Last night I watched an HBO documentary on Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland...and I have to say I cried. The administrative staff is stretched to its academic limits...with several administrators designed to move the school forward and get it back on the right track academically so as not to have the school disbanded, so as not to have the students disbursed to nearby schools, so as not to have the school taken over by the state, they had to get the test scores that have been poor for the last ten years up to par with other schools in the region...I listened and shook my head...this is all due in part of the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT...a poor example of the worst sort of legislation that always tends to not benefit the urban areas when it comes to schooling...our kids are getting the short end of this stick...but its a three-fold process...it takes the student, both parents (if possible), and the school to have this act repealed...because clearly it is not working.
At the time of filming, Baltimore had 10 schools that were on the 'at risk' list for being taken over by the state. Douglas, named after Fredick Douglas used to be one of the premier schools for blacks...its one of the oldest black schools in America, dating back to the 1800's...it was attended by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and for years the school has been lauded with a winning Basketball team...
What is wrong with the Black Community? I listened as the prinicipal stated that the freshman class starts out at 500 students and by the sophomore year that same class is reduced to 200 and by their senior they are lucky if they have 125 students!
WTF...the parents are locked up, drugged out and some just plain don't care...
I was listening to these young people talk and the English was horrible...how many times can you say "but I'm saying right", "and it be like", "aight den", "I mean like why I gotta do dat"...the teachers are totally and completely overwhelmed...
They took a standarized test and out of 1000 students only 1 passed the Algebra part of the HSA exam...
They have a "fast track" for students to get them in their correct grade!
There was an English instructor who stated that out of 180 of her students 25 are at reading level, the others are reading on a 4th & 5th grade level...now is it me, or is that the saddest statistic you have ever heard? Baltimore whose motto is THE CITY THAT READS has one of the highest percentages of illiterate children. So as I looked at the show I said to myself, "so that means teachers are just passing children knowing they are not current, cannot comprehend, and do not grasp their subjects"...and then I hit the info button on the remote and read the topic of the documentary and it was all about 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND'...
They had a parent night and the audience was about 40 parents...the parents who are not having issues with their children...the parents who are concerned about their childrens education...the instructors sat in their classes waiting to talk to the parents but as they all said, the parents they need to speak to were not their.
Kids were skipping classes left and right, so much so that the principal and her resource officer were doing home visits....one of the parents couldn't read her damn self! It pissed me off because you can go out and fuck and have a rack of kids, but you can't fucking read nor write...but they have a rack of kids...it amazed me that the parent said she sent her daughter to school each morning and she was shocked that her daughter had missed 11 days straight...you know what I thought...why isn't this woman whipping this girls ass...I cannot begin to tell you how far my foot would be implanted in my childs intestinal tract where it made known they were skipping for now reason...
And every failure that these kids have makes them want to immediately quit. They are born as quitters, they are raised by quitters, and surrounded by degradation and negativity so that they dont' even feel as if they can achieve anything! It is so sad! They have it instilled in them that 'the man' wants them all locked up or knocked up and to take their money...and I thought what money. If you can't read nor write what type of money are you seriously gonna make?
These kids do not see that without an education their really is no way out of the cylical hell from which they have derived...they dont' even forsee a better future for themselves because they don't even feel they deserve it...
One segment showed how the Maryland State Board of Education has decided to not count any of the at risk schools in Baltimore's HSA test scores until 2009 and as they sat in the room some kids took the test, while others decided not to...they know its not gonna count for a year, so they sign their names and take the F...its easier...I mean why should they try...I feel for the kids that are concerned about their education and are concerned for their future, but their learning is impeded by constant interruptions in class by the kids that just don't care...its not fair to them...
Then we fast forward to an event at the school involving the choir, and again only about 50 people in the audience...but Douglas is one of the best schools in the state for Basketball so please note the stands were packed for the Basketball game...they stands were packed for the battle of the bands in the football stadium, I mean afterall, this more important than math, english, science and history...this is entertainment!
Finally we come to graduation and as the principal stated its the most anxious time for students and parents...oh yeah, those parents that never show up for anything, but when they find out that their baby ain't graduationing then they show up with the sob story. The principal has advised each teacher that if they so choose then they can give the student a series of make up work in order for them to graduate...that made me sick to my stomach...because you chose to come to school and fuck off, because you chose to sit and be the class clown and believed that being dumb was cool and wore your ignorance as a badge of honor, then you ass deserves to repeat class....
The parents are pathetic...I dont' care what the excuse is, you should always want a better environment for your children...always...these parents couldn't take thirty minutes out of their day to come in for a conference with their child, but were quick to want to know why "my chile ain't graduating"...made me want to kick some of them in the teeth...for real...
I refuse to accept being a single parent as an excuse, because I know plenty of single parents who had made education a priority for their children...
My heart ached as I listened to this young woman, dressed as a boy, state that at the age of 11 her grandmother took custody of her, yet at 16 she felt she had been alone and on her own for the last 5 years...even with a grandmother she still had a disconnect...she came to school with a blackened eye that her UNCLE had given her over some money...her uncle! And although she said she held it down, the longing in her voice to want something better for herself, the wish to be living in a better situation with loving parents was paramount in her voice...
This documentary got me to thinking about my own blessings and the blessings that the children in my family are not even aware of and take for granted.
Every weekend I ride through Baltimore, but I was upset when I saw for the first time a homeless park where the homeless were living in downtown Baltimore and the saddest of all was that I saw a family of 5 sitting in front of their covered tarp "home" and I thought to myself - these kids got it hard...they were unfortunately given to parents that appear to not have planned for their coming into the world let alone their own long term plan for themselves...
How did the educational system in our communities, for our children get so out of control...at what generation did our community stop being a village and became this cold desolate every person for themselves environment...my heart goes out to these children who have these parents that just don't care.
