Education Quote of the Day
[Guest post by DRJ]
The President of the Detroit Public School Board is a self-described “horrible writer” but he considers that a plus rather than a minus:
“[Otis] 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.”
I applaud his willingness to overcome a failed education but that’s no excuse for poor writing. Wouldn’t it be great if he could set an example by continuing to learn, even as an adult?
— DRJ
Nah, you don’t want to build self-esteem and self-worth based on actual accomplishments. That would only stigmatize the other kids who haven’t accomplished anything. Get with the program, DRJ.
John Hitchcock (8f46db) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:06 pmNo no no, let me guess: his campaign for school board was almost entirely funded by the teachers’ union, and he has voted with their interests 100% of the time that he has served on the board.
JVW (fd30ab) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:06 pmEven if your education sucks, you can still succeed — by getting a government sinecure!
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:22 pmLook what it’s done for Pete Stark.
AD - RtR/OS! (abf357) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:29 pmIt will be interesting to see how Dave Bing reacts to stuff like this.
daleyrocks (5710d7) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:31 pmread it all and fing weep….
“He graduated from Southwestern High School in 1973 with what he says was a 1.8 grade-point average but was previously reported as a .98 average. After serving in the Navy, Wayne State placed him in a special program to help academically unqualified students move forward, on the G.I. Bill. He stayed at Wayne for 15 years, as a student and a counselor, becoming a virtual “prisoner of Wayne,” as he jokes, unable to graduate.
Mathis and another student unsuccessfully challenged the use of an English proficiency test as a requirement for graduation. In 1992, when the case went to trial, the lawsuit gained national attention. Mathis said then his failure to pass the test “made me feel stupid.” The requirement was eventually dropped in 2007, and Mathis applied to get his degree the next year, after his election.”
and the kicker, if you’re not already beyond disgust: “Mathis, who can be a persuasive public speaker, retired from Wayne in 1995. He’s served as a substitute teacher in Detroit schools, run a nonprofit and served on the Wayne County Commission.”
he retired as an employee of the school before he FING GRADUATED from it???
you’re sh1ting me, right?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:39 pmIf we look closely will we find that he moon-lighted at GM?
AD - RtR/OS! (abf357) — 3/5/2010 @ 9:53 pmfrom their decision making process, he might have been on the Board of Directors, but my first guess is that he has been Ear Leader’s role model for decades, even more so than Reverend Racist. talk about failing your way to the top!
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/5/2010 @ 10:33 pm“You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.” — Homer Simpson
Icy Texan (8ce5cc) — 3/6/2010 @ 3:55 amFifteen years of repeated failures to pass the English Proficiency Test, but then he finally succeeded by means of a lawsuit.
This is the moment that Mathis learned how to govern in these modern United States. Don’t hire a tutor. Hire a lawyer.
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 3/6/2010 @ 6:09 amRetard.
He puts pen to paper and removes all
doubt.
[note: released from moderation. –Stashiu]
Jack (e383ed) — 3/6/2010 @ 7:31 amIs this the guy who coined the phrase “doing homework is acting white?”
FatBaldnSassy (cc3778) — 3/6/2010 @ 7:50 amAfter reading this, I no longer think “Detoilet” is an insulting expression.
TimesDisliker (d7c1f7) — 3/6/2010 @ 8:36 amThere are some inspiring pieces to the man’s story…. but it seems to have been made the model rather than the exception.
Something must be wrong with the man beyond dyslexia. 15 years to pass English is either a very serious mental problem, or laziness. I’ll bet I could take a random non English speaking person from the depths of the Amazon jungle and teach them to pass that dumbed down 10th grade English test in less than five years… and my English skills are horrible. I’d have to learn a lesson to teach it.
SteveG (11baba) — 3/6/2010 @ 8:38 amThe way most people overcome adversity is by the hard work of mastering basic skills like writing.
The fact that he sent these emails indicates to me that he is not fully aware of his problem and makes me wonder whether he really thinks his schools have a problem.
He holds himself out as an example. Is that the kind of example we want for these kids – someone who can’t communicate and seems to not think that it matters?
Amphipolis (17a9b7) — 3/6/2010 @ 9:16 amLet me see if I have this right. This dolt uses the fact that he is president of the worst public school system in the nation to claim that he has overcome his limitations?
What a heady mix of ignorance, incompetence, and delusion.
CtheP (f0d2d8) — 3/6/2010 @ 9:21 amAnd I should add to my #15 above, the worst part is this idiot is shamelessly passing on his own “limitations,” to use his term, to the victims of the school district over which he presides.
Sickening.
CtheP (f0d2d8) — 3/6/2010 @ 9:26 amNo excuses: one can always use spelling/grammar check on Outlook to make corrections before sending out an email. Same with any documents in Word. Due to the ascendancy of technology, it’s become much easier to be lacking in grammatical skills. Why, at the least, didn’t he run it through? Obviously he is aware of his problem in this area, so is just lazy, or does he assume his colleagues in the district are just as bereft?
This dolt uses the fact that he is president of the worst public school system in the nation to claim that he has overcome his limitations?
The school board that approved the placing of this dolt in the head seat is really ultimately responsible. It speaks more about them, I think… and the citizens in that district that voted that school board in….
Dana (1e5ad4) — 3/6/2010 @ 10:05 amHe very edumucated I think. You all racists you bad people you should shamed of youselfs.
