News-Record.com

What a sad day it is when the news can only report our school system does "pretty well" and "pretty good".

What's that equivalent to?--a "C" or "C+"??

I don't care how our system compares to "neighboring urban districts in the state". "Pretty good" doesn't cut it with me.

Maybe my standards are set too high? Maybe I'm expecting too much of this school system? That just might be so, but my mamma always said to be the best that you can be, and I'm trying to instill that same sense of ambition into my kids. It's too bad that their system keeps knocking them down.

It truly is sad that the only good news in Guilford County is news that is dug up from previous years, or when we're compared to other mediocre systems.

Yee HaW! My kids are stuck in a system that has a "pretty good" teacher turnover rate..compared to the past and surrounding areas mind you... Now that's something to brag about.

What next, a celebration for the kids in ISS? Let's actually honor them for NOT getting OSS! Yea, that's it, let's just twist any news into "pretty good" news. Or how about a little luncheon for our board members cuz their doing a slam-bang up "pretty good" job. No, wait, I know, a big full page article with color pictures about how no one has been raped in any high school auditorium lately.. Yea, now THAT would make this system sound REALLY good.

..Not to attack the messenger, I know the postive reports are slim pickin's, Bruce. I know where the blame falls. It ain't you. I'm just sick and tired- NO make that REALLY PRETTY sick and tired of no REAL "pretty good" news.

Guilford County is ONLY marginally better than the rest of the state. Guilford County treats their teachers like CRAP so it looks like the rest of the state is just as bad. Then they wonder why they can't attract teachers from other states. No one from outta state is going to work for a system that wants your blood and at the same time expects you to put up with violence and disrespect!!! They don't pay enough for such abuse!!!

Now being slightly better than the rest of the state is something to be proud of!!!
Been there got out!!!!

Don't forget that in Guilford County Schools 60% is not failing. There are NO zeros allowed by some. 60% is "pretty good".

Oh Candy boy, you're pretty much right about that. And you're pretty smart. Don't you have any special candy for the pretty good doctor? He deserves a pretty good treat.

Bruce,

There was some interesting things that I noticed in your story. Terry Grier said one key to keeping teacher turnover rate low is to include teachers in important decisions. He also said that the district is doing this by appointing teachers to committees and hiring teacher-friendly principals. Excuse me, but is this the best that he can do? Does Grier really think that having teachers on committees and hiring principals that are supposed to include teachers in on decisions really fills the bill here? I suspect that if you asked most teachers, and they were willing to be candid with you and not lose their jobs, they would tell you that doesn't do much to make them feel that they have influence or autonomy. Certainly, automony isn't the keyword of the day this year in many schools where the central office has inserted itself.

According to one expert at the National Education Association, teacher turnover arises from two sources; attrition, when teachers leave the profession, and migration, when a teacher leaves one school and goes to teach at another. In order to adequately analyze the issues at GCS, you would need to get a breakdown on the turnover rate which would be attributed to attrition and to migration, and the reason cited within each category. It could be most revealing to see how many teachers in that turnover rater actually moved to another school because of dissatisfaction with GCS.

The NEA expert reported that teachers who leave the classroom or move to another school cite job dissatisfaction with their work as a primary reason for leaving, which includes low salaries, poor administrative support, student discipline problems, and a lack of faculty influence and autonomy. I suspect that being on committees and having good principals doesn't do much to address these problems. But I would bet that poor administrative support and student discipline problems have a lot to do with it, especially at certain "tough" schools (which shall go unnamed here).

You made the comment that teacher pay didn't appear to have much to do with turnover rates because of the low turnover in rural schools, where the pay is the lowest. I would submit to you that teachers in rural areas may not quit or move as they have less job dissatisfaction, because they don't have to deal with the poor administrative support and discipline problems that teachers in GCS have to deal with. Perhaps, the pay in those areas is sufficient to meet their personal needs in lower-cost locations, and there is more psychic reward there as they actually get to teach. Also, it might well be that in rural areas, good jobs are harder to find, and being a teacher is a pretty good job and beats some of the work alternatives that might exist. In many of those smaller communities, a teacher still carries a lot of respect in the community of being a professional. Perhaps, many leave here even with higher pay in GCS because "there ain't enough money" for many of them to put up with the grief here in good ole Guilford caused by poor discipline in the classroom, Terry Grier, his central office minions and the school board.

