Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Scott Armstrong: Eliminate Middle Schools?
Is the newly proposed idea by the just hired superintendent of the Allentown School District a brilliant idea or a sign of real concern? As an Allentown parent, I see it as a problem, a big problem. I would ask any doubters to stand outside Raub Middle School in the morning and ask themselves if, as parents, they would want to drop their elementary aged child off with these kids. I would ask them to go back at dismissal time to ask themselves if they would want their second grader intermixed with these urbanely sophisticated teenagers. I think the answer will be immediately obvious. The mere fact that K through 8th grade schools are under consideration is reason for real concern.
The new superintendent uses parochial schools as a model for his suggestion of the idea. This indicates to me that the poor soul is clueless as to the drastic differences in the make up of the student bodies of these two entirely different scholastic entities.
When one thinks they have seen it all in Allentown this sort of absurdity is presented as feasible in the news. Remember the police contract? One can only scratch his head and keep an eye on the exit. Clearly, the new superintendent is off to a very bad start with this idea.
51 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
"urbanely sophisticated teenagers", nice code for students of color there Mr. Beck.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteNo! What is code is your suggestion that any expressed concern by conservatives is racist. That is a vulgar slander, a tactic of intimidation, typical of the left. No surprise it was done anonymously.
Get some guts and sign your next insult.
Scott Armstrong
No Scott, your words are actually offensive and have definite racist implications. If you don't see it for yourself you need to re examine closely and question your prejudices. Its all fine and well to defend yourself against being accused of racism, and maybe you are a racist, maybe you aren't - but if you say racist things people are going to draw that conclusion, sorry.
ReplyDeleteCapri/Anon,
ReplyDeleteMore of the same ugly rhetoric and unfounded accusation from the left. Have you no shame? The answer is clear enough that you don’t.
Scott Armstrong
I have nothing to be ashamed of! You should be ashamed of stereotyping all 10-13 year olds in the ASD as problem children because they don't come with blue eyes and plaid jumpsuits.
ReplyDeleteCapri/Anon,
ReplyDeleteIt is no small thing to accuse someone of racism yet you have done so on the basis of my essay. You failed to note that I expressed concern regarding the mixing of elementary and middle school children in Allentown’s urban district. I did not express any concern however of sending one’s middle school aged children to Raub(which I have done with my two sons). Therefore I am not a racist, you/Capri are however a slanderer and that is no small thing.
Scott Armstrong
You describe these "city students" as being "urbanely sophisticated."
ReplyDeleteRather redundant, don't you think? Are you aware of what "urbane" means?
urbane - showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience; "his polished manner"; "maintained an urbane tone in his letters"
urban - # relating to or concerned with a city or densely populated area; "urban sociology"; "urban development"
# located in or characteristic of a city or city life; "urban property owners"; "urban affairs"; "urban manners"
So what are you saying, Scott? You decry 2nd graders being forced to attend a government-run school (I love Limbaugh's ability to politicize everything) where they are exposed to a student body which exhibits worldly knowledge and refinement and savoir-fair? - Or are you hinting that city teenagers are a rough, hardscrabble lot whose language and actions will corrupt those with whom they come in contact?
Had you said "urbanly sophisticated" ((which is what many readers are presuming) then, yes, your comment is, by any definition, bigoted.
And if you really did mean "urbanely sophisticated", then the logical underpinnings of your comment make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Now, accuse me of being an elitist because I value the intricacies of language.
My grandson, who incidentally is half black, will never go to an Allentown school. He goes to Catholic school, where the 8th graders do wear jumpsuits but are hardly blue-eyed. They come in all colors, especially at the parochial schools in A-town. Capri is doing some stereotyping of her own, but I guess that's ok.
ReplyDeleteScott's point is that parochial school 8th graders are nothing like the 8th graders in public school, and generally, they aren't. They are not "urbanely sophisticated" bc they have been grounded for years in morality, a goofy uniform, and mass at least once a week. The cool kids don't have to do that.
I have a nephew who teaches at an A-town middle school, and he tells horror stories having nothing to do with the race of these children. The sad fact is they are missing one or more parents, are often neglected and have never been exposed to morality. The Catholic school kids may be poorer after payig tuition, but generally, there are two parenmts and lots of moral guidance. The result is a more grounded 8th grader. And the 8th graders may even be more racially mixed than publi school bc many of A-town and Bethlehem's Latino population are fervent Catholics.
