Comments on: Multiculturalism vs. science labs

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:25:09 +0000

So, let’s assume the school board takes this anti-intellectual step. What happens? Hmm. The white & asian parents enroll their children elsewhere, if they can afford to move. Those who choose to stay turn to private providers, to supplement the school curriculum, so that their children receive the preparation necessary to do well on the APs. It will be a boom time for test prep companies.

The black and hispanic children will not receive extra, private instruction. The achievement gap will grow larger. Classes in history and rhetoric do not teach you how to titrate, dissect, or manipulate DNA. It’s a real shame, because for many children, the public school classroom is the only place they will have the opportunity to learn math and science.

By: Bill Leonard

Bill Leonard — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:41:20 +0000

In my experience, any conversation — let alone any course — that centers on concepts labled “social justice” usually really means the redistribution of wealth as a necessary way to partially atone for all the evils caused by capitalism. Mr. briggs seems to abhor such constructs; Mr. Bemont seems to like them.

Draw your own conclusions…

By: SuperSub

SuperSub — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:31:03 +0000

Any time that a school is actively teaching beliefs as opposed to knowledge that school is encouraging hate, distrust, racism, and violence. You may as well be handing these students over to Adolf Hitler for an education.

By: Lightly Seasoned

Lightly Seasoned — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:25:17 +0000

We used to have a tutoring program with the private university across the street — the undergrads didn’t even need to drive over. It fell apart because the undergrads were completely unreliable and nobody at the university end really took responsiblity for them. I had some ELL kids who seemed to benefit from the one-on-one, but three or four tutoring times in a semester didn’t make much of a dent.

In general, relying on 19-year-olds for just about anything is a dicey proposition.

(And, FWIW, the faculty kids do attend our district.)

In any case, extended day and electives are two different budget pots. It costs the same to offer 5 sections of British Literature as it does 2 sections of British Literature, 1 section of African American Literature, and 1 section of Literature of the Oppressed (or whatever).

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:09:14 +0000

The problem with courses like “social justice” is that, in my experience working with various groups claiming it, there is only one kind of social justice allowed. Whatever, mostly far-left, idea they have is “social justice” and any criticism is fighting against social justice.
It would be interesting to sit in on a few classes as planned.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:19:51 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

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By: dangermom

dangermom — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:25:45 +0000

You may be overestimating the salaries of professors at Cal. I’d be interested to know where they do send their kids–the professor I knew best lived in a tiny condo and did without any luxuries in order to send one son to a Montessori elementary school (wonder how they managed when the other kid got old enough?). But most professors probably live in Albany or something; Berkeley housing is too expensive for most families trying to raise children, and the schools are better elsewhere.

I did actually do some tutoring at an elementary school when I was an undergrad. It was sort of like being a pebble at the beach. I think improving the elementary schools overall would be a better strategy than hoping the undergrads can fix it, but I can guess how likely that is.

By: Multiculturalism vs. science labs « Joanne Jacobs « Internet Cafe Solution

Multiculturalism vs. science labs « Joanne Jacobs « Internet Cafe Solution — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:28:06 +0000

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By: KateC

KateC — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:16:04 +0000

It’s not up to undergrads to fix the public school system. Besides, Berkeley’s teachers would have a fit.

A few years back, David Baltimore, then president of Cal-Tech, offered a similiar program to Pasadena Unified. Pearl clutching ensued–”But they’re not TEACHERS.”. Plan dropped.
Cal-Tech faculty send their kids to private schools, as,I’ll bet, do a number of the tenured at Cal.