Detroit Skewel District

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Detroit School Leader Sends Wrong Message, Some Parents Say Friday, March 05, 2010 Print ShareThisAs if Detroit doesn't have enough problems these days, the president of the city's school board offered the shocking admission that he can't pen a coherent sentence. Otis Mathis, who oversees the academic future of 90,000 public school students, told the Detroit News that he's a "horrible writer" after reports surfaced that he sent a Feb. 29 e-mail to the financial manager of Detroit Public Schools that was rife with spelling, punctuation and usage errors. "If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason's he gave for closing school to many empty seats," the e-mail read, according to the paper. Mathis, 56, of Detroit, has had difficulties with language as early as fourth grade, when he was placed in special education classes. His college degree was also held up for more than a decade due to repeatedly failing English proficiency exams required for graduation from Wayne State University, the paper reported. Some parents are now questioning whether Mathis is fit for his role. "It's kind of scary to even talk about," Patrick Martin, 49, a Detroit contractor whose 12-year-old son is a student at Noble Middle School, told the paper. "If this is the leader, what does it say about the followers? It explains a lot about why there's so much confusion and infighting with the board and Robert Bobb." Mathis has also worked as a substitute teacher in Detroit schools, which are ranked among the lowest-achieving metropolitan public school districts in the country. But he told the paper his story is about someone who has managed his limitations. "Instead of telling them that they can't write and won't be anything, I show that cannot stop you," Mathis told the paper. "If Detroit Public Schools can allow kids to dream, with whatever weakness they have, that's something. ... It's not about what you don't have. It's what you can do."

"If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason's he gave for closing school to many empty seats,"

Glad all that federal money is working out so well for the school system.

Maybe he was really good at football?

Yup. If you can't read or write, you can still go on to teach public school in Detroit.

Statistically, Detroit students would have scored better on recent tests if they would have totally picked the answers at random.

Dr. Hess wrote: Yup. If you can't read or write, you can still go on to teach public school in Detroit.

I don't want to send this thread down the "flounder hole" but its not just Detroit.

Math, science and reading beyond Dick and Jane are almost taboo anymore. Try this: Start a conversation about Newtonian Physics, Electricity/Magnetism or just Algebra at the barbershop or diner...

I went to Detroit skoolz my hole live. I dont no wat you guys are tawkin about. I kan devide a 8 ball of krack fastern anybody.

And here I thought this was going to be about the pipe bomb set off in a grade school this week. It's hard to not make disparaging remarks about a city that so many call home and love, but damn that place is berkeleyed.

It's not even funny anymore. The standard level kids at my public school are ridiculous. The school puts big posters up on the walls when we have homeroom. The posters have a list or ranges of last names. For example : Stu - Swa: go to Room XXX. There are about 100 of these room assignments, on the poster in alphabetical order. Nobody can figure out what room they go to, they have to ask teachers to read it for them. They have no idea how alphabetical order works. This is the top International Baccalaureate school in the country, and one of the best in the world, too.

I teach 8-12 high school.

For the first month of class I stand at the door and students must show me a pen, some paper, and a binder to get into class. Usually 3-8 kids bring nothing.

After the first month, I ask skill-testing questions:

"Name a country that starts with the letter B"

"Boston"

"No, that's a city."

"British Columbia"

"No, that's a province"

"Buick"

"No, that's a car manufacturer"

"Blue"

"No that's a colour"

"Boston"

"No, that's already been said"

"Portugal"

"That doesn't start with a B"

I think the educational system is less about what's best for the kids, and more about what looks politically good for the school/district/ministry. Nobody fails elementary school any more, and there's a huge push that nobody should fail at all. Personally, I think some kids need the wake-up call of failure.

SkinnyG wrote: Personally, I think some kids need the wake-up call of failure.

OMGawd, plus eleventybillion to the third power!!!!!

In a society where it's all feel good, birds, flowers and a whole bunch of other pretty E36M3, people forgot that life is rough and we need to prepare our kids for it.

Having teenagers, it seems that many kids just simply don't want to learn anything. Sometimes it may be due to laziness, other times it just may not be "cool". Unfortunately, it takes the commitment of parents and/or teachers to push them through it so they can see the value...and there just aren't that many adults who give a berkeley about education themselves.

You can shove a kid in the shower & turn the water on when they refuse to bathe(BTDT), but I've yet to find a way to make them remember what they read/write/hear when their attitude is in the way.

petegossett wrote: You can shove a kid in the shower & turn the water on when they refuse to bathe(BTDT), but I've yet to find a way to make them remember what they read/write/hear when their attitude is in the way.

when i was berkeleying up in my clean-cut suburban elementary school, maybe 12 years old and thought that my one pube made me pretty bad-ass, my dad took me for a drive through the E36 M3tiest wino/junkie/whore ghetto in washington DC, and told me to get out of the car. "i'm going to park around the corner," he said. then he did a huge burnout to get everyone's attention and took off down the street.

he picked me up after making me wait for about 30 minutes on a Friday evening in front of what had to have been the most frequently robbed liquor store in DC.

on the ride home, he said he was thinking of buying the house across the street from the liquor store and asked if i'd like to live there.

"Because that's where you wind up when you berkeley up in school!"

i got the message.

petegossett wrote: Unfortunately, it takes the commitment of parents...