Dmac (ca1d8c) — 3/6/2010 @ 10:14 amHe’s been promoted way past the limit of
Jack (e383ed) — 3/6/2010 @ 10:17 amhis own incompetency.
point of order: he sued to over turn the test requirement, and lost. he got his diploma only after the school eliminated the test requirement in 2007.
as i said above, he RETIRED as an employee of the school years before he finally graduated from it.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/6/2010 @ 10:34 amMike Adams over at Townhall had a column a couple of weeks ago about a course at UNC-Wilmington in the English Department on Black English. I guess there’s a lot of overcoming difficulties going around.
RAAAAACISTS!!!!!!!!
daleyrocks (5710d7) — 3/6/2010 @ 10:45 amwhich are ranked among the lowest-achieving metropolitan public school districts in the country.
That is a reflection of public-school employees throughout America in general, particularly teachers, not being paid enough. Uh-huh, that’s the answer.
We must raise taxes, we must pay educators more, far more…for the sake of our children, for the sake of our humanity, for the sake of our nation’s future!!
Mark (411533) — 3/6/2010 @ 11:00 amIn the course of my job, I have to deal with City of Los Angeles employees that are functionally illiterate. These are people with college degrees, on a career track. Yet they do not distinguish between “they’re”, “there” and “their”. When they submit something that is unusable and requires dramatic editing, they are offended when this is pointed out to them.
Common responses include, “well, you know what I meant” and “that is nitpicking.” This has become commonplace, and I believe it has hit a “Whatever!” tipping point.
TimesDisliker (d7c1f7) — 3/6/2010 @ 11:02 amJust when we were wondering who would be the fitting successor to Barack Obama, given competency standards that he has established for the presidency.
Federal Dog (2282a0) — 3/6/2010 @ 11:27 amI would imagine he’s politically connected. And a professional racial grievance monger. The recipe for success in today’s academia.
Patricia (e1047e) — 3/6/2010 @ 11:47 amI work with chefs who have dyslexia and other problems, they have me translate their horrid English into proper communications. They are the ones who are working within and with their limitations – they are excellent chefs. They aren’t, say, writers, administrators or school board presidents.
I totally don’t get how someone spends 15 years failing a test. Is there information about any tutoring he might have received? Additional classes?
Choosing substitute teaching and school boards with his KNOWN inability to master his primary language is a great big bowl of hubris. I’m amazed he was able to choke it down.
Vivian Louise (643333) — 3/6/2010 @ 12:22 pm“Just when we were wondering who would be the fitting successor to Barack Obama, given competency standards that he has established for the presidency.”
Uh? I thought he was Dan Quayle’s lost son (or maybe Dubya’s, they have comparable skills)
Triumph (b66fe4) — 3/6/2010 @ 2:34 pmTriumph, open your mouth wider when you speak.
John Hitchcock (80001c) — 3/6/2010 @ 2:39 pmIt seems a lack of standards and competence are key to the ObamaNation™ :
“For those of you who worry about the professional standards at the Justice Department, given the numerous bad decisions made over the past year in cases ranging from the dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case to the witch hunt against John Yoo and Jay Bybee, not to fear — the Civil Rights Division has a plan to improve the competence of its lawyers.
Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, has organized a new “Professional Development Committee.” It is organizing a training class for staff that will teach them “ways to work easily with others and create a more pleasant working environment.” Given the transfer of the former chief of the Voting Section to South Carolina under circumstances that raised concerns that the decision was made because of the chief’s opposition to the dismissal of the Black Panther case, Perez has arguably already created a “more pleasant working environment” for the left-wing activists in the division.
Apparently, the committee is also considering “additional courses in grammar and proofreading, writing, and how to use Westlaw” to conduct research. There is no explanation of why the “elite” lawyers at Justice are in need of basic grammar, proofreading, and Westlaw courses. Given the number of legal and factual errors committed by the Office of Professional Responsibility in the report on Yoo and Bybee, perhaps OPR’s lawyers should also be included in the Civil Rights Division’s efforts. However, what is needed is more in the nature of remedial legal education on topics like consistently applying the correct legal standard of review, the basic due process that must be provided to targets of an investigation, how to keep one’s moral and political bias out of an investigation, and the ethical requirement of not leaking details of a confidential law enforcement investigation to the press.”
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTMwMTY2ZmJiMjI5NzI0MTAyYjE5MDMyNzMxYWNlYWM=
GeneralMalaise (04e9c2) — 3/6/2010 @ 2:53 pmHelps to remember where Mr Mathis lives. He’s probably in the top 5% of literate Detroiters.
glenn (757adc) — 3/6/2010 @ 2:58 pmHow sad that is, if true.
DRJ (daa62a) — 3/6/2010 @ 3:52 pmIt might be helpful if this post and comment thread could be sent in a folder to Mayor Bing for his perusal and comment?
AD - RtR/OS! (9dbe33) — 3/6/2010 @ 3:54 pmTriumph, open your mouth wider when you speak.
I don’t think he can, it’s too firmly connected to his backside.
Dmac (ca1d8c) — 3/6/2010 @ 5:49 pm“Just when we were wondering who would be the fitting successor to Barack Obama, given competency standards that he has established for the presidency.”
I figured he’d be on the short list for Supreme Court Justice.
daleyrocks (5710d7) — 3/6/2010 @ 9:16 pm