[Ohiogift] Bad Education

[Mary Collier]

An article a few days ago in USA Today reminds me of this issue, but from a differing perspective, and could be related.  As one who learned American History in the Jim Crow South, I can relate:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/10/slavery-and-history-states-threaten-funding-schools-teach-1619-project/4454195001/__;!!KGKeukY!jHoA4IjKAt4feRPtGfxy7aWNQ_PKEEs9CT93rn34FXmNGVZMeNvQ-1FcdW_zoX8I8p2o$ 
Mary Collier


-----Original Message-----
From: via Ohiogift <ohiogift at lists.osu.edu>
To: 'Will Fitzhugh' <fitzhugh at tcr.org>
Cc: 'Art Snyder via Ohiogift' <ohiogift at lists.osu.edu>
Sent: Fri, Feb 12, 2021 6:31 pm
Subject: Re: [Ohiogift] Bad Education

The author of this article is not someone whose views should be taken without further research.
He writes for the very conservative Discovery Institute, a group that believes in ID (Intelligent Design) which is a form of creationism.  And while the public schools in Philadelphia (and other major cities) are struggling, and the attempts to honor Black history might be a bit excessive, I am not sure that posting this on our Ohio Gift site was a good idea...
Respectfully,
Susan Marantz

-----------------------------------------From: "Will Fitzhugh via Ohiogift" 
To: "Art Snyder via Ohiogift"
Cc: 
Sent: Friday February 12 2021 8:33:28AM
Subject: [Ohiogift] Bad Education

By sixth grade, only 3 percent of students areproficient in math, and 9 percent are proficient in reading. Bygraduation, only 13 percent of Kelley students will have achievedbasic literacy.City Journal eye on the news
BadEducationIn a Philadelphia elementary school, teachers are putting a premiumon radicalism, not reading.
Christopher F. Rufo February 11, 2021
A Philadelphia elementary school recently forcedfifth-grade students to celebrate “black communism” and simulate aBlack Power rally in honor of political radical Angela Davis.According to whistleblower documents and a source within theschool, a fifth-grade teacher at the inner-city William D. KelleySchool designed a social studies curriculum to celebrate Davis, praising the “black communist” for her fightagainst “injustice and inequality.” As part of the lesson, theteacher asked students to “describe Davis’ early life,” reflect onher vision of social change, and “define communist”—presumably infavorable terms.At the conclusion of the unit, the teacher led the ten-and eleven-year-old students into the school auditorium to“simulate” a Black Power rally to “free Angela Davis”from prison, where she had once been held while awaiting trial oncharges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. The students marchedon the stage, holding signs that read “Black Power,” “Jail Trump,”“Free Angela,” and “Black Power Matters.” They chanted about Africaand ancestral power, then shouted “Free Angela! Free Angela!” asthey stood at the front of the stage.The William D. Kelley School has long been one of the mosttroubled in the district. The school’s student population is 94 percent black and 100 percent“economically disadvantaged.” Academically, it is one of theworst-performing schools in Pennsylvania. By sixth grade,only 3 percent of students are proficient in math, and 9 percentare proficient in reading. By graduation, only 13 percent of Kelleystudents will have achieved basic literacy.Despite this abysmal academic performance, teachers andadministrators at William Kelley have gradually abandoned traditional pedagogy in favor of politicalradicalism. Even the school’s newest public artworks illustratethis politicization. Administrators recently commissioned a mural of Davis and Huey P. Newton, whorepresent the Communist and Black Panther revolutionary movementsof the 1960s; both figures stood trial for various crimes,including the murder of a police officer.Unfortunately, the programs at William Kelley are noaberration. In recent years, the entire Philadelphiapublic school system has embraced the philosophy of“antiracism.” Last summer, the superintendent released an Antiracism Declaration promising to“[dismantle] systems of racial inequity” and circulated a memorecommending racially segregated training programs for white andblack educators. The local teachers’ union produced a video denouncing theUnited States as a “settler colony built on white supremacy andcapitalism” that has created a “system that lifts up whitepeople over everyone else.” The solution, according to the union,is to overthrow the “racist structure of capitalism,” provide“reparations for Black and Indigenous people,” and “uproot whitesupremacy and plant the seeds for a new world.”In practical terms, it is unclear how these “antiracist”programs will translate into academic outcomes. The gapbetween rhetoric and reality at schools such as William Kelley isalmost beyond comprehension: the vast majority of the ten- andeleven-year-olds marching for the utopia of “black communism” canbarely read and write. Rather than come to terms with thepedagogical failure of Philadelphia public schools, however,educators have shifted the blame to “systemic racism” and promisesof “revolution.”That students at schools such as William Kelley coulddepart virtually bereft of basic literacy is a tragedy forthem and a shame for the teachers and adults promising to“plant the seeds for a new world.” They have condemnedtheir students to join the ranks of the more than half of all adult Philadelphians whoare “functionally illiterate.”One teacher at William Kelley, who requested anonymity outof fear of reprisals, expressed deep pessimism about the future ofpublic education: “I’ve come to realize that no policyhurts African-Americans more than the public school system and theteachers’ union.” The teacher is right. In absolute terms, thenumbers are demoralizing. The School District of Philadelphia has18,000 employees and a $3.4 billion annual budget—and fails, year after year, to teach thebasics of “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” As it turns out,education is hard; political fantasy is a useful diversion.Christopher F. Rufo is a contributing editor of City Journal anddirector of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth &Poverty._______________________________________________
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