Whether a 11.81% teacher turnover rate is good or bad depends largely upon an analysis of the reasons that caused the turnover. Reporting that Terry Grier says that they are addressing it by putting teachers on committees doesn't hold much weight with me. Let's get the facts, lay them out, and let's see what the turnover rate in GCS is really all about. Let's do a qualitative analysis, it'll tell us a lot more than the raw numbers.

Bruce,

It's nice to be able to see the County-wide numbers but some of us in High Point that are treated differently than the rest of the county would like to see the numbers broken down by cities. Can you tell us the turnover rates from only Central, Andrews and Southwest?

That's a good point, Stormy. I do believe teachers in many rural areas are more satisfied with their jobs than they are in urban/suburban districts. And that's not just true in GCS; Chapel Hill-Carrboro, the best-paying district in the state, has had a high teacher turnover rate for years.

As far as teacher satisfaction goes, GCS teachers aren't as happy with their jobs as their peers across North Carolina, according to a 2004 state report.

From a July, 2004, story we wrote about that report: "Guilford teachers particularly expressed concerns with the amount of time and decision-making authority they have. But they also were less favorable than North Carolina teachers as a whole when asked about available resources, principal leadership and professional development."

Getting back to the rural districts, you'll find the lowest turnover rates in the mountain counties. (Actually, some of the rural districts down east have extremely high teacher turnover rates.) Most teachers in western N.C. are local, mountain-born products themselves; they feel deeply connected to their schools and communities because they grew up there and went to school there themselves. Plus, like you said, teachers still get a lot of respect in these communities.

Just goes to show that money isn't everything, I guess.

Sorry, JMO, these numbers weren't broken down school-by-school, just on the district level.

Bruce,

I suspect that Ms. Conyers could provide that detail by school upon a request. That would be covered by the Freedom of Information Act as it is should be public information. This information should not be private.

Bruce,

I suspect that Ms. Conyers could provide that detail by school upon a request. That would be covered by the Freedom of Information Act as it is should be public information. This information should not be private.

Stormy,

Can a regular citizen request this type of information? If so, how would I do it?

Until the HP Lottery goes away (or spreads to the whole county) I think I will start asking for a breakdown by city of all stats that come from GCS.

JMO,

Contact Sonya Conway at GCS. She's the public contact at GCS responsible for responding to public requests for information. You probably can find her email address on their website. You can submit your request by email, but you need ot be ver yspecific about what information that you want.

Sonya' email is:

conways@guilford.k.12.nc.us

I believe this is also found in the NC report cards--

"It just goes to show money isn't everything, I guess".

Bruce you are CORRECT. See title of Chapter 8 and excerpt from Fantasia's book. "It ain't about the bling."

She and many others feel it's about using your gifts that God gave you.

Look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It's about self-esteem.

Whether it is a call to teaching to help young children or a gift of writing. These are useful and meaningful gifts to have if used in the right way.

Writing the truth and in a way that people understand can be a powerful tool.

Teaching the future generation to be productive citizens, teaching them how to read so they can have better lives to be whatever they want, giving hope to some who seem to have a hopeless world and building self-esteem, teaching what is really important is a noble calling indeed.

If it were about the "bling", we wouldn't have teachers, fireman, policeman, every day heros.

Look at 911. All the high paid wall street brokers and lawyers were not the heros. It was the every day people.

NEWS FLASH:

High Point Central receives yet another "TRANSFER Student ATHLETE", this one with a Greensboro address.

How is this allowed to happen when the citizens that live in High Point do not have the "FREEDOM OF CHOICE" for their high schools????????

General,

I realize that correcting a General is out of order, but you are confused on the High Point "plan". ONLY Southwest High has the lottery. You are free to come and go from Central High and Andrews High.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news....Sir!

