#raechel hamilton
Photo
Raechel Donahue photographed by Baron Wolman, November 1968
When ‘Groupies and Other Girls’ was first published in Rolling Stone Magazine in February 1969, San Francisco teenager Raechel was featured under her birth name ‘Rachel Hamilton.’ While most probably assume Raechel is another obscure groupie from the infamous issue, she’s actually a local California celebrity. Her more common name comes from her husband, legendary radio DJ and concert promoter Tom Donahue, who she was married to from 1969 until his death in 1975. Through Tom, Raechel began her own radio career working as a DJ at KSAN, KMET, KROQ, KIIS FM and Sirius, as well as having gigs as a VJ and TV reporter on CMC, CNN and PBS. She also spent years providing ADR voiceover work for various films, series and commercials, and has even written her own travel and cooking books. These days she helps produce independent documentaries and is based in Palm Springs, CA.
#t.i.l....#raechel donahue#rachel hamilton#raechel hamilton#groupies#baron wolman#rolling stone#groupies and other girls#tom donahue#groupies and other electric ladies#classic rock#radio#djs#vjs#journalists#reporters#writers#musesandgroupiesseries
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Ramble away my friend (ㆁωㆁ)
Okay so like.
On the thing about hamster balls. Yes they are dangerous because of the spine thing--that alone can cause health problems for the hamster, leading to a deformed spine, and that's generally a really bad thing. If you're going to have a hamster in a ball, at LEAST let the ball be big enough that the spine is straight when your little hammy runs.
'But Bill,' I hear you say, 'if I can get a larger hamster ball for my solitary rodent, then surely I can just do that and it'll be fine, right?' WRONG! Because let me tell you, those little holes used for ventilation? Not only do they not do a particularly GOOD job at ventilating ANYTHING, but your little Hamilton will easily get their little foot stuck in those tiny little holes and cause great damage. One of my friends in Middle School had a hamster (kept under frighteningly miserable living conditions, in hindsight) who lost his foot because of a hamster wheel.
'But Bill,' you're exclaiming, 'I just want my little hamster to explore! Surely hamster balls are good for that, at least!" WRONG. Did you know that hamsters are near-sighted creatures that depend largely on their sense of smell to navigate the world? Not only are you removing those abilities to navigate the world from your hamster--you're essentially putting little Hammond in an isolation chamber... that rolls around. How would you feel if you were in a black sphere with no way to know where you're going? With holes just big enough for your feet and hands to get wedged into? I'd bet that's a frightening concept.
Hamsters are such... nervous creatures. They can die just from being too stressed, and they stress out so easily. If you really want to give your hamster the freedom to explore a new environment, put it in a bathtub instead and give it some things to play with. Little wooden chews, a couple of hides, some bits of food to discover and explore with, a wheel that's large enough for it to run with its spine straight and isn't made out of wire which can cause inflammation in their poor little feetsies (bumblefoot).
There are a lot of pet tubers who specialize in hamster and rodent care. All or most of my info largely came from Munchie's Place and Victoria Raechel on YouTube.
Munchie is someone who owns a pet rescue largely catered toward hamsters, and she rescues them from dangerous environments to give them to mindful and caring homes, and Victoria is someone who has at least a decade of experience with hamster care.
It should be noted that while I don't think either of them have a degree, it's very obvious to me just how much these two ladies care for these sweet little rodents. They make videos such as hamster care videos, cage reviews, and make it very apparent what NOT to do when you DO have a hamster.
If you have a hamster or want to get one soon, I definitely recommend watching them!
It's been a while since I've watched Munchie. Maybe I'll do some of that today.
It's so upsetting that small pets like hamsters, fish, mice, etc. are so mistreated simply because of ignorance that's encouraged by big-chain pet stores.
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This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
0 notes
Text
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose
In a world of extreme inequity in education, low-income students and parents may not expect very much of their schools, but they at least deserve to know the truth.
Schools, on the other hand, too often hide the truth and the victims of these lies are the children and their families who have invested their greatest hopes and dreams in educational success.
Unhappy Holidays
This holiday season, instead of enjoying a break from the arduous first half of the school year, Memphis students and families will feel a sense of unease—wondering if they were casualties of a messy grading scandal unfolding in the Shelby County School (SCS) District that has already cost the principal who blew the whistle his job.
A 258-page report written by a law firm retained by the district to investigate false grading alleges that 53 students at Trezevant High School were allowed to graduate through illegal grade changes. The report further alleges that, between 2012 and 2016, as many as 200 students may have graduated from Memphis high schools based on false grades.
Silent No Longer
Teachers are speaking out anonymously—saying that they were instructed and forced by school leadership to change failing grades to passing ones. The most recent culprit is the principal from Hamilton High School who has been suspended. Other schools implicated are Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, Bolton, Power Center Academy, Arlington, Memphis Virtual School, Westwood and White Station.
This grading scandal has prompted SCS to re-evaluate and suspend its policies on grade floors, a practice that allows teachers to give students a higher grade than they actually earned. In the past, principals had the autonomy to set their schools’ grade floor, for example, designating a 55 or even a 50 as a passing grade, even though we all know it’s an F.
Back in November, the superintendent of SCS defended grade floors, saying they “help students succeed and not drop out.” So basically, this policy pats them on the back and tells them they’re doing well when they’re actually failing.
School board member Stephanie Love isn’t marching to that tune.
“We are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and the way we do that is to make sure the superintendent understands what happened was a disservice to our children,” Love said.
Naturally, parents, students and community members are very disturbed and upset by this discovery, including Tresevant 12th-grader Maunderica Brooks.
“I think it affected many, honestly, not me in general, but others,” Brooks said. “Now that I hear the whole story it kind of makes sense. Many people that I know, I questioned, ‘How did they graduate?’ knowing many of them didn’t work.”
Brooks was hopeful about her own school, however, adding, “There were many schools that have been in this situation, but our school, I feel it won’t happen this year because our principal seems like he really wants us to excel and to apply ourselves.”
Mendell Grinter, a community leader and the executive director of Campaign for School Equity, also expressed disappointment.
“It’s a real disservice to the students…to have them think that they’re excelling and they’re not impacts their confidence and ability to secure opportunities in the future,” Grinter said.
Mendell hopes this encourages people to become more active. He believes there is a lot of untapped potential in Memphis—and for that to be cultivated, students have to be educated and prepared to succeed.
All in all, it’s a sad situation that affirms the belief gap and the culture of low expectations for low-income students of color.
They have been losing this race for years—not because they can’t run it but because they haven’t been prepared to compete, and too many adults don’t think they can win and refuse to cheer them on. So, instead, these schools give the kids a trophy and tell them they’ve won the race when really, they’re falling behind and won’t ever catch up.
Teachers point fingers at principals, principals point at the district and the district doesn’t know where to point the finger so they use bad policy decisions as their scapegoat.
Here’s another idea: All the adults in the system should look in the mirror and recognize that they are all accountable for student achievement.
Anyone who knowingly participates in a scheme that hinders students’ opportunity to learn is responsible for their failure.
Photo by RAECHELLE MARTIN, Twenty20-licensed.
This Memphis School Cheated and Lied and It’s the Students of Color Who Lose syndicated from http://ift.tt/2i93Vhl
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