ethical minefield because of the considerable payoff. A 2004 graduate of Berkeley High described how he first attended elementary schools in Oakland, then went to live with his mother in Hayward. While at Tennyson High School there, he got into fights and was threatened with expulsion. So his mother sent him back to Oakland to live with his father. "But my parents felt it was better for me not to attend an Oakland public school, and the next best choice was Berkeley," said the student, who requested anonymity to avoid the shame his story might bring on his family. "They thought I’d just get into more trouble and not concentrate on my schoolwork, if I stayed in Oakland."

His father convinced a person he knew at his church to "lend" them his Berkeley address. "My report cards, and everything, went to that address," the student explained. "That’s how we did it." He escaped detection by listing the fake Berkeley address on his driver’s license. When the district started cracking down on out-of-district students, he showed them his driver’s license as proof of his Berkeley residency. The only time the fake address became a problem was during class assignments when students were asked to write about their own neighborhoods. "I had to make up some stuff," he recalls.

Unlike his previous schools, the student had no difficulties at Berkeley High, where his participation in the school’s renowned jazz band helped motivate him to succeed. He graduated successfully, and is now a student at Merritt College in Oakland.

It’s impossible to know how many students or their parents use questionable tactics to enroll in other districts. During the coming year, a mere 354 non-Berkeley students -- from Oakland and several other districts -- will attend the Berkeley schools with official transfers, comprising 3.8 percent of the district’s 9,100 total enrollment.

Yet one Oakland teenager told us she believes that as many as half of her fellow students at Berkeley High are Oakland residents. Berkeley schools Superintendent Michelle Lawrence says there is "no way" the number is that high, but did not want to estimate the actual number. It seems likely that the number of "illegal" students is far higher than those who receive official transfers to enroll there.

According to district statistics, nearly 200 of the 1,100 students at Encinal High - which has a capacity to enroll 1,300 -- don’t live in Alameda. Most are Oakland students, who received an official transfer from their home district.
Also read this:
http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/schools/berkeley/BHS/outofdistrict.html

 

[flavio]

I know exactly what I am talking about. Tech may be a good school for Oakland, but I don't think it compares to Berkeley High. You need to do some reading.

That article is over 3 years old. Tech has been completely renovated since then and I'm not even sure they had their much lauded Academy programs at that point. If they did they've definitely been expanded since then. If your kid enrolls in the engineering, computer science, health, etc. academy they really get pushed.

Even with the age of your article it's still only full of anecdotal evidence. For instance it claims a certain number of people have enrolled their kids in other districts but provides no numbers for those going the other way.

I've been extremely happy with my daughter's elementary and middle schools and they had pretty high API scores. I am concerned and interested in what high school she goes to next year so this is a great discussion to have. Tech has an 85-90% parental satisfaction and the general idea I get from other parents is that they'd be concerned if they lived in Berkeley but aren't now. That's my anecdotal evidence.

I'd like to see some statistics on the two schools but for some reason Berkeley's API scores aren't available. Any stat comparison would be interesting.

 

[Perknose]

The "Berkeley Type" is someone that believes non whites(excluding Asians however) are entitled to be lazy and stupid because they aren't white.

Assholes made to look even stupider than they may otherwise be by their bigotry, pointing fingers at entire other races and/or entire other groups and making ridiculous assumptions . . . well, they abound in this great Republic of ours.

Quoted above are just two of them.

One of them is real, speaking in his own voice, and not a funny but vicious parody. Pity him.

Otherwise, these two are so alike in their rash, asshole stupidity, it's uncanny!

Shiner and Rakim
Sitting in a tree
S P E W I N G

:biggrin:

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Science? For white folks! People of color don't need science labs! Let's help our black brothers and sisters by closing the whiteys' science classes! Besides, science is an evil conspiracy by whitey to teach us that we're genetically inferior!

Minister Farrakan's Motherplane will show whitey what real science is all about! The Motherplane will beam up all the black people and then little ships will come out and kill all the white people!

(Go to 6:40 of this clip to learn more about Rita X and the Motherplane.) (You may need Windows Media Player open when you click the link.)

"Let me just say this! There is a spaceship called the Motherplane! And on the Motherplane it has what's called 1500 bomber planes."