>

The Wire, Season 4. We knew the system was broken long ago!
It took a while for people to demand action, as they were initially unaware that 23 is a larger number than zero. >

Yes, and is it zero each or in the aggregate among the 23, eh? >

Let's see what my calculator says: 0#23
Hmm... it says if I'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again. I think that means 5. >

Funny, my calculator doesn't have a hashtag button. >

So I guess Zoomers won’t use it. >

No, we’ll use the calculator when you let us use them >


Project Baltimore found three additional schools where zero students tested proficient in math, which we did not include in the list of 23. One of those schools is for incarcerated youth, and the other two are for students with disabilities. And it’s important to note, another 20 Baltimore City Schools had just one or two students test proficient in math.

So thats actually 26 with zero students, and 20 more with 1 or 2 able. 
That's roughly 30 students in 46 schools who can math all right >

You're hired to go teach math in Baltimore. >

Greeny is hereby pronounced Minister of Maryland Math so we shall call them MoMM >

I saw a lot of deficiencies last semester when I was observing a middle-school math class last year.  A lot of it was the after effects of COVID.  It was a 7th grade class, so the students had been online-only for a lot of their basics, especially working with fractions.
The AP kids were doing fine, they were the most engaged and likely had a decent environment to work in for online classes.
The mid-range kids struggled a little, but it wasn't too bad.  They definitely missed some stuff during online classes, but hadn't fallen behind too much.
The struggling kids though, that was hard to see.  They had clearly not retained much of anything from online learning.  Pass rate for DOL questions at the end of a lesson were around 30%.  That's per question.  I had to help one poor girl understand how to simplify 2/4.
Even worse, the classes were split into AP, Passing, and Failing classes.  But, the curriculum difference between the passing and failing classes wasn't notably different.  There just wasn't time in the day to reteach 2-3 years of elementary school arithmetic.  They just plodded ahead, with every lesson trying to build on lessons from a previous class that hadn't been understood.
I see similar problems with the younger students in university.  There's big chunks missing in their understanding, luckily most university courses kinda assume that they've got to start from scratch. (I'm lucky, I'm 35 and returning to college after retirement, so I've got the advantage of experience and an uninterrupted primary and secondary education)
I'm sure there's similar problems with other classes too, not just math.  We've got an entire generation coming up that has a significant gap in their education and they're going to struggle. >

Conservatives keep saying the problem is the breakdown of the family, and they're almost right. The breakdown of the family correlates, but it doesn't cause low test scores. 
Low test scores, broken families, increased crime, and ballooning addiction rates are all the fault of stagnating wages, inequality, and poverty.
You can plot real wages on any graph and see the correlation. 
Conservatives are constantly trying to blame the effects of poverty for poverty. Thats what "broken windows" was all about. 
Broken windows didn't cause social decay, they were an effect of social decay caused by poverty!
The data is clear. As wages have stagnated, our society is slowly tearing apart at the seams. 
You want better test scores? You want lower addiction rates? You want solid families? 
We must radically change the material conditions our society is based on. Otherwise, we will forever be trying to fix the symptoms of social decay, instead of addressing the causes. >

Poverty is caused by single parent households. The rate of poverty in single parent households dwarfs that of two parent households. So no, conservatives don’t have it backwards, you do.
Also, in 2019 the median household wage (inflation adjusted) was the highest in US history. So, you are wrong about stagnating wages, as well. >

Why though? Why can’t a single parent make a living wage and stay out of poverty? I mean some ones got to clean the rich peoples toilets >

You can make a living wage as a single person. Get skills and get a job. I don’t feel bad for people making $15/hr flipping burgers. That’s not supposed to be a career. That’s on them for settling for an unskilled labor job, not the market. 
Living wage or not, single parent households are bad for kids. The data is out, there is zero debate to be had. You want better kids, fix the single parent household epidemic. >

Again some one has to flip burgers, clean hotel rooms, landscape, etc… there needs to be a living wage to lift people out of poverty. 
This is a problem with conservatives. I’ve got mine (99% not likely by any kind of bootstrapping) so screw you! And since you didn’t get yours, then F your whole family, because as we see poverty effects educational outcome. So we conservatives say screw these people and every generation of theirs after!
Also this bullsh*t about single parents not being good for kids. Like some how conservatives don’t get divorced. There about a million divorces a year. Talk about backass thinking >

First, a “living wage” is a made up term that means nothing.  Second, if you were in a two person household and each made $15/hr, you’re making $60K on 40 hour work weeks. If you chose to get pregnant and chose to be in a single parent household and you didn’t properly prepare by getting training for a decent job, then that’s wholly on you and no one else. 
You know who can flip burgers? Retirees, people training for another career and need a temporary gig, teenagers, a second household income, etc. You keep making excuses for people being lazy assholes and are blaming the system for that. The system isn’t to blame. People’s poor choices are. The US is in desperate need of trade workers. It doesn’t take much training to become a trade apprentice. 
Once again, poverty doesn’t affect educational outcomes all that much. Single parent households do. Look at poverty level Asian households. Their children still massively outperform most others. If you want to fix the problem (both poverty and children’s education) then work to change the single parent culture. >

Wow just wow. Let’s just take your single parent house hold comment. Like I said millions people a year get divorced. All income levels. Are you telling me rich/middle class kids in single parent families are doomed to be poor?
No, if you look at the statistics rich people’s kids tend to end up rich. Middle class kids tend to end up being middle class and kids born to poverty tend to grow up to live in poverty. Those are the FACTS. We need to break the cycle of poverty, a living wage is one of the things to help that. >

Yeah, that’s not true, actually. Rich kids fall down pretty often. 
And yes, any single parent household, regardless of income level is stastically likely to be worse for their kids outcomes than a comparable two parent household. That includes divorced parents.  This is amplified at the poverty level, though, as those single parent households would likely be lifted out of poverty if they were two parent households. 
Like I said, I’d you want to fix poverty and kid’s potentials, fix the single parent family culture. The pervasiveness is what has killed the black community. >

Hahhahhahha did you really just write that rich kids tend grow into poverty? Hahaha holly sh*t. Talk about a warped mind.
Facts are facts. Institute a living wage and you will see better educational out comes for families living in poverty regardless of marital status >

That is truly impressive and terrifying at the same time. >

This isn't altogether surprising. >

I find the fact that one of the schools is named Achievement Academy to be chef's kiss >

I mean the school is definitely achieving something. I just don't think it is exactly what they wanted to achieve. >

The diploma just says, "Achievement Unlocked", which admittedly is a lot more awesome than I had in mind when I started writing this comment >

I'm pretty sure they just staple a pre filled out Mcdonalds application to the back of that diploma. Like Achievement Unlocked you got an interview at Mcdonalds. >

Still more marketable than a degree in Art History. (No offense to my art historian friends intended.) >

I've never understood why those are allowed to be majors and not just limited to minor programs.  Your job prospects are... a very narrow field in upper education.
If anyone can enlighten me with something other than, "We were told to get a degree, any degree!" I'd appreciate it. >

University is not job training.
Art history also isn't quite as limited as you make it out to be, but that's beside the point. >

Tell an HR department that someday.  When they've recovered from their laughing fit, they'll tell you that's EXACTLY how they see universities. >

Good for them. It's not their call to make.
Universities are long-established and fairly powerful institutions with their own goals and ideologies. They make their own decisions. >

Got to bring back Prez! He had those hoppers puttin in work... >

Probabilities!!! >

Those kids would be very upset if they could count to 23