I know a judge who tells me kids in Catholic and public schoools are the same except that kids in public school are more likely to be involved in nasty fights. That has been his experience from the bench. His observation has nothing to do with race, and neither does Scott's statement. If I thought, for a moment, that his statement was intended as a racist slur, I would never have published it. It is intended to accentuate te difference between public and Catholic school 8th graders. Scott calls it urban sophistication. I call them ungrounded.
There are grounded 8th graders in public school, but it takes a lot more work from the family bc the kids get no exposure in school. When 1st graders are mixed in with some of these older kids, they are often victimized. it's only a few years ago that an A-town 1st grader was raped by a 13 year old at school.
I believe Capri is just looking for a reason to slam you, Scott.
" Or are you hinting that city teenagers are a rough, hardscrabble lot whose language and actions will corrupt those with whom they come in contact?
ReplyDeleteHad you said "urbanly sophisticated" ((which is what many readers are presuming) then, yes, your comment is, by any definition, bigoted."
After parsing his words, you note that one possible interpretation is that Scott meant that public school 8th graders tend to be a more "rough, hardscrabble" lot. Then you call him a bigot. Just what the hell is up with that?
Your languauge indicates you understand precisely what Scott intended to say, yet you choose to make a racial connotation that requires you to consult a dictionary. Give me a break. This is silly. The issue here is whether eliminating middle schoools is a good idea.
Anybody who wishes to call Scott a racist, and who refuses to identify himself or herself, will be deleted. If you ant to call him that ugly name, you owe him the courtesy of identifying yourself.
I am distressed by this perception I have that many Valley residents seem so fond of debating issues from partisan perspectives with no hope or perhaps even a desire for middle ground.
ReplyDeleteIf you do not "vote along to get along" in The Lehigh Valley you are branded regardless of the party or idealogue. You will be ostracized socially and economically. Perhaps we can soon expect random incidents of physical violence.
I hold no love for either party. I have seen the Democrats unnecessarily demonize the Republicans and am witnessing a "new breed" of Republican Luciferian leadership emerge that is just as reprehensible.
Now a new guy, this new superintendent, comes into town and all of a sudden his "fresh" ideas suck when no one has ever heard the theory or rationale behind them.
I wonder if Allentown really wants to wallow in it's decrepit poverty and spiraling economic decline. Maybe we all have become so accustomed to bathing in this s**t pile we have all created, we are afraid of leaving it.
Does anyone want to take some risks to try and redefine this city as a vibrant new community based metropolitan area that will not stand for continuation of the status quo.?
Don't ask city council though.
Talk about bigotry. They now think they can clean up the city by throwing out the drug addicts, alcoholics and drug dealers.
There goes about 25% of the population.
Oh, and get one parking ticket and pay it a day late and you are booted. And don't forget the fees generated by turning off water when the bills are a few days late as an economic crisis prevails. And I just love that brilliant cell phone idea.
Now is this what you call economic development?
What is Allentown's new slogan? I forgot for some reason.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteReaders here know full well what I mean by the term “urbanely sophisticated”. These poor kids have been around the block and exposed to much more than any kids their age should be. This has a very real effect on their attitudes and behavior. Therefore any parent would be wary of mixing their elementary kids with these older children.
Scott Armstrong
What did not get the headline is that there is another option on the table as well. In his public appearances Dr. Zahorchak stated that dividing the middle schools into smaller communities is also an option. Watching the board make this decision will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteConsidering what little education Allentown students get, how often school children are hurt in school, and how much money teachers cost; it might be better for students to stay home.
ReplyDeleteA parent/student strike might wake up the school system into fixing the issue, not consolidating students.
Folks,
ReplyDeleteConsidering 7th and 8th graders are having CHILDREN of their own, Armstrong sadly is right on the mark with his concerns.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"urbanely sophisticated teenagers", nice code for students of color there Mr. Beck.
12:34 AM
No it isn't. City children do grow up faster.
Is this proposal to save money on opening all the school buildings?
ReplyDeleteWhat is this director's reasoning?
If he envisions the children clustered in age and grade related groupings that could work but to have 8th graders mix with first graders sounds inappropriate.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading your blog in the past. Sometimes I'm even impressed. Most recently your wouldn't let the blog denizens tar a local developer for his alleged involvement in a lehigh County property transaction until you had spoken to the person in question. Good for you.
