Two Seemingly Unrelated Stories that Explain the DC School System (Guest Post)

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There was a brief dust up in the Conservasphere a few weeks ago when it was learned that a DC teacher gave his sixth grade class an assignment comparing George W. Bush to Hitler.

D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson responded to the controversy late Wednesday on Twitter, saying no curriculum intended to make the comparison “in any way” and that the district and unidentified teacher are “deeply apologetic” about the matter. Henderson said the teacher has been ordered to apologize to the class.

As far as I can see the teacher was forced to apologize to the class with no further penalty that we know of. The school system would not release the teacher’s name to the public, a move I agree with. The teacher doesn’t deserve to have his private life stormed down upon the Blogospere and the Twitterverse. As one would imagine, there are calls to have the teacher fired over lack of judgment. Personally, I think that a better person to fire would be whatever administrator hired said teacher or renewed his contract.

Just a few days ago DC Council member Kenyan McDuffie weighed in on an important issue facing the DC school system. If you guessed that he addressed the Bush/Hitler teacher issue and the embarrassment it created for the DC school system you would be wrong. Instead, he introduced a bill to address the most pressing need facing the DC schools… forcing them to drop ‘Indians’ or ‘Warriors’ mascots.

Nearly a year after the D.C. Council called on the Washington Redskins to ditch its nickname and mascot, calling them “racist and derogatory,” a lawmaker is turning his attention to some lower-profile sports teams.

Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) introduced a measure Tuesday that would amend the District’s Human Rights Act to prohibit the use of any “race-based nickname, logo, mascot or team name” by educational institutions in the city. Schools could win an exemption if a federally registered Native American tribe grants its consent to the use of the name.

redskins mascot obama
Image appears via The People’s Cube

And this, in a nutshell is how the District spends more per pupil than any other state while 83 percent of its eighth graders are not proficient in reading and 81 percent are not proficient in math. Just like pretending that the Washington Redskins’ name and mascot is a pressing issue among American Indians, as opposed to something trivial like generational poverty it’s much easier to grab some cheap publicity and applause within elitist circles rather than put time and energy into improving a failing school system.

The next time someone tells you that simply increasing education spending is the answer it might be better to look at how schools’ resources are being allocated and what said schools’ priorities are.

Follow Brother Bob on Twitter @Brother_Bob

Cross posted from Brother Bob’s Blog

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I’d be perfectly happy to have the Florida State Seminoles change their name to the Greasy Slimeballs. Go Gators!

We really like this blog – keep up the great work!

Would you consider a reciprocal link exchange with Common Cents??

You can find us at http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

THANKS!

Brother Bob. Are you personally considering changing careers and going to DC and helping those kids get a better education?
Or is this something that you think others should do ?

@John:

Or is this something that you think others should do ?

If the folks who were being paid to educate these kids were actually doing it, rather than wasting their time on PC crap, we wouldn’t need to send others in.

BTW, on the original question…. the answer is: We didn’t have to fail with a bomb under a conference table and then blow up most of Europe to get GWB to leave office when his term was over.

Does anyone know how the D.C. school district functions? I tried to find a Board of Trustees, but didn’t find one.

Do they have a board of generally elected members that makes the decisions for the district, or is it all left up to the Chancellor?

@Brother Bob:

That would mean that the City Council was the authority over the school district. Not a good idea. Most councilmen do not have a clue about schools or how they should be run (curriculum, etc.)

I taught in DCPS for 11 years. Policy is set by the union. There is an elaborate bureaucracy which sucks up millions of dollars and teaches no one. To get certified I had to take college courses taught by the certifying officer. And so on. The curriculum is set by bribes paid to administrators.
It is a hideous mess.