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Literacy Not A Right For Detroit School Kids According To State

Satanica

Satanica

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http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/11...t-school-kids-says-state/#.WDNDAeWROFs.reddit
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) – Detroit school children have no fundamental right to literacy, according to Gov. Rick Snyder’s attorneys, in the midst of a suit claiming the poor reading skills of Detroit students at five schools, deplorable building conditions, and lack of basic classroom necessities are the fault of the state.

A California public interest law firm is representing seven Detroit public school students who believe the education they are getting is substandard and essentially want the courts to rule that literacy is a fundamental constitutional right reports WWJ legal analyst Charlie Langton.

The suit looks to establish that literacy is a U.S. constitutional right.

“Decades of State disinvestment in and deliberate indifference to Detroit schools have denied Plaintiff schoolchildren access to the most basic building block of education: literacy,” the suit claims at its start.
[....]
The lawsuit could face some challenges says Langton, adding that while there are some difficulties with Detroit public schools, the judge could say that the solution may be better addressed by the elected school board, or through the political process.

In January, a review of Detroit school buildings uncovered mold, water damage and rodents – this after teacher sick-outs in protest of working conditions within the deteriorating school buildings.

A 2011 report showed 47 percent of Detroiters were functionally illiterate— meaning nearly half of they were not able to fill out basic forms for getting a job or having a command over basic understanding for such things as reading a prescription bottle.
[....]
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That's just bullshit, literacy should be a fundamental right to those that can learn, I know some can't, but by and large most people can learn to read proficiently enough to fill out a job application, the fact that they think it is not a right only means they don't want to take responsibility for the deplorable conditions in the schools.
 
Education isn't written into the constitution. Supposedly, all the other rights guaranteed by the constitution make educational opportunities possible.
The problems in Detroit are much more complex than getting government to throw more money at it.
 
This is hilarious. Why have we not sold Michigan to Canada yet? What a cesspool.

And i think drinking water that doesn't kill you should be a bit higher priority than reading. People in that shithole state don't even have that basic necessity yet, should focus on one thing at a time and not just cuz they likely can't count any higher.
 
The entire American education system needs reworking. It's not just illiteracy that's a problem. Education levels are dropping across all subjects, there are 3rd world countries that are ranking higher than a good number of US states.

As for illiteracy, it's not just Detroit that has a problem. These are the American statistics for 2016:

- 32 million adults cannot read - 14% of the population
- 29% can't read higher than a 5th grade level
- 44% can only read at intermediate levels
- 13% are proficient at reading
- 70% of prison inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level
- 19% of high school graduates can't read above a 5th grade level (what?!!)

http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/
http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

- 2/3 children who cannot read proficiently by grade 4 end up in jail or on welfare
- 85% of juveniles that go through the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate
- Penal institution records show that if inmates are given help learning to read their chance of re offending drops to 16% vs the 70% re offender rate of those who don't receive help
- 43% of people who cannot read at a basic level live in poverty vs 4% of those who live in poverty but can read proficiently
- 3/4 who receive food stamps fall into below basic or basic reading skills
- 90% of welfare recipients are high school drop outs
- Low literacy rates are directly responsible for $73 million/year in healthcare costs
 
Megan1993 said:
Ugh..how can you be illiterate in this day and age? Its their own fault for not picking up a book and studying. Probably too busy gangbanging and bemoaning white privilege.

I mean japan spends less on education than we do and have higher literacy rates than this. So obviously money isn't an issue...if we're talking detroit probably more of a cultural issue. Oh but im going on obvious white privilege!
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Yes, you are. I never went to school hungry, or without a lunch. I never had to walk to school through neighborhoods plagued by the poverty of joblessness and fueled by drugs and theft. When I got to school, the heat worked in the winter. I didn't have to dodge pieces of falling plaster, or drips from a leaking roof or bad plumbing. The toilets flushed, no sewage ran down walls, no rats ran riot through the halls and cafeteria. My teachers never went on strike due to the physical condition of the school. We actually had more than enough books for every student in every subject. That was my white privilege, and I'm aware that was a privilege not afforded to others.
 
