For those insisting that K-12 needs more money, do note that increasing funding tends not to actually go into the classroom but rather goes to unsustainable union benefits, a bloated administration, and whatever is left over is simply pissed away. This is a story of the latter:
Education Omaha Schools Spend $130,000 in Stimulus Money to Buy 8,000 ‘Social Justice’ Diversity Manuals  |
| Your taxpayer $$$ hard at work |
If I told you that your tax dollars (130,000 of them) went to buying a “diversity” manual that asserts the government and other institutions create advantages that “channel wealth and power to white people” and calls on educators to “take action for social justice,” what would you do? And if I told you that such a manual was required staff reading in Omaha, NE schools, what would you say?
Don’t believe me? Read on to learn about “The Cultural Proficiency Journey: Moving Beyond Ethical Barriers Toward Profound School Change.”
The book is a manifesto on cultural awareness. But what it calls for, some might say, is quite counter-cultural. The Omaha World-Herald details some of the work’s jaw-dropping statements.
For example, the book includes a quiz that determines a teacher’s cultural proficiency.
The litmus test in the book is admitting that only whites can be racist:
“Only those educators who acknowledge the existence of white privilege in America, that ‘white’ is a culture in America and that race ‘is a definer for social and economic status’ can reach proficiency,” the Herald notes. And those who don’t? They’re asked what they will do “to align yourself with the values expressed.”
Oh but it gets better worse. The authors also say we must reject the idea of being “color blind:”
The book says teachers must overcome irrational fear of homosexuality and reject the “color-blind” approach to teaching in which teachers treat all children the same. Instead, the group identity of students of color should be recognized and esteemed, the authors say.
The authors ask readers to reflect on several hypothetical cases, including that of a gay “teacher of the year” afraid to post family photos of his male partner for his school’s Family Day, an African-American parent upset by a sixth-grade Early-American Day because African-Americans were enslaved in those days, and a principal whose attempt to reach out to Muslim students backfires when he announces over the intercom that students should welcome Muslims though they “might believe in violence.”
The book was approved by the Omaha school board in April, which means 8,000 copies will be distributed to all staff members, even down to the janitors. And it was paid for using $130,000 in federal stimulus money.
“The book is sort of a combination of Freud meets Marx meets Barney meets Ben Stein in his role as the teacher in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Herald columnist Robert Nelson writes. ...
Along those same lines, via
Instapundit:
TORONTO SCHOOL BOARD:
Only White People Are Racist. “This is child abuse, it is hate speech, I strongly encourage any parent unfortunate enough to have a child in this filth ridden system to file a complaint with the Toronto Police Services Hate Crimes Unit and to launch a civil suit against the TDSB.” I think that’s a great idea. Flood the system with complaints — especially as they’re valid ones.
And from Jack McHugh over at The Michigan View:
Racial quotas for bad teachersOn Tuesday, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law a legislative package making it easier to fire ineffective teachers. The bills were opposed by almost all House and Senate Democrats. Yet one Democratic legislator implicitly acknowledged the need for reform by offering an amendment to prevent poor or minority students from being saddled with a disproportionate number of the ineffective teachers.
The sponsor of the amendment was Rep. David E. Rutledge of Ypsilanti. Ironically, he also voted "no" on final passage of this and the other bills in the teacher tenure reform package, inviting this question: Wouldn't it be better to just dismiss ineffective teachers rather than create an "affirmative action" program imposing their burden upon students equally on the basis of race and income?
MichiganVotes.org described the provision as follows:
Amendment offered by Rep. David E. Rutledge (D) on June 30, 2011, to require public school officials to "take all steps necessary to ensure that pupils who are members of historically underserved groups, such as African-American, Hispanic, Native American, or low-income pupils, are not assigned disproportionately to ineffective teachers."
Racial beancounting never ends, and never succeeds in adding anything of value to the equation ether. More from
Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross
