Give us some relief (but maybe not Tim Eyman) - Real Change News

ultrasimi.blogspot.com

I put an e-form into an e-bottle, tossed it into the e-Puget Sound, and it sank.

Have you all applied for money from the Seattle Relief Fund? I have, and have no idea what will come of it. I sent an electronic form into the electronic darkness. I dropped an electronic form down an electronic well, and I didn’t hear it hit the bottom. They say awards will be $1,000 to $3,000 for eligible applicants.

I’m an eligible applicant.  Why don’t I feel psyched to be getting at least $1,000? Could it be because it’s called the Seattle Relief Fund?

Speaking of my city, we just had an election. I don’t have much to say about it. Ever since that fake-umentary “Seattle Is Dying” was released, all you have to do to get elected to office is say “homelessness is bad” and that it’s all because houseless people don’t use the shelters we throw them at. What’s wrong with all these people not wanting to sleep inside overcrowded shelters on mats, six inches apart, during a pandemic? The nerve. The unmitigated recalcitrance.

Oh, and they’re all drug addicts, dontcha know. The movie with the scary horror music in the background proved it.

Meanwhile, in positive news, Tim Eyman — who owes the state millions in fines and attorney costs — has failed to pay two months’ worth of installments of his debt. He is likely to be assigned a trustee by the state and his property sold to pay off the debts.

Naturally, Tim Eyman sees himself as a victim. He thinks it isn’t fair that he was caught violating campaign laws and fined for it. The state was supposed to look the other way. He has an inflated sense of privilege. He could have just not violated the laws. But, somehow, that course of action doesn’t ever occur to some people.

Eyman’s debt won’t go away if he declares bankruptcy. The state won’t forgive the debt. Instead he’ll be charged interest on it until it’s all paid. So it would be to Eyman’s advantage to let the state confiscate his property so they can sell it off to relieve him of his debt.

In other news, the California public school mathematics wars are heating up again. I’ve made an attempt to figure this thing out before and my recollection is that I failed miserably.

Part of the problem is the commission that came up with California’s plan for the public school math curriculum seems to believe that children don’t have different degrees of math ability, so there is no reason to bother with advanced placement.

If, let’s say, your 4th grade kid is bored out of his gourd — as they say — in 4th grade arithmetic, you might think the simple solution would be to just give them a hall pass to go to a 5th grade arithmetic class, while the rest of the 4th graders stay put.

But this simple solution is not considered ideologically acceptable, because some social science consultant is telling the school system that there is no such thing as a student that outpaces their peers in mathematics.

It’s hard for me to take this sort of reasoning, because I was once that 4th grader. And getting out of that boring 4th grade class was one of the best things that could happen to me then.

Part of the argument that’s supposed to back up the consultant’s claims is that Black students don’t get half as much of the advanced placement that white and Asian students get. So that proves the practice of advanced placement is racist.

No. It proves just what it says, that Black students are disproportionately denied advanced placement. They’re probably not even told it’s an option at all. That’s where the racism is.

The problem is that schools don’t offer advanced placement to everyone and let all students try it. The problem is that schools set themselves up as gatekeepers, telling children what rate of learning is right for them, when they don’t know the children in their care that well.

Instead of denying advanced placement to everyone, they should be offering it and allowing it for everyone.

The problem isn’t that white kids get advanced placement. The problem is that Black students are not made aware of advanced placement and not allowed to decide for themselves if they want to try it, proving the practice is racist, over-controlling and colonialistic.

Dr. Wes is the Real Change Circulation Specialist, but, in addition to his skills with a spreadsheet, he writes this weekly column about whatever recent going-ons caught his attention. Dr. Wes has contributed to the paper since 1994. Curious about his process or have a response to one of his columns? Connect with him at drwes@realchangenews.org.

Read more of the Nov. 10-16, 2021 issue.

Adblock test (Why?)

"Give" - Google News
November 11, 2021 at 03:06AM
https://ift.tt/3C1T1MV

Give us some relief (but maybe not Tim Eyman) - Real Change News
"Give" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YqGX80
https://ift.tt/2YquBwx

Bagikan Berita Ini