Archive for the 'Education Gap' Category

Sep 03 2007

We Can’t Get No Educashion: A Critique of US Public Schools

Published by cyrano2 under American Nightmare, Plutocracy, American Delusion, Education Gap, Separate and Unequal, No Child Left Behind

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

bushwithkids

George W. Bush loves photo ops with black people, especially kids. Here he is in St. Louis promoting the discredited No Child Left Behind act. The slogan was stolen from the Children’s Defense Fund and to add insult to injury, the act is leaving every child behind.
(Photo and caption credited to Freedom Writer)

By Emily Spence

9/3/04

Part Two: Down in the Trenches, Anecdotal Evidence from the Classroom:

The first day that I substitute taught for the “T” * school district, it was in a special education school during the winter. I was elated to have been selected for a position on the day after I completed my paperwork!

All considered, I could barely wait to meet my class of eight and nine year olds who had severe dyslexia compounded by other problems, such as legal blindness, ADD and other afflictions.

Indeed, all was going fairly well with them except during rest hour before which I had placed the children on the floor around my chair. Suddenly, after settling them down, one of the boys abruptly arose from his blanket and stomped on the head of a smaller boy whose glasses then shattered while his face got all bloodied from the glass and the blows.

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Aug 26 2007

We Can’t Get No Educashion: A Critique of US Public Schools

Published by cyrano2 under False Consciousness, Intellectual Chains, Education Gap, Equality Myths, Collapsing Infrastructure

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

cannotread

By Emily Spence

8/26/07

Part One: The Overview

For years liberals have pointed out the huge gap between funding for military ventures and US public education. Indeed, a motto floating around for a decade or more sums it up well: “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”

While it’s a bit overstated, the saying gets the point across and no one can dispute that our federal government spends an inordinate sum for our armed forces, armaments and other military provisions while many needs back in the US get short shrift. Aside from New Orleans never being put back together right, there are the problems of the worn out US infrastructure, the low income housing deficit, the high rate of homelessness and the migration of jobs overseas such that one in seven is expected to disappear over the next ten years. At the same time, there exist many other serious problems needing an immediate infusion of cash and workers (for which returned US military troops could be employed) to provide national relief. Moreover, education is woefully under funded and could certainly use any help available for its improvement.

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