McDanel said:
We actually had more than enough books for every student in every subject. That was my white privilege, and I'm aware that was a privilege not afforded to others.
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Me too ... I learned to read in grade one ... Mr. Mugs and Pat and Jan helped. Thirty of us on the floor finger reading. Any one else remember that?
 
Megan1993 said:
You have no control over the station your born in no one has control over that but i tend to think people can and have risen above their circumstances to make something.
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Funny coming from someone who sat in shout whining that they couldn't get a better paying job. Me and @spiff said this exact same thing to you and you thought it didn't apply then...

It's hard to make something of yourself if you aren't given a fair chance at it. The Detroit kids that filed the law suit want to go to school, they aren't out gang banging. Yet the schooling choices available are sub par not only in learning but in physical conditions. No child in America should be sitting in a school that's falling down and infested with rats.
 
Megan1993 said:
Its racist saying that white people are inherantly privileged because they're white regardless of their individual circumstance. Well i guess asians must be privileged too because they managed to exceed all other people in country that has historically been racist too them. So if asians can do it theres no excuse as to why they cant do it.What if we applied group assumption to other races? Oh i know this isn't a group assumption half the "problems" they experience can be solved if they acted like rational human beings. Cops normally tend to patrol their neighborhoods more because they're more crime ridden. Instead maybe pulling a gun when their stopped and being fucking compliant they wont be shot. Or picking up a book and stop perpuating a culture that encourages them to fail. But its so much easier to be racist back and blame it on white people.
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I don't see a single place where @Sudonim blames white privilege or makes "racist" comments, as you call them. Where are you reading this?? Are you just hearing what you want to hear?

She is talking about how you blame everyone but yourself for your failure to launch (and you even have especially simple circumstances), yet now are claiming that it's so easy to rise above your circumstances. Which is it?

You have an odd obsession with the idea that minorities aren't oppressed whatsoever and I think you haven't been in the real world enough. It often seems that your views are based on what you see on the Internet instead, a place where the SJW's are quite prominent over the racists. Racism is ubiquitous in the real world and SJW's are ubiquitous on the internet.

Overall, people are less likely to hire minorities, rent to them, or date them. I thought that when I was an edgy teenager but grew up and have seen, first hand, how much harder they have it since. The silent racism is everywhere. Yes, the system is set up so anyone can rise above their circumstances, but it's infinitely harder when you aren't ever given a break. When you're young, white, and physically and mentally able, you have an infinitely easier opportunity to rise above your circumstances.

Either way, choose one. Is it easy to rise above your circumstances and change your life status, or are you a victim of where you were born?

TL/DR: If you don't think a young white kid with no developmental problems can better her status on her own, don't expect that someone who has possibly never been exposed to successful people can climb their way up on their own either. Kids aren't going to pick up literacy on their own.
 
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@spiff I'd awesome your post but I can't, so you get stuck with a like :hilarious:

@Megan1993 I didn't bring race into it at all. You did. I choose to ignore that and talk about people in a broad scope, regardless of color. Illiteracy isn't limited to colored people or slums...

You think you are disadvantaged. You have a low paying job which results in you still living at home and not being able to afford even basic things. You whine frequently about how you can't find a better job. If you can't find a job that allows you to support yourself..how do you expect someone who has even less education to better themselves?

You cannot lift yourself up if every school in your area is a health trap with sub par courses. It's not like a child gets the choice of what elementary or high school they attend. Most are designated by the area you live in, and even if you do have a choice...you're stuck with the options available, which all happen to be shitty in Detroit. I for one, wouldn't want to be stuck sending my kid to a school that is in such bad shape that the teachers don't want to work there.

Race aside, read the conditions of the 5 schools being sued and tell me that you think you'd be doing any better at these schools.
The state of Michigan is being sued over the poor reading skills of Detroit students at five schools, deplorable building conditions, and lack of basic classroom necessities.

[..]

The lawsuit says the schools are in “slum-like conditions” and “functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy.” The case, filed Tuesday in federal court, directly accuses Gov. Rick Snyder, the state school board and others of violating the civil rights of low-income students.

In this suit, it’s claimed that Michigan students are required by law to attend school, but those assigned to some buildings in Detroit walk into classrooms that don’t even put up a pretense of education.

[..]