However today, you state as fact that 13yr old raped a first grader many years ago. Bernie, how is this a fact??? A case was filed in federal court and the plantiff's counsel painted the alleged offenses in the most lurid details possible. That was his job and we should expect no less.
What surprises me is your gullibility and maleable journalistic standards. Don't you think it's a better idea to wait until the court renders its decision then to condemn the kid based solely on plaintiff's complaint? Of course then you would not have been able to use the case to make your point.
The 12 year-old boy in question was found delinquent in the rape of 4 1st grade boys. That is undisputed. It occurred. The only lingering question is the legal responsibility of the school district.
ReplyDeleteAllentown already is a multicultural city. Some schools currently have a 75% minority student population. Armstrong is not talking about race!
ReplyDelete"expressed concern by conservatives"
ReplyDelete"typical of the left"
Some of us are dismissive b/c we see you as a blow hard, but that has nothing to do with conservatives or the left, so it doesn't factor into your ability to reason. The sad reality is that you seem more inclined to view this as a liberal vs conservative dialogue while most of us are more interested in actually learning the factual pro's/con's of this proposal and other proposals also on the table. You seem more interested in making your observations universal facts. I won't dismiss your observations, but I will label them as YOUR observations. There is much more to learn.
For the record, I did not call Scott Armstrong a racist. In fact, I specifically clarified that making racist comments doesn't necessarily make him a racist. I did say that his essay was offensive and has clear racial implications -- he regularly writes provocotive offensive essays and then cries foul when people are offended.
ReplyDeleteAnd Bernie, the demographics at catholic schools are decidedly white-majority, so although yes there is diversity in those schools, its not a huge jump to say that comparing public school children to parochial school children is a comment on race, class, or social status and what Scott is proposing is that somehow public school middle-schoolers in Allentown - largely minority, poorer, and often the product of single-family households are less deserving of the opportunity to have a better quality of education than their parochial-school peers.
Perhaps if those same students Scott is so down on had been given the opportunity to continue learning in an environment that fosters personal development the way the elementary schools do, they wouldn't be quite so rough and tumble by 8th grade. Its not as though the ASD is coming up with some revolutionary idea - this is a model that has been largely successful in urban school districts across the country, and instead of just instinctively slamming it and labeling all ASD middle school students as horrible thugs unfit to share a school building with elementary-school students, perhaps its worth looking into a little further, as Zahorchak is recommending.
By the way, we aren't so far removed from a developmentally disabled 5th grader raping and molesting more than one younger student - should all developmentally disabled students be shuttled off to a segregated special school now?
I honestly do not see anything racist about Scott's comments. Isn't is possible to talk about the kids in the ASD without accusations of racism entering the picture?
ReplyDeleteI'm not an ASD parent, so my opinion doesn't really count. But...I will say that the idea of having my elementary kids mixed in with middle school aged kids (we're in Parkland) is NOT what I would want, either. I absolutely agree with Armstrong's assertions. ALL middle schoolers are MUCH more worldly than their elementary aged counterparts. I want to preserve our children's childhood as long as possible. Putting a kindergartener in a school with 8th graders only forces the little ones to grow up faster, in my opinion. This would be true in any school district.
After reading the Call's description of this proposal, it would seem the primary beneficiaries of consolidating grades K-8 are the middle schoolers. The article states that grades drop off a cliff once kids enter 6th grade. But, it does not follow (to me, at least) that consolidation is good for the younger kids.
Finally, comparing parochial schools to the ASD schools is rather silly. The families and the economics behind the parochial school students are, on the whole, VASTLY different than the public schools. Broken families and poverty are at the heart of the ASD's problems, not class size or school configurations.
However today, you state as fact that 13yr old raped a first grader many years ago. Bernie, how is this a fact??? A case was filed in federal court and the plantiff's counsel painted the alleged offenses in the most lurid details possible. That was his job and we should expect no less.
ReplyDeleteThe multiple rape incidents occured at a downtown school and sadly happened only a few years ago. The principal in question resigned shortly there after. According to local accounts, the school district's legal counsel argued students should not expect a safe environment while in school. A Morning Call archival search will provide information.
"And Bernie, the demographics at catholic schools are decidedly white-majority ... ."
ReplyDeleteSays who? My grandson goes to those "white-majority" schools. In Bethlehem's Notre Dame, there is a large contingent of Hispanic, black, Lebanese and Asian children. The Anglo Saxons are pretty much a minority or a very slim majority. The same is true at St. Paul in south Allentown. Your "blue eye" smear concerning the demographic make up of children in LV parochial schools, is a reflection of your own bias. In your case, unlike Scott, it was intended as such.
