Tucson Unified School District’s University High School has been consistently rated as one of the best high schools in the country. Unfortunately, this fact has come to the attention of the powers that be and they are taking steps to correct the problem.
University High is a college preparatory magnet school, and the only TUSD school to which applying students must have a 3.0 grade-point average in certain core courses. This ensures that the University High student body will be able to succeed in an accelerated academic environment.
Modern professional educators have a method for thwarting the success of students, and specific programs. It is to launch an assault on standards. In this case, the 3.0 GPA prerequisite. There is a proposal to include the “enthusiasm” of a prospective student as a factor. If his enthusiasm is high, he need not meet the standard. I’m not making this up.
To inoculate themselves against criticism, they have gone through the famous desegregation lawsuit filed more than 40 years ago. By the way, a lawsuit that is more than 40 years old and in which the original plaintiffs are long gone is no longer a real court case. It is a tool with which some wield power and others make money. That is why it has not been resolved in more than 40 years, and probably never will be.
Those in TUSD who have set their sights on University High point out that the total high school student enrollment in the district is 27.8 percent white, 6.2 percent black and 57.4 percent Hispanic, while University High is 50.5 percent white, 1.6 percent black and 31.8 percent Hispanic. Enter the de-segregators. (Interestingly, the demographics of University High do come close to those of the Tucson community at large).
One might infer from the presentation of these data that the term “Hispanic” refers to a specific race other than black or white. It does not. As the U.S. Census Bureau says, “Except where noted, ‘race’ refers to people reporting only one race. ‘Hispanic’ refers to an ethnic category; Hispanics may be of any race.”
In more rational times, when educators wanted to increase participation of a specific group they would develop a plan to help members of that group meet the standard. Instead, today’s educators come up with a workaround to avoid the standard. This approach proves that these educators do not have the interests of the students at heart—particularly those who will be exempted from the academic standard and thrust into an accelerated learning environment for which they are ill prepared.
So, what are our professional educators’ motivations? One can only speculate. Perhaps they are afraid that if the Hispanic kids become successful adults they might start to vote for Republicans. No, really, that approach has already been a proven winner for Democrats. Look at the voting patterns of inner-city black residents. These people in poor neighborhoods, who were educated in some of the worst schools the country has to offer, vote for Democrats well in excess of 90 percent of the time. Is it a coincidence that cities that contain these neighborhoods are run by Democrat political machines?
It could be said that both Tucson and Pima County are run by Democrats, though not by a unified political machine. Perhaps that explains the low graduation rates and general academic failure of TUSD.
This failure is so well guarded that when Pima Community College started to require a seventh-grade level of education to take college level courses and receive college financial aid, local activists launched a war against anyone who supported the idea. It should be noted that the policy included free remedial education to bring students up to the seventh-grade level—an old school approach. They attacked the governing board, the chancellor and his replacement with accusations that, for the most part, misrepresented the facts. There were some legitimate claims, though these were apparently considered unimportant when they actually happened. Even the Higher Learning Commission put the school on probation after learning of the policy, although its last inspection for accreditation gave the college two thumbs up at a time when all the alleged malfeasance had already taken place.
While we certainly can’t fight a nationwide problem, we can at least demand better from our local educators and officials. If we do not, we will soon find ourselves living in Detroit.
This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2013.
Actually, the case has been resolved. The District and plaintiffs agreed to enter into a consent decree that has not yet been terminated. But I agree with the rest of your statement.
A quality teacher who believes that all children can learn is expected to teach all children and to raise all children to the expected standard. To limit admission to only those prepared to succeed implies a question about teaching proficiency. The best teachers can raise low performing students to a high standard (e.g., Jaime Escalante at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles). Thus saith those who condemn public schools and promote private schools.
So gcbl, it sounds like you’re opposed to the university high concept in general. It’s my understanding that university high was established to give gifted students a faster track to run on so the rest of the pack wouldn’t hold them back.
What will happen if these highly motivated students with lower aptitudes don’t succeed? Will the teachers be blamed? Will TUSD insist on lowering university high’s classroom standards too?
Now, as I understand it (and I understand to be anything less than cock-sure is not the usual style of forums such as these) that these enthusiastic students will be allowed admission, but have one year to prove that they can hack it at UHS.
Now, that caveat to admission could be argued as to it’s positive or negative aspects, but I find it interesting that what I heard from TUSD was left out this op-ed. Has anyone else heard about this part of the alternative admission plans?
Hoffman paints with rather broad brush strokes – kinda like those liberal who say all Republicans are heartless old white people, which is not true because I know two who are not.
We are the Detroit of the Southwest. Who would send their kids to TUSD?
I am SO tired of hearing that “professional educators” are at fault, especially if by that you mean teachers. I have been one for 28 years, and trust me when I tell you that no teacher (and by that I mean those of us who truly do the educating, not the policy making!) would ever suggest or espouse the lowering or elimination of standards. The deseg lawsuit should have gone away decades ago and should no longer be influencing anything to do with our schools; now they call it “unitary status” and it still hovers…. But please, enough with dumping on those of us in the trenches. One day, if I live long enough, the politicians and other careerists who haven’t been in a classroom, much less run one of their own in YEARS will get out of the way and let the true professionals, teachers, do what is truly best, beneficial, and in the interest of educating our students!!!
To: Naomi Varga
It’s not your fault. Look at the raw materials you are handed to work with. They and their parents don’t have the value systems that would encourage a good education. You could have the greatest teachers in the world but if the kids and parents don’t care then it’s a lost cause.
In this case, I used the term “professional educators” to refer to admin level policy makers, not teachers who actually do the work of educating.
“I’m going to get my kid out of TUSD blah blah blah”. The next time I hear a mother say that I’m going smack her and offer the kid a ride. There a more than a few of the kids that TUSD does not want back. YOUR kid. They account for a 14% charter school failure rate. You can take the kid out of school but you cant take the fatherless prick out of the kid.
For those of you in the trenches, some parents deliver a bucket of oats in the morning. Some parents deliver oats that have already been through the horse. We all know who they are.
Jonathan has correctly followed the money. Like a mother who injures and keeps her child ill purposely to get attention form hospital nurses, TUSD still needs to be desegregated.
The nurse would be the Federal government and money is the medicine.
The connotations of which is that we are prejudice or racist. We are not racists. The demo has been naturally populated to nearly 50/50 so there is nothing to desegregate. Some of us are fiercely nationalistic but the vast majority of us get along. That said, if the Mexicans want TUSD they can have it. See how easily we get along?
And just to be fair, they can have El Paso too.