Thread: Diverse students need diverse teachers

If you want to see the real results of amnesty and illegals, just look at our school system. And they wonder why we have a high rate of teen pregnancy, gang members, prison inmates, crime, meth labs, drugs, social program fraud and abuse, unemployment, single mothers with numerous kids all with different last names, baby droppers-shakers-starvers, student failures and dropouts, closed emergency rooms, overcrowded schools, and a host of other issues. But since we are a sanctuary city, this is our standard. Then there are the writers of articles who call these illiterates- DIVERSE. What a laugh!
______________________________________________

Diverse students need diverse teachers
By Jerrold H. Jensen
02/16/08 00:00:00

Every year, the Fresno Unified School District sends nearly 3,500 high school students out its doors without diplomas. It had 7,297 freshmen in the fall of 2002 but awarded only 3,735 diplomas in the spring of 2006. That is a 49% dropout rate. The raw numbers are publicly available on the Department of Education Web site.

Comparing their freshmen enrollments with actual graduates four years later, the dropout rates were: Mclane High 63%, Fresno High 58%, Roosevelt 56%, Sunnyside 55%, Edison 49%, Hoover 48%, Duncan Poly 29% and Bullard 21%. Some students did move to various alternative schools to graduate. The statewide rate was 33%.

Unfortunately, education insiders seem to be mired in a debate over the definition of the term "dropout." Most outsiders suggest the answer to the problem is two-parent families with a stay-at-home mom to check the homework. It is way too late for that solution.

Smaller schools, diverse teachers

Perhaps Fresno Unified should consider two unconventional approaches. First, increase diversity in the teaching ranks. Second, consider splitting off the high schools into a separate district that can provide relentless focus on keeping kids in school.

Does race matter in teaching? I don't know. But every one of us can probably identify teachers who were role models for us -- the odds are they looked and sounded a lot like us, too. No doubt many teachers can inspire the children of immigrants, but perhaps we don't have enough of them. Perhaps what we really need are more teachers who were, themselves, children of immigrants, who can relate to and motivate the kids we are losing.

Consider for a moment the enormous demographic shift taking place in Fresno Unified. Taking two snapshots in time, 1996 and 2006, the racial makeup of Fresno Unified's first-grade class has gone from 46% to 64% Hispanic, 20% to 13% white, 13% to 11% African American and 20% to 11% Asian. By comparison, their teachers are 69% white, 19% Hispanic, 6% Asian and 4% African American. It would be hard to find any public or private organization in our state with a similar ethnic mismatch between employees and its customers.

There are enormous differences in the success rates of different racial groups, and it is reasonable to ask if Fresno Unified will soon resemble Los Angeles Unified School District, which has a 59% dropout rate. More than 66% of their Hispanic male students and 61% of black male students don't even return for the senior year. Los Angeles Unified has almost 12% of all the students in the state and is perhaps the most colossal failure of a public institution we'll ever see. If Fresno Unified cannot improve the retention of Hispanic and black students, its overall dropout rate will inevitably move toward 60%.

Civic leaders also need to ask if Fresno Unified, the fourth largest district in the state, is simply unmanageable with 77,000 students. There are dozens of cities where the high schools are set up in a separate district. Along with their calculated 2006 dropout rates, they include: Merced 21%, Modesto 32%, Kern (Bakersfield) 31%, Tulare 26%, Hanford 30%, Oxnard 35% and Fullerton 41%, among others.

A separate Fresno High School District of about 23,000 high school students would acutely feel the loss of more than $10,000 in state funding for every single dropout. There would likely be relentless focus on keeping kids in school.

More dropouts, more crime

As Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer recently noted, there is a direct correlation between high school dropouts and crime. With their high schools already labeled as dropout factories, it is fair for surrounding communities to ask Fresno if their school system has simply become an incubator of uneducated young people ripe for criminal activity throughout the Valley.

Furthermore, with enrollment plummeting, Fresno Unified is a textbook example of suburban flight, as families leave for school districts that work. Losing these parents who care probably saps the will to fix the system from within. Their first-grade class in 2001 had 6,876 students, but by the time they reached the sixth grade in 2006, more than 750 kids had left for other districts, with white students leading the parade to the exits.

Our kids throughout the Valley, especially in Fresno, need to find ways to diplomas that lead to decent jobs. We cannot expect teachers, who often work in difficult classroom environments, to do the job we once expected of parents. Perhaps it is time to look outside the conventional education box for ethnic and structural solutions to the problem.
Jerrold H. Jensen of Visalia is a retired regional sales manager, who served on the Visalia Unified School District’s bond oversight committee.

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/valley ... 01663.html

That is truly sad, but a clear indication of what is to become of a nation who abandons it people.

Originally Posted by AF

If you want to see the real results of amnesty and illegals, just look at our school system. And they wonder why we have a high rate of teen pregnancy, gang members, prison inmates, crime, meth labs, drugs, social program fraud and abuse, unemployment, single mothers with numerous kids all with different last names, baby droppers-shakers-starvers, student failures and dropouts, closed emergency rooms, overcrowded schools, and a host of other issues. But since we are a sanctuary city, this is our standard. Then there are the writers of articles who call these illiterates- DIVERSE. What a laugh!

