Rewarding incompetence and taking the blame

Lemme run this one past you.

Meet Person A. A wants to be considered, judged if you wanna, evaluated, reviewed, liked, accepted and even rejected for the person A is, his abilities, desires, what he does, how he does it and what he doesn’t do and how he does that as well. Arg. Confusing.

A wants people to consider him strictly based on the way he does stuff. Variables. Look at A in the light of things he controls. Ah. much better.

Meet person B. B wants to be considered on the basis of skin color, ethnicity, and racial descent. Look at B based on the things he can’t control.

Now I ask you, which person would you prefer to associate with? Why?

It’s been my experience that B and folks who think like him are always prejudiced. They believe they are superior to others simply because of accidents of birth. They believe they deserve special consideration based on those accidents of birth.  B believes other groups are oppressing him.

Folks like A certainly can be prejudiced, but are less likely to be so. If there is oppression, A sees oppression coming from larger forces than just a group of people who share a common ancestry. But, A will also admit that those of a common ancestor can band together to oppress others.

Your mileage may vary.

How about you? Do you want to be known as a ________ (racial/ethnic type) American (or whatever your country is)?

Why?

Seems to me if you insist on being considered FIRST based on ancestry, then you carry a lot of unnecessary baggage. It’s my thinking if you take part of the package you are obliged to take the entire package. Doesn’t make sense? Lemme slap a f’r’instance on you.

Want to be considered “African” before you are American? Cool. Then you must take the blame for slavery in the United States because it was the African nations which sold their fellow Africans into slavery.

Oooo that’s gonna make some people mad. G’head. I used a little mental process I call logic.

If you take part of it, then you are taking all of it the way I see things.

Want to be considered first a person and then get into ancillary matters that bear on the situation? Makes a lot more sense to me.

Why should it matter where your ancestors came from when you apply for a job? What matters more is your ability to do that job, right?

In an ideal world, yes. In the United States, no.

I run help wanted ads all the time which state hiring preferences will be given to minorities and women.

Uh, what?

Why?

Ya want the best person for the job? Or do you wanna fill a quota by hiring someone who can’t do the job?

Quotas have ruined and wrecked more jobs and projects than I can count. Affirmative action dumbs things down, reducing quality and encourages mediocrity.

It also punishes those who can by rewarding those who can't.

Yeah, I have proof.


Yassee, I'm all about people using their abilities rather than excuses.

Which now brings me to today’s point - Firing bad teachers.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20101214/NEWS05/101214059/Poll-Most-want-easier-way-to-fire-bad-teachers

Do you have any idea how hard it is to fire a bad “minority” teacher in the South? Probably not. In short, unless the teacher is actually arrested, it can’t be done.

Yeah, I have proof.

Fire a white male teacher? Look for an excuse no matter how flimsy and the teacher is out the door.

School superintendents in several states and more than 10 school systems have told me this off the record. On the record, they won’t admit to it. Why? Political fallout would put them right out of a job. I ain’t faulting the superintendents. They have to work within the system. They are not in a position, like me, to buck the system and scream for changes.

So I’m buckin’ and yellin’.

Do you want a better school system? Then get politics and unions out of education. Both only serve to further the interests of the more incompetent at the expense of the competent.

Fire incompetent teachers. How can you tell if a teacher is incompetent? Ask other teachers and the administration. Ask the parents of students in the class.

Better yet, look at student performance under that teacher.

Ooo. Let’s hold teachers accountable for the performance of their students. Radical idea. One which the unions approach with flaming torches and pitchforks because they can’t get their hands on tactical nukes.

All students can achieve. They don’t always achieve at the same level, but the can do it. Given a good teacher and quality classroom environment, students will learn, grow and increase their mental acumen.

Yeah, I have proof of that too.

Under poor teachers, the ones who need to be fire, student  achievement suffers and growth is scant if there is any growth.

Yeah, I have proof.

Lemme replay this record. I’m basing my arguments on reality. You do not have to accept reality. But do not expect reality to re-order itself because you don’t like it.