Bruce,

As you know, there was a scandal last year regarding Terry Grier's "outside activities". It is now documented that Terry Grier earns significant income performing "consulting" work outside of his responsibilities as school superintendent. He does all of this with the tacit approval of the school board, even though most of these activites occur during the school year and many on scheduled school days (paid-speaker at UVA conference this month, as an example).

Now, it has come to light that GCS has a new Chief-of-Staff named Eric Becoats. You can read his introduction at the attached GCS link: http://www.guilford.k12.nc.us/insider/your_turn.htm

Since this position appears to be the scond highest ranking position in the school district, I am sure that Mr. Becoats is another highly-paid employee in the central office. What makes this new appointment really interesting is that Mr. Becoats served in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District until recently as an assistant superintendent where he received a suspension and reprimand for using school material for personal gain and then lying about it to the public. Here's a short clip from the Charlotte Rhino about this:

"The problems continued in July, when CMS suspended Assistant Superintendent Eric Becoats for conducting private business while on the CMS time clock, using school material for personal gain – to the tune of about $4,000 – and lying about it to the public. Instead of coming clean with the public about the misdeeds, the board of education chose to stonewall. It wasn’t until their collective backs were against the wall that the school board revealed the punishment Becoats received amounted to a one-day suspension and that he was required to repay money that was never rightfully his to take in the first place.

The revelation produced an uproar in the community, which viewed the wrist-slap reprimand as an insult to accountability.

“That’s not just a hand slap for a senior executive,” school board member Larry Gauvreau said at the time. “It’s a complete whitewash by the whole administration. We’re betraying the public trust, again. There’s so many issues about trust and accountability with this administration, I don’t know where to begin.”

To make matters worse, a majority of the school board, led by former Chairperson Rembert, refused to even consider a proposal by Gauvreau directing the superintendent to conduct a review of top-level CMS administrators to determine if anyone else had been engaged in the same type of improper activity as Becoats."

My question is why are he hiring another individual with such a troubled background for a very high executive position in GCS? Does anyone at GCS actually do a background check on executive hires, and if they do, does anyone care that such an individual that took government property, and while “on-duty” sold government assets to others for personal gain? Is our school board totally asleep at the switch or are they knowingly allowing individuals with such scandal in their professional life to become employees? Where is the accountability of the BOE and why are they not concerned about betraying the public trust once again?

It would seem that our school district is like the hit parade...the hits keep on coming.

I wonder if Mr. Becoats went to Nova University.
If he did, that would explain alot!!!

Sadly, this does not shock me. The N&R did an article not too long ago on a local principal that was hired after paying students to take the SATs in another school district. Bruce, do you remember what principal it was and what the details were? Do they still work for GCS? My point is that if principals are hired with questionable backgrounds then it's not surprising that an upper level administrator with problems would be hired.

I think we need some investigation into this and I now just the right person!
HAHAHAHA!
We might get the buggers yet!

Here's a good link to background info on our new employee, mr beacoats .... notice he was a fan/expert on the Meck. Co "choice" fiasco

http://billjames.org/ListBuilder/listbuilder-email-05-17-2003-CMS%20investigating%20Becoats.htm

Also note his need for outside cash (just like Grier) ..... maybe he and Grier can network their "outside activity" connections!

Perhaps one explanation of turnover rate in Chapel Hill and Carrboro districts could be because many of the teachers hired are only there until a husband or wife finishes a degree, graduate degree or post graduate degree. Once completed they gone. They have gone to states where pay is better and taxes MUCH lower. Just a theory but I would be willing to wager a sheep skin that it is pretty close. OOOPS would that be like pretty good??

Someone needs to check to be sure Grier did NOT charge GCS for working on 2/5/2005 and 3/19/2005..... he was busy making $$$ from Nova those days. Will someone verify via the school board. Poor guy doesn't make enough from GCS. He needs outside work speaking at UVA for two days and teaching course EDL 8441 at Nova ... check out the link

http://edl.nova.edu/pdf/sched200530.pdf

Its like watching al-Jazeera TV with the News and record.

The N& R is the propaganda machine of the GCSB!!!

The GCSB moves on with its intent to transplant the Hicup Chop plan to the rest of the county.

NW wake up.Your time is near.
Its just a matter of time as my informants tell me.
Becoats and News and record spells Dudley kids swapped with NW kids!!!