“This abject failure makes it nearly impossible for young people to attain the level of literacy necessary to function—much less thrive—in higher education, the workforce, and the activities of democratic citizenship,” the suit says, adding, “The abysmal conditions and appalling outcomes in Plaintiffs’ schools are unprecedented.”

[..]

The suit claims it’s not possible for kids to succeed in schools that lack even textbooks and basic supplies.

“Plaintiffs’ schools have failed them at every stage of the educational system,” the suit says. It also claims:

  • In third grade at Hamilton, only 4.2 percent of students scored proficient or above on the State of Michigan’s 2015-16 English assessment test, compared with 46.0% of third-grade students statewide.
  • In practice, this means that many students have a vocabulary of only a couple hundred words. Some students cannot even sound out letters.
  • Last year, the only books in the third-grade classroom at Hamilton were picture books, until the teacher purchased others with her own money more than halfway through the year.
  • Likewise, at Experiencia, only 9.5% of third-grade students scored proficient in English, as compared to 46.0% of third-graders statewide.
  • A number of second and third graders were still working on handwriting and sounding out the letters of the alphabet.
In additional to educational difficulties, the buildings in which students are expected to learn are inadequate, the suit says.

  • Mice, cockroaches, and other vermin regularly inhabit Plaintiffs’ classrooms, and the first thing some teachers do each morning is attempt to clean up rodent feces before their students arrive.
  • Hallways and classrooms smell of dead vermin and black mold;
  • The drinking water in some of the schools is hot, contaminated and undrinkable.
  • Bathrooms are filthy and unkempt; sinks do not work; toilet stalls lack doors and toilet paper.
  • In some classrooms, ceiling tiles and plaster regularly fall during class time.
  • In one elementary school, the playground slide has jagged edges, causing students to tear their clothing and gash their skin, and students frequently find bullets, used condoms, sex toys, and dead vermin around the playground equipment.
  • In another school, fires have broken out in hallways and the school lacks the capacity to notify students and teachers and even lacks regulation fire safety equipment.
  • In the same school, the swimming pool has been unusable for over six years, sitting empty except for broken tiles, filth, and dead rodents.
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http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/09...etroit-schools-groundbreaking-lawsuit-claims/
 
McDanel said:
Here's what I know about my privilege: If I and 2 black chicks apply for the same job, I've got the job.
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Really? Here in Chicago, The more qualified of the 2 black women would get the job for being a double minority.
[doublepost=1480123302,1480123230][/doublepost]
McDanel said:
Here's what I know about my privilege: If I and 2 black chicks apply for the same job, I've got the job.
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Really? Here in Chicago, The more qualified of the 2 black women would get the job for being a double minority.
 
Megan1993 said:
I for one refuse to believe that black people are being supressed by white people. They're only supressing themselves by the shitty culture they choose to sustain.
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Was race even a part of this story until you brought it up? Who cares who currently is the driving force behind these problems? The important thing is they need to be fixed.

Crime and scumbaggery doesn't cause schools to breakdown like this. These are institutional failures and the blame lies solely at the feet of the gov't that has failed miserably to do its job. Some asswipe parents/students choosing to deal drugs on the street and poison their neighborhoods doesn't cause a school to fail to provide proper textbooks for kids.
 
Buffettgirl said:
I did. At two. And after proving it in court, I was the first child in my hometown under five with my own library card.
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So your parents cared enough about reading to take you to the library quite frequently and cared enough get you a library card, but they don't care enough about reading to read books to you to teach you to read?

Right.

And how did you guys manage to not go to school?
 