______________________________________________

Diverse students need diverse teachers

Does race matter in teaching? I don't know. But every one of us can probably identify teachers who were role models for us -- the odds are they looked and sounded a lot like us, too.

When I was six years old I felt I had about as much in common with my sixty year old bespectacled white teacher as I did a mummy. Yet, somehow, I managed to learn to add and subtract. The obstacles to learning reside mostly outside the schools---within homes and the larger culture, although we continue perpetuating the charade that more money and "better" teachers are the panacea. It's called taking the path of least resistance.

Does race matter in teaching? I don't know. But every one of us can probably identify teachers who were role models for us -- the odds are they looked and sounded a lot like us, too. No doubt many teachers can inspire the children of immigrants, but perhaps we don't have enough of them. Perhaps what we really need are more teachers who were, themselves, children of immigrants, who can relate to and motivate the kids we are losing.

I know here you might as well forget becomming a teacher if you are white. You could be brilliant and you are not wanted. Your "diverse" color and culture is more important than your ability to teach or motivate your students. Color is more important than "cultural" differences here.

I have had meaningful and influential teachers all through school. I didn't "relate" or not relate based on color or culture. I do have to admit I had 2 teachers with pleasing accents that kept me listening during pretty boring classes but they were not American, from different cultures, but dog gone it.....they were white. Sorry....they wouldn't be wanted here either. A couple of my daughters favorite teachers were black. Color wasn't why she paid attention either. They were good teachers.

I got my best influence on being a strong woman from MALE teachers. If you want to learn you will find something to relate to. Some of my worst teachers were white as well.....supposidly the exact thing I would need to "relate and learn" with this mode of logic. They fit the bill but nothing I would aspire to be....they were a prime example of what not to be.


My daughter also had a black teacher who catered only to black male students in her class. Just shows "racial" diversity doesn't guarentee all students needs are met either. Her black female students didn't get motivated to learn or see her as someone they wanted to emulate....in fact some black parents wanted their girls removed from her class she was so biased.

I thought equality and fairness was based on skills and not on "race" and culture.

I chose math and science for my career despite it not being "role-modeled" for me as a female. In fact, it made me more certain that it was high time more women got involved. Who knows - if all my science teachers were female I might have thought I could choose to break new ground elsewhere. My mother chose to be a lawyer because she liked it - turns out that now more than half of law students are female. This trend has occurred in many fields once the opportunities were there. We didn't need other women to tell us it was the right thing to do. Ridiculous! This article is like the one where we had hispanic protesters in Santa Clara county because there weren't enough hispanic school principals. What the heck does that have to do with the price of oranges in China? Most of those principals were on track long before the hispanics became such a vocal presence. Let the people who do their job well do it well. This affirmative action BS is REALLY getting on my nerves.

I am white. The best teacher I had was a black woman. She taught us English. I learned soooooooooo much in her class. With my musical instrument lessons, I learned more from a black man in 2 years than I did from a white man in 7 years. Race had absolutely nothing to do with inspiring me. These teachers made me work hard, and I learned.

Originally Posted by sofedup

I chose math and science for my career despite it not being "role-modeled" for me as a female. In fact, it made me more certain that it was high time more women got involved. Who knows - if all my science teachers were female I might have thought I could choose to break new ground elsewhere. My mother chose to be a lawyer because she liked it - turns out that now more than half of law students are female. This trend has occurred in many fields once the opportunities were there. We didn't need other women to tell us it was the right thing to do. Ridiculous! This article is like the one where we had hispanic protesters in Santa Clara county because there weren't enough hispanic school principals. What the heck does that have to do with the price of oranges in China? Most of those principals were on track long before the hispanics became such a vocal presence. Let the people who do their job well do it well. This affirmative action BS is REALLY getting on my nerves.

I'm glad to hear this from you. Too many women abuse it to their advantage. My husband's workplace is afraid of women who leave their jobs to raise kids for 20 years and expect to come back and be treated as though they aren't 20 years behind everyone of suing them. 20 years in the computer business is a lifetime but they still expect a corner office ad a job they can't do. Affirmative action has to stop. The best person for the job.

As an American, I have difficulty listening to lectures from foreign born teachers, especially South Asians. Race has nothing to do with educational motivation.

Last year when the Dallas Independent School District of Dallas, TX, said that Hispanic children need HISPANIC teachers, my Brazilian friend, a long-time elementary school teacher, objected VIGOROUSLY to this. She said that children need teachers of ALL racial and ethnic backgrounds, othewise children will NEVER learn to respect those of races and cultures OTHER than their OWN! Talk about DIVERSITY, she said, there is NOTHING diverse about THIS at ALL!

My immigrant x-wife secured employment as a school teacher in Minneapolis at a school called Passport Pals with false academic credentials. She claimed to hold a degree in Psychology and Vetrinary medicine. However, she lost her job when the media invesitgated. They showed up at her job site to investigate teachers with fraudulent academic credentials. My x-wife even purjured herself under oath about her academic credentials during a cross examination, but recanted when challenged.

The children she taught liked her, but I would be upset if I was a parent who paid for tution to find out a teacher at the school had fraudulent academic credentials.