As I thought about this show all night, I got up and wrote a letter to the local, state, and federal powers that be regarding 'no child left behind' bill and how it needs to be repealed...not sure what my one little letter will do, but I do know that something has to be done, because OUR children are suffering...
SassyScribe
At the time of filming, Baltimore had 10 schools that were on the 'at risk' list for being taken over by the state. Douglas, named after Fredick Douglas used to be one of the premier schools for blacks...its one of the oldest black schools in America, dating back to the 1800's...it was attended by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and for years the school has been lauded with a winning Basketball team...
What is wrong with the Black Community? I listened as the prinicipal stated that the freshman class starts out at 500 students and by the sophomore year that same class is reduced to 200 and by their senior they are lucky if they have 125 students!
WTF...the parents are locked up, drugged out and some just plain don't care...
I was listening to these young people talk and the English was horrible...how many times can you say "but I'm saying right", "and it be like", "aight den", "I mean like why I gotta do dat"...the teachers are totally and completely overwhelmed...
They took a standarized test and out of 1000 students only 1 passed the Algebra part of the HSA exam...
They have a "fast track" for students to get them in their correct grade!
There was an English instructor who stated that out of 180 of her students 25 are at reading level, the others are reading on a 4th & 5th grade level...now is it me, or is that the saddest statistic you have ever heard? Baltimore whose motto is THE CITY THAT READS has one of the highest percentages of illiterate children. So as I looked at the show I said to myself, "so that means teachers are just passing children knowing they are not current, cannot comprehend, and do not grasp their subjects"...and then I hit the info button on the remote and read the topic of the documentary and it was all about 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND'...
They had a parent night and the audience was about 40 parents...the parents who are not having issues with their children...the parents who are concerned about their childrens education...the instructors sat in their classes waiting to talk to the parents but as they all said, the parents they need to speak to were not their.
Kids were skipping classes left and right, so much so that the principal and her resource officer were doing home visits....one of the parents couldn't read her damn self! It pissed me off because you can go out and fuck and have a rack of kids, but you can't fucking read nor write...but they have a rack of kids...it amazed me that the parent said she sent her daughter to school each morning and she was shocked that her daughter had missed 11 days straight...you know what I thought...why isn't this woman whipping this girls ass...I cannot begin to tell you how far my foot would be implanted in my childs intestinal tract where it made known they were skipping for now reason...
And every failure that these kids have makes them want to immediately quit. They are born as quitters, they are raised by quitters, and surrounded by degradation and negativity so that they dont' even feel as if they can achieve anything! It is so sad! They have it instilled in them that 'the man' wants them all locked up or knocked up and to take their money...and I thought what money. If you can't read nor write what type of money are you seriously gonna make?
These kids do not see that without an education their really is no way out of the cylical hell from which they have derived...they dont' even forsee a better future for themselves because they don't even feel they deserve it...
One segment showed how the Maryland State Board of Education has decided to not count any of the at risk schools in Baltimore's HSA test scores until 2009 and as they sat in the room some kids took the test, while others decided not to...they know its not gonna count for a year, so they sign their names and take the F...its easier...I mean why should they try...I feel for the kids that are concerned about their education and are concerned for their future, but their learning is impeded by constant interruptions in class by the kids that just don't care...its not fair to them...
Then we fast forward to an event at the school involving the choir, and again only about 50 people in the audience...but Douglas is one of the best schools in the state for Basketball so please note the stands were packed for the Basketball game...they stands were packed for the battle of the bands in the football stadium, I mean afterall, this more important than math, english, science and history...this is entertainment!
Finally we come to graduation and as the principal stated its the most anxious time for students and parents...oh yeah, those parents that never show up for anything, but when they find out that their baby ain't graduationing then they show up with the sob story. The principal has advised each teacher that if they so choose then they can give the student a series of make up work in order for them to graduate...that made me sick to my stomach...because you chose to come to school and fuck off, because you chose to sit and be the class clown and believed that being dumb was cool and wore your ignorance as a badge of honor, then you ass deserves to repeat class....
The parents are pathetic...I dont' care what the excuse is, you should always want a better environment for your children...always...these parents couldn't take thirty minutes out of their day to come in for a conference with their child, but were quick to want to know why "my chile ain't graduating"...made me want to kick some of them in the teeth...for real...
I refuse to accept being a single parent as an excuse, because I know plenty of single parents who had made education a priority for their children...
My heart ached as I listened to this young woman, dressed as a boy, state that at the age of 11 her grandmother took custody of her, yet at 16 she felt she had been alone and on her own for the last 5 years...even with a grandmother she still had a disconnect...she came to school with a blackened eye that her UNCLE had given her over some money...her uncle! And although she said she held it down, the longing in her voice to want something better for herself, the wish to be living in a better situation with loving parents was paramount in her voice...
This documentary got me to thinking about my own blessings and the blessings that the children in my family are not even aware of and take for granted.
Every weekend I ride through Baltimore, but I was upset when I saw for the first time a homeless park where the homeless were living in downtown Baltimore and the saddest of all was that I saw a family of 5 sitting in front of their covered tarp "home" and I thought to myself - these kids got it hard...they were unfortunately given to parents that appear to not have planned for their coming into the world let alone their own long term plan for themselves...
How did the educational system in our communities, for our children get so out of control...at what generation did our community stop being a village and became this cold desolate every person for themselves environment...my heart goes out to these children who have these parents that just don't care.
As I thought about this show all night, I got up and wrote a letter to the local, state, and federal powers that be regarding 'no child left behind' bill and how it needs to be repealed...not sure what my one little letter will do, but I do know that something has to be done, because OUR children are suffering...
SassyScribe
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