| Hank Chinaski |
01-21-2010 08:28 PM |
Re: You (all) lie!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch
(Post 413694)
Sometimes the parents choose private school for reasons other than educational quality. Mine did, but that was in an era when we tested and ranked students, not schools. In fact, my parents' generation had the crazy belief that stupidity was not a communicable disease, nor was it necessarily caused by exposure to a bad teacher. If I had a bad teacher and a bunch of short-bussers in my class, my parents still would have expected me to pick up a fucking book now and again, and do some math problems at night. In other words, even though my parents plunked down the modern equivalent of $11,000 a year for each of three kids, they did not believe they had engaged in a consumer transaction, the product of which was an educated child. Instead, they thought that tuition merely purchased a daily context of a particular, predictable type, and that it was on me, them, and genetics for me to meet whatever potential I had.
Times have changed. I doubt it was for the better. Now, people think of a public school education as something their tax dollars (ordinarily stated in terms of the last sale price of their residence) have "purchased." And now they talk to their kids' teachers like they talk to the gardener, always wanting to talk about that brown spot on the lawn, and why the past measures to correct it have failed.
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my city passed a "human rights ordinance saying it was illegal to do anything shitty to anyone based upon their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation." since the state had all of that besides orientation, the law really was about orientation.
a month later city council almost passed a law requiring all runners wear a reflective vest. the fat guy sponsoring the act talked about how "these people run in the streets..." it occurred to me that I was now part of the only "these people" that could still be attacked.
that how we rolled in the double 0's. now, in the 0-dimes, I guess we throw out massive generalization based upon how you talk to your teachers and extrapolate to the rest of the country. all cool. I'm about continuous improvement.
p.s. I'm hoping you take a moment and read my status elsewhere inan hour. |
