News-Record.com

Mr. Roskelly states that there is considerable "anectodal evidence" to suggest that small schools will produce substanial benefits. Does he realize that the term "anecdotal" means based upon casual observations rather than systematic scientific investigation, and as such, doesn't coinstitute "evidence". A small school environment may be conducive to learning, but there are many other factors that come into play that need to be addressed in order to find success. Small schools are not a silver bullet.

"Until well-intentioned, influential people like Judge Manning come to grips with the underlying systemic poverty and racism that are so counterproductive to learning.." Here we go again with the institutional racism as the reason why so many minority students are failing to learn. That is just an easy excuse for why our public schools are doing a lousy job of educating.

No, Mr. Roskelly, we do have a significant problem in our public schools. Many of them are not being educated, fed and made to feel safe and secure. There is real evidence out there that we see every day that tells us that is not case, at all. Judge Manning may not have all of the answers on the solutions to the problem, but he is dead-on right that there are real problems, and our school administration and school board are not properly addressing them. I salute Judge Manning for placing a spotlight focus on these schools and demanding that school administrations make improvements now. The students in those schools are not being served.

ORR,
Micheal Roskelly is either:
-A Grimsley or NW parent with his head up his back side or:
-Blind or..
-Just plain ignorant.

He should tell the same story to the generations of kids that have left or are still in those several failing High Schools we have.

ORR & Truth,
Our friend Dan would say, "pull yourselves up by the bootstraps, and stop whining about failing schools", but I think the three of us know better.

The first sentence of this LTE is absurd! Of course, it IS better than "Stay the Course".....

We need a teacher summit whereby the teachers can voice their concerns and frame the problems, then we can all sit back and see how the board and the administration responds. If a HS teacher summit were held publicly, then there could be no retribution from the administration. That's my idea for today.

Have a great holiday!

Michael Roskelly is just plain wrong when he states:

"Until well-intentioned, influential people like Judge Manning come to grips with the underlying systemic poverty and racism that are so counterproductive to learning, the education of a great many of our students is going to be profoundly difficult."

Neither poverty nor racism are the primary causes of academic failure. Poor people are not inherently stupid, and there is failure in even wealthy districts without minority students.

I think Mr. Roskelley has chosen to ignore the most obvious causes:

1. Lack of parental involvement
2. Lack of fathers in the home
3. Lowering of standards
3. Junk courses being taught for diversity sake
4. Unions who demand mediocrity in teaching
5. Lack of discipline in schools (and at home)
6. Drugs and alcohol use by students
7. Poorly designed and irrelevant curriculum
8. Resources wasted on redundant administration

Each one of these is a greater cause of our schools failing than "racism" or "poverty" is. I realize it is fashionable to blame EVERY ill in society on "racism" and "povery" but to overemphasize those two reasons, while ignoring all the real problems, is doing a huge disservice to our children.

And it will only perpetuate the problem for eternity.

Regards,
Marty
Regards,
Marty

I wish Marty of the school board had similar views. We might get somewhere with this kind of truth.

Guilford County has some of the worst schools in the state which are in jeapordy of being closed by State level authorities and Terry Grier is getting "attaboys".

Bad is good. Poor Performance is good.

In the universe I used to live in Terry Grier would have been sent packing by now.

Hugh,

Seems your "old" universe was quite a bit more

enlightened since your "NEW" universe

includes supporting VERNON ROBINSON!

Laugh OUT LOUD!

N&R Resident Troll, Deamon Deacon is at it again.

Poor ole Hugh,
He just can't stand it when his support of Vernon Robinson is amplified! Could he possibly be embarrassed by "his" candidate? Could he possibly see the destructive influence "his" candidate has on the elective process?
Join us on the next thread where Hugh says, "DD the Troll....blah, blah, blah".

Deacon,

You are the textbook definition of a "blog troll."

Reread some of your silly posts. You sound like some kind of bizarre combination of Howard Dean, Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore. All you do on this board is bash the President and spout DNC propaganda.

The topic really never matters to you, you just feel the urge to work in a few slogans for the radical left. Lately, you manage to turn every one of your posts into a rant against Vernon Robinson. The subject can be anything, you just don't care. Mr. Robinson must be your boogeyman.

You may think you are "scorring points" and influencing people with your rants, but most of us just point at you and laugh.

When you finally get out of High School, you might have a more mature view of things.

Regards,
Marty

Or perhaps the big elephant in the room that nobody wants to mention is that there are actually differences in race when it comes to natural ability in all types of areas.

What races excel in math skills, leadership skills, organizational skills, science skills, manual dexterity, sports, musical talent, etc?

Is it mere coincidence that there are a lot of really bright IT folks coming out of India?

Is it mere coincidence that different races dominate different sports? From gymnastics to basketball to track and field to swimming, you'll find that one race generally is more competitive than another.

Is it mere coincidence that the continent of Africa is filled with 3rd world countries and Europe is filled with wealth?

Is it mere coincidence that the most diverse country in the world (the United States) rules the planet? Our diversity makes us stronger. It isn't something to be ashamed of or hide.

That isn't to say that each student should not receive an equal opportunity and expectation of success. They should. But how can we truly think our educational system will accomplish something that hasn't been accomplished through thousands of years of human history.

Man,

I can't believe I wasn't hung up by my eyelids for this post.