In Catholic schools, older kids are each assigned to mentor one of the younger kids as a "prayer partner." They go to mass together, pray together and the older kid watches out for his or her partner like a little brother or sister. They get each other little gifts and sometimes remain friends for many years. Could you see that in a public school?
Retired ASD teacher here.
ReplyDeleteScott is correct in expressing his concern. I agree with Scott, moving to a K-8 format will be troublesome.
I will credit the new superintendent for acknowledging the middle schools are too large, and class sizes too big. ASD teachers have been saying that for years. This is not the 1950's when kids diligently obeyed requests and had stability at home.
After 33 years in the classroom (all in ASD) I've seen the decline of the learning process first hand. It has MUCH to do with class size and the increasing percentage of kids coming to school NOT ready to learn.
Most of Allentown's kids are raising themselves, and in poverty. For many ASD kids it's survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, what's fit in their eyes means whatever works. Often, that means lying, cheating, stealing, bullying, etc. There are fewer and fewer devices available to prevent their indiscretions. Crowded conditions and frazzled teachers doesn't help either.
There is NO doubt in my mind, K-5 kids added to ASD middle school populations will be forced to give up some of their innocence much too soon. If I was a parent, I'd want no part of this idea.
The Grades 7-9 are the most challenging. This is a "crossroads" time for kids. The academic and social success or failure for many kids is set during this period.
Yes, a new middle school building on the East Side. Also, add 3-4 smaller alternative education centers (150 kids each) nearby each existing middle school, to serve the same age group.
Better for ASD to leave the existing elementary school population alone.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteNow the kid is 12? His juvenile proceedings are sealed so your assertion of guilt is unsupported.
the problem w/ high standards is that you have to maintain them.
"However today, you state as fact that 13yr old raped a first grader many years ago. Bernie, how is this a fact???"
ReplyDeleteIt was a 12 year-old boy with a history of problems. He raped 4 1st graders, not one. The rapes in fact occured and the boy who assaulted these younger children has been committeed to a detention center until he turns 18.
The school district's responsibility is another matter and is the lawsuit to which you refer, but the rapes occurred, at least according to a judge who had to decide delinqueny. Here is a link indicating that the boy in question was found delinquent in these assaults.
Facts aren't going to matter with this douche nozzle, who just wants to pick a fight.
ReplyDeleteDO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!
Incidentally, the deliquent act to which I refer is rape.
ReplyDeleteNow the kid is 12? His juvenile proceedings are sealed so your assertion of guilt is unsupported.
ReplyDeleteMorning Call news accounts are not sealed. The ASD legal defense team's premise for this court case made national headlines. Those headlines are not sealed.
Bernie does not have a "Half-black" "grandson", you have a young mixed race boy you call your grandson and you like to hang out with him. Let the readers infer what they want from that Mr. O'Hare.
ReplyDeleteWhat they'll infer is that you are a vicious troll and an anonymous coward.
ReplyDeleteThis is really not ultimately the point, Bernie, but just FYI - the self reported data from local catholic schools states that Notre Dame has less than 10% students of color, Central Catholic has 12%. At the K-8 school level, looking in the right places you can get a more diverse crowd - St. Francis in Allentown has 30% minority enrollment, and Grace Montessori, also in Allentown has 43%. The only school that I could find in the area with over 50% minority enrollment is Holy Infancy in S. Bethlehem with 80% minority enrollment. Notre Dame Elementary in Bethlehem self-reported only 6% in 2007. Now I'll grant you that the percentage has undoubtedly increased in 3 years, but I don't think its increased on the magnitude of "whites are in the minority."
ReplyDeleteNow, it is possible that schools underreport their minority populations, but I doubt it - most of the schools have updated their information within the last 2 years. This is all from the website private school review, in case you want to check into it yourself.
Even if Scott did not intend to make this an issue of race - it IS an issue of race, of class, of social/family status, because the children in urban school districts ARE minorities, poor, and brought up largely in split households or single-parent households. These are children who deserve a better education than they are receiving now, and to say that its okay for parochial-school students to receive the benefit of K-8, but not public school students DOES have a racial, class, and social-status implication. There are a lot of ways improving the quality of urban education in grades 6-8 can be achieved, and K-8 is a proven one.