It's a combination pattern of Dr. Z, the stat guy; Becoats being hired; and the News & Record HUGE article yesterday.

It is Jill Wilson saying they can get their demographics in other ways (when she was asked about race and the choice plan by Kris C at last board meeting). They can find all the county tax records for house values. Anyone can do this.

Follow the clues.

Interesting article today (10-10) about the Bill Gates Foundation funding local grants.

I have 2 gripes:

Gripe #1. Directly to the news-record. You print education-related articles but no way to comment on them. Get over your fear that someone may have an opinion other than yours and Griers, and allow comments or at least give it a thread on the Chalkboard.

Gripe #2: I didn't see Guilford County listed among the list of recipients of these Gates Foundation Grants.

Of course I'm not surprised. Just disgusted again at the school system that gets my tax dollars. I'm guessing that Guilford County did not apply for any of these wonderful grants because NONE of them had the word "diversity" in the titles. They are grants that are actually relevant to educating high school students. Something that is foreign to the Guilford County board of ed.

Well though, with Guilford County Schools it's hell if you do and hell if you don't. The last time they tried to fill out a Grant Application they couldn't even follow the directions for filling it out correctly. THAT they can't blame on any computer clitch. Who was eventually blamed for that?

Anyway, those are my complaints this Monday afternoon--along with the long-standing, usual one--Guilford County cannot educate its children.

Griper,

Sad but true, it's still morning. I can see it is going to be a LONG day.

Griper, feel free to leave any comments you may have about that particular story. Even though this thread isn't about the Gates Foundation grants, you and other posters still are welcome to leave any thoughts you may have.

Get you e-mails off to the board folks because their next meeting is tomorrow.
Some ideas are;
-Asking Dot(or reminding her) to support all of Guilford County not only Emerywood.
-Ask the board to continue looking for a solution for the forced bussing from N.High Point.
-WHat else?? Ideas?

Griper,

Like Bruce said, you can comment here on any article you see online or in the paper. Heck, we even get comments about stories in other papers.

Eventually, each story posted at the N&R Web site will be enabled to accept comments, like the Letters to the Editor are now. That part of our online process has not been completed yet and I'm not sure when it will be. Our tech folks are working on it.

Until then, we'll do what we can to post items here. But we can't put up every single education story on the Chalkboard; we just don't have the time.

Besides, last time we posted a bunch of stories in a row, readers accused us of trying to stifle conversation because items got bumped off the site. We only have so much space on the "front page" of the Chalkboard before stuff gets relegated to the archives.

Bruce and Jennifer,

Someone from Greensboro told me that he heard that a modified "choice plan" was being developed by the GCS administration to include all high schools in the county. It would be similar to the one in Wake County. You would be assigned to a "base school" - likely not your closest school and then you have a choice of 2 or 3 other schools. Students would be assigned based on space availability and the socioeconomic make-up of the school.

I heard that the reason Anita's proposed map is taking so long is because the administration wants to propose this modified choice plan first. I also heard that Marti Sykes is in favor of the new plan and would make the motion to approve it.

Have you heard anything like this?

Reminders to the board?

Scary topic:

Remind them they they are perched up on that long table to speak for the communities that they represent, not to show off their newest eye-shadow or to implement some long-hidden agenda from centuries past.

Remind them that SCHOOL BOARDS are in place to acertain that students get EDUCATED.

Remind them of their MISSION STATEMENT. Also ask that they check for grammatical errors in this statement.

Remind them that PARENTS, TEACHERS, and STUDENTS are the backbone of ANY school system. NOT superintendents, administrators NOR school boards members.

Remind DOT Kearns to TALK LESS AND LISTEN MORE.

Remind Susan Mendenhall that she represents District 2.

Remind Susan Mendenhall that MOST of District 2 want her to resign immediately.

Remind Walter Childs that he needs to speak up for Andrews High. Heck, just remind Walter that he IS allowed to speak.

Remind the ENTIRE board to get their fingers OUT of their ears when Dr. Nancy Routh speaks. She has a tiny voice that seldom gets heard and she has VOLUMES to offer.