Megan1993 said:
White privilege is inherently a racist concept to begin with assuming that one group is sucessful merely on the basis of skin color is racist in itself. It offensive to other minorities if we make good or bad assumptions of their own culture as whole based on the basis on their skin tone. I'm sick to death of the narrative. it offends me naturally when people say im privileged because im white. Its a scape goat instead facing the realities of their situation they trick main stream idiots into thinking its all systematic oppression whereas ive seen the opposite. Ive been beaten by thugs then called racist by the same. Ive seen them gone scot free. Ive seen an opposite to be honest with it. I live a reality where it has been different whether you choose to believe it or not i can hardly give damn. Its not your world from an idealistic ivory tower its mine that i grew up and i saw.White privilege is racist idealogy that i would love to see stamped at every turn. Its inherently racist and offensive. I can't give a damn about their whiney demands...im poor but i learned to read on my damn own.
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None of us control the conditions into which were are born and raised. Poor is poor, no matter what race you are. But there are a few privileges that us white folk regularly enjoy that you might not even think twice about:

  1. I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
  2. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
  3. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
  4. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

http://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
 
I too was reading before first grade, it came easily to me. None the less, I graduated with people who could scarcely read at all. Picking up reading on your own is not average, it's exceptional. I've learned to not expect other folks to find things that easy. Chemistry was easy, as was history, geology, biology, anthropology, because I have a gift.
 
McDanel said:
I too was reading before first grade, it came easily to me. None the less, I graduated with people who could scarcely read at all. Picking up reading on your own is not average, it's exceptional. I've learned to not expect other folks to find things that easy. Chemistry was easy, as was history, geology, biology, anthropology, because I have a gift.
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I think when people say "they taught themselves to read" it just means that they didn't have someone sit down and explain the alphabet to them and spell it out. They looked at words while someone read to them and made the correlation. That's how you initially teach kids to read when they're young.

People here are admitting that the families read to them, yet claiming they did learned it all themselves, no help whatsoever. No, that's your family's accomplishment (lack of neglect, anyway), not yours.

My mother always claimed I taught myself to read, but she (or my brother, or father) would read me a book before bed. Absolutely not the same as being "self-taught". If you don't have that from anyone at all, you won't learn to read as a child. Then, most kids go to school around 3 and then teachers really start to teach you the finer details. Maybe as an adult you can self-study if you make it that far while being illiterate, but that's hard as all hell and very uncommon.

People really do undervalue the advantages they have around here.
 
Buffettgirl said:
@LarzlovesJahi - serious question; would it bother you to called/considered a credit to your race/gender/orientation? I'm not trying to start anything. It seems/has always seemed a compliment to me... ;)
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The point is that as a white person, when I accomplish something, no one ever thinks to call me a credit to my race.

Here's my personal example of white privilege...in my neighborhood, no one ever says, hey Larz, what's up with those other white people down the street? The ones with the cars on blocks, who never seem to mow their lawn? You can keep up your yard--what's their problem?

Also know that I especially understand white privilege because I didn't always have it. Lots of stupid little things (like constantly having the mailbox bashed in by a baseball bat) stopped happening when I moved out of the podunk Pennsylvania town where everyone knew I was from the half-Puerto Rican family...and I can also speak to the gross disparity of education that my Newyorican cousins received in the Bronx compared to what I got in that podunk town.
 
McDanel said:
Here's what I know about my privilege: If I and 2 black chicks apply for the same job, I've got the job.
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I disagree. Where I'm from, If either of the African American women can speak professionally and are qualified, they are at an advantage. There are laws ensuring that minorities are hired, therefore a professional well spoken and qualified African-American is going to stand out from the rest; where as I'd just be your garden variety white dude no matter how well spoken I might be. On the flip side, if I'm not well spoken- I'm looked at like gutter trash rather than a victim of poor circumstance.

LarzlovesJahi said:
The point is that as a white person, when I accomplish something, no one ever thinks to call me a credit to my race.
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I love it when a following comment basically proves the point I'm making.
[doublepost=1481077466,1481077181][/doublepost]People don't even want to admit that there are double standards that now negatively affect white people... it's pathetic. I don't feel oppressed, I don't feel unfortunate to be white... I feel unfortunate to be poor! These are all poverty issues yet people want to make them race issues knowing it divides people.
[doublepost=1481077774][/doublepost]Barack Obama became president. Being black did not hold him back and I am DAMN sure he was not poor before being elected. When you're poor, you aren't able to brush shoulders with the difference makers to put yourself in the position he finds himself in. If he was poor, no way in hell he would be president today.

Rich people are heard regardless of race. Charles Barkley is heard! Michael Jordan has no problem being heard...

So I think it's safe to say that being poor would have held Obama back a lot more than being black ever did... you can't even argue with that sentiment.
 
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