Its not hard to find data on this issue - K-8 vs. middle school improves test scores, improves discipline issues, and ultimately improves dropout rates in districts where the model is implemented. It also has fringe benefits such as allowing siblings a greater opportunity to attend the same school for a longer span of time - which, in turn, makes it easier for parents to be involved in their children's schools and education. It allows teacher and administrator continuity which allows for greater involvement and stronger relationships between students and the school staff - this allows for earlier intervention in the instances of problems at home or outside the classroom. I could continue this list, but my suspicion is that to those who oppose the mere exploration of this idea are doing so based on a gut-instinct and emotional response of fear for younger children - maybe that's a reasonable response for a parent - but my experience has told me that you can't fight fear with reason, so I'm okay just leaving my case as it is.
As an Allentown parent, I see it as a problem, a big problem. I would ask any doubters to stand outside Raub Middle School in the morning and ask themselves if, as parents, they would want to drop their elementary aged child off with these kids.
ReplyDeleteI like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but there us a tone to this that is demeaning.
My niece has been teaching at Raub for 8 years now, as a Special ed teacher. I have never heard her refer to her kids by race, she just calls them, "HER KIDS."
Can I just say that I hate it that these arguments always break down this way?
47 years after the "I have a dream Speech" and it is plainly clear that we still have much to dream about. Forgive me if I have a lot of typos, but I won't get my new glases until Monday.
Remember the stabbing that took place in the Allentown Middle School with adults from off the street, what about the raping of the little boy by another student and teachers looking the other way. Armstrong is on point. This school district needs to separate its youngest as much as possible. Not integrate them with yes "urbanely" sophisticated young teens. Concerning the implication of racism, who cares. Who cares to be labled a racist when the facts are the facts. Interesting how over the past 45 years, the left has not been able to solve (despite throwing gobs of money at the problem and forced integration in some areas) the "East Side High" syndrome that plagues urban schools.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record for those who don’t know me, I volunteered for years (90’s) at an afterschool program for Raub Middle School kids at the Church of the Mediator. I taught drawing.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong
I did some research the "data" on K-8 versus the middle school model. And guess what? The data is VERY inconclusive, and the few studies that do exist own up to this fact in the opening paragraphs of their analysis. The best aggregate data I came across is from a 2007 Johns Hopkins study, which can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://web.jhu.edu/CSOS/images/TDMG/ComparingAchievement_btwK_8.pdf
In short, the study says that 8th grade performance on standardized tests is elevated in the K-8 model in Philadelphia, but with huge variations that cannot easily be replicated. "It is likely that a good deal of that unexplained variation resides in factors pertaining to a student’s parents and their home environment, factors that schools and school administrators cannot address on a schoolwide level."
What troubles the ASD is the HOME LIFE of many students. No consolidation can fix that, and we need to adequately address the downside of consolidation before implementation.
What you might call fear and an "emotional response," I call COMMON SENSE, and there is far too little of that evident in all public schools, in particular ASD. There is absolutely ZERO evidence that consolidation of schools is good for the smaller kids - only 8th grade endpoints are ever extracted from the limited and inconclusive data on this matter. Common sense tells me, at least, that middle schoolers face unique challenges to that age group - challenges not shared by their K-5th grade counterparts. Common sense also tells me that it is inappropriate to have 5 year olds in the same building as 13 year olds, on a regular basis. The distractions that face middle schoolers today will be shared with their younger counterparts upon consolidation - is that really what anyone wants? I see nothing unreasonable about a parent being fearful of such a consolidation. Sometimes, fear has its roots in reason, and this is one of those cases.
The ASD is on record as saying they are not responsible for the children's safety while they're at school. (Look that one up, it's the awful truth.) Does that bode well for older students mixing with elementary aged kids? No it does not.
The ASD cannot affect a student's home life. And home life has everything to do with whether or not a child can go to school and learn. If enough kids go to school unwilling or unready to learn, then the whole institution suffers. I am not sure a school district can do much of anything, other than drill down to bare bone basics - smaller classes being the biggest assist to teachers. A consolidation of 9 grade levels is not necessary to achieve smaller classes.
Finally, please note I have said nothing about race. And, if you would re-read Armstrong's post, he didn't say anything about race either. I find it odd that Armstong's detractors, who are apparently so offended by racist comments, are the first ones to bring up race here.