Remind Dr. Routh that her idea to create Penn-Griffin into a 9-12 school is ingenious and she should not let this idea fall onto deaf ears again.

Remind Dr. Grier that he is getting paid BIG bucks. Supposedly he's an expert in his field, so why does he just sit and wait for the board to direct his every step? (So he says.) Why not offer solutions? Remind him to start with High Point, the biggest mess to date in the system.

Remind AMOS that he once advocated for neighborhood schools.

Remind Marti that what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Remind Anita that she's been doing a fantabulous job at representing her district and all other districts that get neglected.

Ditto that reminder for Darlene.

Remind Alan that he's up for re-election.

Remind Kris Cooke that she's been having trouble sleeping because of the kids in High Point. Let's hope she's not forgotten how distressed she felt at the last meeting. She needs to keep up the drama (whether it be real or contrived).

Did I foget anyone? If I did, just remind them to show up. If Dot's absent, it'll be the perfect time for someone to vote out the illegal High Point plan. To hell with waiting for Anita's maps. They will NEVER be Anita's maps. They are already getting fingered up.

Oh, and remind our good reporter, Bruce, to take his Pepcid AC. With the meetings now starting BEFRORE dinner, it could be upsetting to the digestive system.

Note to viewers from home. To make the meeing more fun, sometimes I mess with my color settings and watch the meeting in black and white--since that is the basic theme that runs thru every meeting anyway. Go on, try it!

Or, you can make a drinking game out of it. Every time Dot opens her mouth, you get to drink! You'll be drunk before the first break. Another thing that's fun is to count how many times board members ask for a clarification in basic board procedure. If that were a drinking game, someone could get hurt.

I'm just crossing my fingers that the board reps. will discuss education this meeting. I know it's a long shot, but I can hope.

Reminder,

Thanks for the reminder....

Cameras on buses but I haven't seen it on the agenda yet and bus safety in general.

I even e-mailed Grier some ideas of how to pay for it and where to start.

Still waiting for it to be on the agenda for discussion. (It didn't make it on the retreat agenda either) Some board members said they didn't get my email until after the retreat.

Still waiting...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Clarification: Was seriously referring to the first "Reminder" post but some of the second "Reminder" posts aren't bad either.

Interesting article on the front page of yesterday's paper. Now this guy, E. Becoat was hired to do what? Based on that article we all know why.

Integration by income!! Forget it folks; we will never see Anita's map. It is funny how they were able to compile the average cost of housing in all areas of GCS.

What gets me more about this article is how it was stated that children from lower income families can't afford to go to the museum, can't afford to have books in the house, but low and behold they all have premium cable and some have satellite TV. Hey here's an idea: cancel your cable and buy some books; hire a tutor to help your kid, and leave my income and housing value out of it!!!!

Bruce and Jennifer,

I have some questions about the big wealth=grades expose that appeared yesterday.

Who is Matt Williams and why is he reporting a story on education? I thought that you guys were the education reporters at the News-Record. I noticed that Jennifer was given credit for supporting the story, but it was Williams' byline. How did that happen?

How did Williams gather all of the demographics data on housing costs and wealth? I thought that you guys were limited about the investigation and data-gathering that you could do? He (or Jennifer) must have spent dozens of hours gathering and compiling all of this data.

What led to the timing of this story that it should be released right now, and with no suggestion that a story was coming? Usually, the News-Record gives a hint that a major story is coming that requires the in-depth investigation and data-gathering of stories such as this?

How did Matt Williams decide to write a story relating wealth/income = grades complied by every school in the district? What was his compelling motivation to follow a story along those lines? Did some suggest it to him?

Why hadn't you as education reporters mentioned th ehiring of Eric Becoats as Terry Grier's Chief-of-Staff? That position is a very high-ranking executive position in the administration. Did you not know that he had been hired? Did you not know about his ethics problems at CMS? I would have thought that GCS hiring a choice plan guru would have been a major story for you? Are you planning on interviewing him and finding out what his raison d'etre in Guilford might be?

