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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (391930)	6/17/2008 10:31:16 PM
From: steve harris	Respond to of 1577889

Better quality competition...

To: i-node who wrote (391930)	6/17/2008 10:52:00 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 1577889

More Dumb Teachers DEBRA J. SAUNDERS Sunday, June 16, 1996 ``WE CAN HAVE well- educated children or ignorant teachers. We cannot have both,'' Washington Post columnist William Raspberry wrote 13 years ago. Raspberry, an African American, was railing against minority educators who charged that teacher competency tests were racist because more minorities than whites flunked the tests. Today minority teaching organizations are pushing for more ignorant teachers in California, using the same lame ``racist'' charge. This week plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit returned before federal Judge William H. Orrick in an attempt to torpedo the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST), which ensures that new teachers have attained 10th-grade proficiency in math, reading and writing. The suit seeks to gut CBEST and, because the test has caused so much trauma, award monetary damages to would-be educators who flunked the test. How much do the plaintiffs want to be recompensed for the trauma of not being automatically accepted into the profession? Their attorney, John Affeldt, told Education Week that he hasn't come up with a specific amount but ``you can be sure it's quite substantial.'' (If they win, you can be sure minority parents' anger will be quite substantial as well.) Educators have a name for the ignorant teacher: Dale. Dale is the ``nonsexist'' name for a profile character dreamed up by California educrats who sought to define the borderline teacher. Dale scored ``well below average'' on his/her SATs, received Bs and Cs in college, but an occasional A in an education course, can ``read the daily newspaper but only comprehends and retains superficial knowledge,'' and makes mistakes in grade books and grammatical errors in letters to parents. In a nutshell, the plaintiffs have been arguing that half of Dales should be allowed to pass CBEST and become educators because it's better to admit an iffy teacher than flunk an iffy teacher. The state, however, contends that no Dale should be passed. As Atlanta attorney Lawrence Ashe, who is representing California, argued, ``I challenge anybody to say that a child they care about should be educated by Dale.'' And I challenge anyone to prove that Dales are being prevented from becoming teachers because of CBEST. The test, after all, only demands 10th-grade proficiency. Here's a sample math question: ``Amy drinks 1 1/2 cups of milk three times a day. At this rate, how many cups of milk will she drink in one week?'' And the testee gets to choose among multiple-choice answers. Horribly, only 35 percent of African Americans pass CBEST the first time they take it; the figure for whites is 80 percent, 51 percent for Latinos and 59 percent for Asians. The inequity in these scores is a complete outrage that demands action. The action it demands, however, isn't saddling kids with nitwit teachers. The action it demands is increasing academics in minority schools so that blacks, Latinos and Asians acquire the skills they need. Consider this fact presented by defense expert Joan Haworth: 75 percent of white CBEST test-takers had taken Algebra II or higher math. For blacks that figure is an injurious 5 percent, for Mexican Americans it is 6.8 percent and for Asians it is 3.9 percent. Criminal. But not insurmountable. As Bill Honig, who was state schools chief when CBEST was implemented in 1983, said, ``Hey, people will change. They will come up to the standard.'' In fact, when you factor in all attempts to pass CBEST, 91 percent of whites, 74 percent of Asians, 71 percent of Hispanics and 55 percent of blacks pass the test. The inequity is far too great, but if you want the gap between white and color to grow even wider, pray that the plaintiffs win their case. Read Debra J. Saunders on The Gate at http://www/sfgate.com