Yeah, but in regards to Detroit, it's difficult to have the commitment of one parent-the only parent. Add to that the clusterbomb that is Detroit Schools, and you'll see why this particular district is much worse than almost any other in the US.

AngryCorvair wrote: when i was berkeleying up in my clean-cut suburban elementary school, maybe 12 years old and thought that my one pube made me pretty bad-ass, my dad took me for a drive through the E36 M3tiest wino/junkie/whore ghetto in washington DC, and told me to get out of the car. "i'm going to park around the corner," he said. then he did a huge burnout to get everyone's attention and took off down the street. he picked me up after making me wait for about 30 minutes on a Friday evening in front of what had to have been the most frequently robbed liquor store in DC. on the ride home, he said he was thinking of buying the house across the street from the liquor store and asked if i'd like to live there. "Because that's where you wind up when you berkeley up in school!" i got the message.

If you did that today (to a white kid) in the neighborhood I grew up in, there's a real possibility he wouldn't make it 30 minutes. Seriously. I could see myself doing that to one of my kids in a few years, but not kicking them out of the car.
Sometimes you gotta scare the E36M3 outta them. So, you did your pops excercise work out?

True, it makes it more difficult when there is only one parent, but that still isn't an excuse for not caring. My wife was a single mother of 3 for nearly 8-years. It wasn't easy, but having grown up with a mother who would often leave her & her siblings(ages 5, 7 & 8) alone for days while out on drunken binges, my wife understood and made the sacrifices she needed to be a good parent.

My point is there needs to be someone in a child's life who gives a damn about them, and all too often there isn't.

What he's really showing is that if enough kids go to that kind of school and none of them can read or write THEN, and only then, can you go far.

DrBoost wrote: So, you did your pops excercise work out?

so far, so good. i was never in the National Honor Society or on the Dean's List, but i completed my BSME and have been working in my chosen field (automotive product development) since 1993. i hope my kids are not as lazy as i was.

years later, dad told me he just drove around the block and had me in his view the whole time.

AngryCorvair wrote: years later, dad told me he just drove around the block and had me in his view the whole time.

I never doubted that for a second.

I guess unlike a lot of people... it does not bother me that the school board's president has trouble in reading and writing. If you look at what he did.. he went to remedial classes, it took him TEN years to get a college degree...

that is not laziness, that is a learning disability that he tried very hard to overcome. It anything, people should look up to him.

I do agree that kids do not seem to be learning... we can blame a lot of things.. but it all starts at home.. EVERYONE's home. Even my home, even though I do not have kids of my own

Some random tidbits:
US has the 1st ranked colleges and universities in the world. Our high schools are ranked 18th. Also, how many here took calculus in highschool? How many thought they were doing real good (I know I did)? The United States is the only first world country where Calculus is considered impressive at a high school level.

Education = joke. When college athletic coaches get paid more than educators there is a problem.

I taught a required intro class for 3 years, the students ranged from underwater basket weaving majors to future doctors. They couldn't figure out how many cents were in a dollar, or how negative gas prices were just not possible. Now I manage a group of soon-to-be-graduating seniors in my department. (Comp Sci/Electrical Engineering.) Let me tell you, they aren't any better. This problem isn't just related to certain states/schools, this problem is across the country.

College is 4+ years of fun, games and partying, at the end of which you get a piece of paper. With the standards as they are you really have to try very hard not to get a piece of paper that says you are educated in some field. NCLB ruined primary education, students come into college with this great big sense of entitlement. They expect As, give a C and they bitch you out because they never got Cs. If they carry enough clout that C will become an A. Fail too many students and you are on the next bus outta here.

Parents play an equally big role, most parents are too busy to care what Billy and Jane are doing. My parents knew exactly how I was doing whether it was high school or college. I am shocked at how many students simply don't tell their parents how they are doing, parents just write the checks semester after semester. In the end being "smart" in this culture is a bad thing, we put great emphasis on the playboy/jock lifestyle.

mtn: don't for a moment take those ranking at face value as they do not factor in variances within degree programs. Some of your so called lower tier schools actually have the top ranked programs in certain degrees/programs.

DrBoost wrote: If you did that today (to a white kid) in the neighborhood I grew up in, there's a real possibility he wouldn't make it 30 minutes.

No, if you did that to a kid today you would a) get sued by the kid and b) child services would take your ass away. Its the pussification of society, most parents have little control of their kids.

My father had me expelled from school, when I came home he promptly threw my ass out for getting expelled from school. My father quit paying for high school when I was being a royal bitch. My parents took me to the local jail and told me "Here is where you'll end up if you don't get your act together." My teachers beat the ever living crap out of us when we misbehaved, when we went home our parents beat the ever living crap out of us for pissing off our teachers. I grew up respecting my teachers and my elders, sadly the same cannot be said for the future generation.

autoxrs wrote: mtn: don't for a moment take those ranking at face value as they do not factor in variances within degree programs. Some of your so called lower tier schools actually have the top ranked programs in certain degrees/programs.

I know it. I'm at a tier III school that happens to have the number 3 education, one of the top 5 of actuarial science, and we also have the highest percentage of accounting students passing the CPA on the first try. And yet we're still tier III.

SkinnyG wrote: After the first month, I ask skill-testing questions: "Name a country that starts with the letter B"

I had to think of that for a couple of minutes before I came up with Botsawana. Not many countries out there that start with the letter 'B'

If you don't keep them stoopid, how else are you going to perpetuate the "gimme state?"