Yesterday's N&R article on Education and Wealth was the most naive piece of hookum that I've read in a long time. It was almost like some socialist college intern reporter was hired to do a special for somebody with an agenda and filled it with such obvious callow doggrel. I specially liked where they interviewed Grier and he said maybe everyone should live together. But when Terry goes to buy a house for some strange reason he buys a house in Irving Park and doesn't buy on east Florida or east Lee. Dot Kearns lives in Emerywood not Macedonia. Socialism is always just a means to an end. It's just another way for political elites to maintain their power base, like dot Kearns turning last November's schoolboard election into a referendum on race and priviledge and not her education record.

Take the soviet union which was founded on "equality for all"-but the elites of the party ended up with the villas on the Black Sea. Socialism is always people saying one thing and doing another, which is why the soviet Union collapsed. All societies going back to the ancient Babylonians have always had rich people and poor people. Classes have ALWAYS segregated themselves from the beggining of time. Richer people have ALWAYS had more oppourtunity and better education because they could pay for it and they weren't as pre-occupied will basic survival needs. Not that this is right, IT JUST IS. When black doctors, lawyers, rap stars make it big, they don't go and live with poor black people, their kids don't go to the same schools. It just is. Now the N&R says that 5000 years of human experience can be set aside and at last the ACHIEVEMENT GAP can be closed thru the genius of Dot Kearns, alan duncan, terry grier and a brand new genius up from charlotte if only they could somehow force other people to somehow magically do something they won't do themselves. It' all b.s. and they know it, but they can milk it to retain power. It's just scary that they think people will buy this load of sh--.

terry grier and company will have lots to talk about and charge for (!) at educational elitist's conventions when they use our kids for experiments. A sound, basic education for all is too difficult and too boring....... who would pay to listen to logic! When referring to grier and the board, someone once said, "Don't get frusrtated. Logic plays NO role". Those were sage words by someone not in the system .... yet!

C. Boy,

Grier now lives at The Grandover. Is that near Florida street?

I got the feeling that the N&R article was suggesting a house-SWAP of some sort. Do you think Grier will be the first to set an example?

Stormy,

Matt Williams is our city hall reporter who also has done a lot of computer-assisted reporting. He's good at taking massive amounts of data, putting it together and seeing if there is a story there. Reporters aren't as territorial as you think. We're happy to share the load.

The wealth-correlating-to-achievement story is not a new one. There are reports and stories done on it all the time. However, I don't remember the last time - if ever - the N&R looked at that data here.

Matt had been thinking about doing a big project. I'm not sure how he came up with this one. Since it was on the education beat, he asked me and Bruce if we minded him taking this topic on. I didn't mind in the least. I knew Matt would do a good job with it.

The timing was based on how long it took to gather and analyze the data, interview people, take photos, put together the graphics, etc. And, Matt had to juggle his part while also covering his regular beat and preparing for this year's municipal elections.

Matt has been working on this for several months. And yes, we are limited on gathering data because of the time involved, but also getting access to some data is difficult. I would have to check with Matt to see where he got everything, but I believe the achievement data came from the Department of Public Instruction. I think the wealth data came from Census tract information.

As for Eric Becoats, I wrote back in May that he had been hired as the new chief of staff.

It is apparent that Grier, Dot and the rest want socialism. And as a friend put it, no one should have more than anyone else. Except them!!
Are they be beyond the rules? You bet! Would Grier or Dot trade places with someone from the projects? No but we are suppose to swallow this baloney!!!

Jennifer,

Obviously, your mention of the addition of Eric Becoats as chief-of-staff was missed my most on the CB. Would you please reteat what you said in May for those of us who either did not see it or understand the importance of that appointment (like his questionable ethical backgound and choice plan expertise). Also, it appears that he left CMS in 2003. Why did he leave CMS, and what has he bene doing since then for two years? How did GCS happen to be so lucky to snag him for a job that no one seems to know what he does?

The article in Sunday's paper was an eye-opener. Not for the idea that wealth=better grades, which is hackneyed, but that after a certain point, more wealth does NOT raise grade averages significantly if at all.

Hence, in Guilford County (and America at large), I maintain,as an educator at a private college, the swank are indeed lazy. Many are content with video games and beer. Or more intense ways of self-medicating and zoning out.