All children deserve a fair shake at a great education. And all children start out innocent. Unfortunately, what makes a great education possible is what waits for that child at home. Families, and not the ASD, are the primary responsible parties here. The sooner Allentown owns up to that reality, the better.
Sunday's newscasts included Denver public school parents by a 95% vote agreed to offer birth control to 6th graders! Do Allentown parents really want consolidated schools?
ReplyDeleteAll children deserve a fair shake at a great education. And all children start out innocent. Unfortunately, what makes a great education possible is what waits for that child at home. Families, and not the ASD, are the primary responsible parties here. The sooner Allentown owns up to that reality, the better.
ReplyDelete10:11 AM
This is poignantly said. Whatever happened to the ASD plan to have an "Adult Adopt a Student" each year and act as an advocate for that particular student. Such a program could offer positive roll models for students who may not have such at home, through no fault of their own.
" the school district's legal counsel argued students should not expect a safe environment while in school. A Morning Call archival search will provide information."
ReplyDeleteI recall that as being the exact reason I would never let my children go to an ASD school. How assanine is that logic: "We have no legal responsibility to keep your kids safe that are in our care". I'm just curious if PA passed the law about reporting known abuse before or after these incidents. The teachers and principle that knew about the first attack and didn't report it, which then led to further attacks, should be in jail. I pity anyone who cannot afford to send their kids to a school outside this city.
I'd home school them before threatening their lives and safety in an ASD school.
How will such consolidation handle student pregnancies? Will these students be allowed to stay in school? Will there be daycare services within each building? And what message will such events leave
ReplyDeletein the minds of first and second graders? Hope a reporter asks.
Some very good analysis on the family problems that affect a fair amount of ASD children.
ReplyDeleteK through 8 won't solve the problem and is only going to waste taxpayer money.
It's time to realize that our responsibility (as taxpayers) is to educate the children who are ready to learn and behave appropriately. It is not to provide daycare for every child in the city.
For those children who are not ready for school, there should be NO taxpayer responsibility. Their parents or guardians should be held responsible if they cannot behave in school.
This should include the financial responsibility of getting the child the help needed to get them ready for school. Taxpayers shouldn't pick up the tab if parents want to treat their kids like cats and put them on the street for others to take care of.
As a taxpayer, I'm sick of seeing the good kids held back (at best) or put in physical danger (at worst) because of the bad kids. I am sickened by the fact that I'm helping to pay for that to happen.
I realize that doing all this will take a major change in thinking - from the district on up to the federal government. But it's about time we started looking at some common sense answers instead of new gimmicks.
If parents don't want to do their job, it's about time that they are held accountable.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI have deleted and will delete annymous comments calling Armstrong a racist. If you want to play that game, you'll have to identify yourself. Otherwise, you are just an anonymous coward.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI have deleted yet another attempt to smear Armstrong, this time using a phony name. If you want to smear him, be my guest. But you'll have to identify yourself, and in a way that I can confirm. You should be willing to accept responsiility for what your write. Otherwise, all you are is an anonymous coward.
ReplyDeleteAs a centrist i dont often agree with Scotts assesments or his liberal vs conservative tactics but i dont feel he's a racist.On this subject he makes some good points.I believe the ASD should find a way to bring back sports {soccer included] to the middle schools.Feeders for HS.Also upgrade music, the arts and promote building trades again in votech.Not everyone has plans to enter college and we could again compete with the catholic schools in sports and academia
ReplyDeleteSo just so we are clear, even if someone posts their name but you decide you don't like the post you will delete it?
ReplyDeleteSo what do you need a birth certificate, a drivers license? You seem very unconcerned with ID's when folks have things to say about Pawlowski and Callahan but then you are a hypocrite as well as a pedophile.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSo just so we are clear, even if someone posts their name but you decide you don't like the post you will delete it?
So what do you need a birth certificate, a drivers license? You seem very unconcerned with ID's when folks have things to say about Pawlowski and Callahan but then you are a hypocrite as well as a pedophile.
12:25 AM
Folks, as Clint often says. This is my blog. Like it or leave it.
"You seem very unconcerned with ID's when folks have things to say about Pawlowski and Callahan but then you are a hypocrite as well as a pedophile."
ReplyDeleteWhen I read filthy comments like this, I need to take a shower. Of course I have a different standard for Scott. He is not an elected official.
Who uses terms like"urbanely sophisticated teenagers" and the "mixing" of students. Please, enough with the nonsense.
ReplyDelete