S.C. deputy filmed slamming teen girl out of desk, dragging her away

The teacher unions don't like the idea of having public dollars and space handed over to private, for-profit schools that seek to further maximize revenue by hiring (inferior) non-union teachers with lower salaries and fewer job protections.

 

But no one I can recall, on this thread or the other, has said anything resembling "because black." You keep offering that as a possibility, but I can't remember a single poster saying that it is a possibility except for yourself. Not engaging in the debate does not mean one is settling for the easiest answer, which in this case is "because black."

I think, as several others have said, it is a confluence of factors that started black culture on this path - slavery, institutional racism, lack of consistent leadership - none of which have anything to do with DNA. And at some point, it became self-fulfilling for the part of the population that ends up being the much-debated over statistics. We aren't supposed to be as successful, so why try?

But like dixiehack, I don't think we are going to reach any kind of conclusion on this, so I have avoided the racial aspect of this discussion. That doesn't mean I'm fine with the answer "because black."

 

Seems to me that if you stipulate that black Americans are struggling in greater proportion than other races and you reject persistent racism and repression as root causes while offering no other reasoning, then you are in effect saying "because black."

 

Fuck the unions. Why do we give a shit what they think? They're failing. They're looking out for their members, not the kids in the classroom.

What's the point of having empty buildings?

Who says non-union teachers are inferior?

We have lots of lousy teachers in unionized classrooms today, and we can't fire them. We hire teachers now who graduate crappy schools, and who are not ready to teach in a classroom.

Liberals say they want to improve education, but they want a monopoly. They want no competition. They don't want to fire poor performing teachers. They don't want to close poor performing schools. They don't want kids to be able to attend schools outside of their geographic boundaries. They don't want to be evaluated based on the progress of their students, or their students scores on standardized tests. They don't want teachers to be required to take proficiency tests in the subjects they teach.

 

The police officer who threw the teenager across the room is a member of a union.

 

I mostly agree with you.

But I add: Conservatives don't want to pay the kind of wages to teachers that would draw talent to the profession, the kind of talent that can withstand and is actually drawn to this kind of competitive environment.

 

BTW, don't put words in my mouth. That is not what I said. Others may let you cook up your own dialogue, but don't make me part of it.

 

The unions aren't failing. They and parents are sticking together to stop the educational race to the bottom. Further, teachers in the classroom everyday are the best source of ideas for improving educational opportunity.

The market. The best teachers are offered and take the best jobs, not the jobs that pay less and have less security and benefits. Funny how that works, right?

Sure you can, but you need a good and demonstrable reason.

I'm all for improving teacher education and standards.

 

You said it would be controversial to mention it. And however you put it, it was worse than my paraphrase. I don't know what the fuck you were getting at.

 

You often don't.

My comment was about the 13 percent black population, not the homicides. If you think that's terrible, that's your cross. But get it right.

 

No. The unions aren't failing.

They are meeting their goals -- the enrichment of the unions, and their members.

 

Well, then, fuck him.