The lack of museums and books in the home, by the way, is likely not the barrier everyone claims: Stephen Levitt's brilliant book "Freakonomics" shows the correlation with grades is accompanied by sheer wealth, not attendance at extracurricular cultural activities nor large libaries in the home.

People with tons of wealth and prestige careers may push their kids, but if the parents themselves don't value THINKING and CREATING, kids will become lazy consumers, expecting what they feel entitled to. They may get their vaunted stuff in the end, simply because of connections, but not because they are adept at original thought and invention.

The middle- to upper-middle class still supplies many of the real doers in society. The less wealthy and outright poor are at a major disadvantage, I fear, because the parents are overburdened and undereducated themselves. It is hard to model intellectual curiosity in those circumstances.

.

freddy niche,

I've read your post several times, and for the life of me, I can't ascertain your point, other than that you have a disdain for people of wealth.

You make a great point, though, about parents of wealth needing to push their kids to learn and become educated. But, it seems to me that is true whether the parents are wealthy or poor. If a parent doesn't take interest in a child's education and create some expectatons for learning, then that child will likely not succeed in education or life.

I am familiar with many people who gained a good education and succeeded in life that came from poor families. The difference is that their parents emphasized the importance of getting a good education and created expectations that their children would succeed. A parent does not have to be wealthy or particularly highly-educated themselves to do those things, they only have to be a caring and concerned parent.

People with or without means can succeed in life, but they can't unless they get a good education and have the desire and drive to use that education in an effective and productive manner.

Seems like people write books about anything these days. So many opinions out there. I think many would disagree with Mr. Levitt's OPINION.

I can think of many people who might be considered wealthy (that's all relative) and are also very creative and independent in their thinking. That is why they are successful.

Stormy

Thanks for reading, anyhow.

Perhaps I was not entirely fair to the Uber-rich: they do give good parties. But I have to admit I have always been suspicious of the old "trickle down" philosophy.

MONEY in the family DOES make for MUCH higher odds (life is probablity) of getting ahead economically through better grades.

Sheer WEALTH DOES correlate with GENERALLY higher scores (these kids aren't as likely to be starving; their parents are often degreed, if not well-educated, thus providing a passive model, at least, of the importance of academics). This was bourne out in the News-Record data and backed up by other prominent thinkers. WEALTH alone is THE major factor in such success, WITHOUT counting the bells and whistles of "books in the home, museums visits, etc.", which so many editorialists seem to think are so key to academic success.

Stephen Levitt's work refutes these "extras" as being anything more than icing on the cake. SHOW ME THE MONEY, and the numbers for the population at large will ALWAYS favor the upper-middle and rich for academic success (in America, at least, since I haven't looked at other countries).

For example: The average number of books READ by adult Americans is less than 1 per year. This includes the vaunted rich. They may be too busy making money. (Books about making money aren't counted in this survey. I mean literature or philosophy---not self-help. The stuff you are supposed to have read in school. The stuff that builds brains and minds...some might say souls)

I don't really disdain the rich. I almost feel sorry for the effects too much means can have! I simply have seen enough unmotivated, entitled young people of the upper classes to have drawn an admittedly biased opinion. I couldn't care less how much money people make, if they are good people in general towards their fellow citizens.

I do think the cry for "neighborhood schools" is a lot easier if you can afford to buy into a pricey one. That keeps the riff-raff out of the schools, too, then. The majority of people in the upper classes got there with some significant aid: family/friends contact, the happenstance of birth, and societal bias, if not from outright monetary inheritance. So, where's our so-called meritocracy?

Many if not most scientists (not physicians) who are inventing and researching are paid okay, but not exorbitantly. many were not from the "privileged class", because the road was not easy.
If you are of the religious bent, it seems the best ministers have been from working backgrounds. And except recently, pur greatest artists have been from less-than-upper-crusty families.
there are always exceptions, of course.

All these sorts seem to have benefitted from education in ways other than monetary recompense and given back in ways that the Forbes and Rockefellers could only dream of (don't get me wrong, I am all for philanthropy, even if I sound misanthropist!). The most honest among those barons of business will admit as much.

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