Jill Porter - Dear God! Philly students trading religion for math

[Robert Cooper]

Jill Porter - Dear God! Philly students trading religion for math

SCORES OF Philadelphia public school students are missing out on math and other academic classes to read the Bible and discuss salvation through Jesus Christ.

They're leaving school for an hour per week to do so.

And if the subject of evolution comes up, they're likely to be told that they are God's creations and Darwin's theory isn't true.

It's shocking that public school time would be used in such religious pursuit - and downright scandalous that evolution would be debunked in favor of creationism, which isn't permitted in the district's curriculum.

And it's all perfectly, unfathomably, legal.
----

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/13346428.htm


Nice huh? PS students skipping math to learn creationism.

Kansas PS teaching students that supernatural explanations for scientific phenomena are perfectly acceptable 'scientific' explanations.

Science curriculum standards for 15 States are sub-standard.

20% of Americans believe the sun orbits the earth, another 17% think the earth orbits the sun in one day.

Over 50% of blacks and hispanics drop out of school in "many" cities.

Over 70% of young African-American high school dropouts are currently not employed ... and the pervasive joblessness of minority males contributes fundamentally to various problems of inner cities--poverty, crime, welfare dependency, high proportion of female-headed families, and drug abuse;...

But according to one teacher: "Sorry but we aren't failing. "

Who's kidding who?

[Endangered Specie]

1. Good, more science/tech/engineering jobs

for the rest of us.





Isnt this supposed to be a blue state? :evilgrin:

[demnan]

2. On the contrary

more Science/Engineering/tech jobs for India and China, where they are teaching their kids in school.

[drhilarius]

3. You never know, one of these kids might design the JCE...

or Jesus Combustion Engine.

[chaplainM]

4. Bad for us

The EMTs who come to your aid believe in Theraputic Touch!

[Robert Cooper]

5. Medicare to trim budget by hiring faith healers

I'd tell you more but Pat Robertson couldn't recall anything else from his dream...er...vision. ;-)

[Robert Cooper]

7. Think again...

...look over those stats: 20% believe the sun revolves around the earth, and 17% believe the earth revolves around the sun in 24 hours.

That's a solid 37% for any idiot who promises them a free lunch.

I love thinking of the guy they elect with his finger on the button =8-{

[acmejack]

8. I think you just accounted for that stubborn percentage that still likes *

[Robert Cooper]

10. I've been saying it for awhile now...

...when you look at who supports he-who-must-not-be-named by education, it is those who were most poorly educated who tend to support him more.

When the schools fail the kids, the kids fail democracy.

How -else- do you think you ended up with Republicans running the House, the Senate, and the WH?

[xchrom]

6. lol -- more people signing up to be stupid.

[fasttense]

9. The problem with attacking one science is that it spreads to all

sciences. Like when scandal breaks out in one military service branch, all the services suffer in recruiting efforts. When the fundies attack evolution and global warming, they are attacking all sciences in the eyes of the public. So in the eyes of the public, all sciences are worthless, all you need is the bible. No wonder America is becoming one of the dumber of the industrialized nations. Soon stupidity will be the mark of a good American.

[Robert Cooper]

11. "soon" ?

Have you listened to the RW lately? They -only- talk to the stupid: courting the anti-intellectual vote.

What happens to a democracy when anti-intellectuals rule?

[zbdent]

12. And people wonder why they had to put pictures on the cash registers

at McDonalds.

Of course, it was probably some educated liberal who came up with the scanner which makes it easy for a sales clerk to ring up a purchase - unless someone actually wants to pay with cash . . . then you see where faith-based math stumbles . . .

[harlinchi]

13. Philly is a union town. Construction is done with their blessing only.

When one examines the makeup of the construction trades unions in Philly, excepting the Laborers, one of the reasons for the pervasive joblessness of minority males becomes apparent. All of those roofs being repaired, all of those cement jobs being done in Black neighborhoods are being done by folks who will not themselves employ Blacks.

Blacks, of course, could and should achieve more academically; our failure to do so provides effective ammunition to those who desire to maintain the status quo and is another reason for that joblessness. It doesn't account for it fully, though. Many would seek roofing, carpentry, plumbing and other sorts of jobs if they were available in any reasonable numbers to them. Unions say they are not available to any numbers of Blacks in Philly.

[KharmaTrain]

14. I Remember The Catholic Kids Getting Afternoons Off

My school was predominately Jewish...but there were also a large group of Catholic kids. I clearly remember being in 5th and 6th grade and on Wednesday some of those kids would take off in the afternoon to attend catechism classes.

There's a fine line here...as I do support the right for a parent to home or private school their child if they don't agree with what's being taught in a local school. For example, if my children's Judiasm would be a problem with them being accepted in a school, I'd find them a place where they could learn without all the distractions. I would defend that right for all.

I'm sure you would have problems if your kids were sitting in a right wing classroom for 6 hours a day. While I think wingnuts and fundies are from another world, I do respect that world and if they want to live in it, fine...it's just when their world starts to dictate what's to be done in mine...then we have a problem.

[countingbluecars]

15. From the article

"Under federal and state law, pupils who have their parents' signed permission can leave school for up to 36 hours during the school year for religious instruction."

The parents are making the decision.

[Robert Cooper]

16. not just for RW HSing fundies anymore...

...now you can attend Public School, learn creationism and skip math (or science?).

No penalty, no one tracking the student.

In one way, this is probably a good thing in that it keeps some kids in the PS system who might otherwise end up HSed by the fundies.

On the down-side, they're missing a class a week.

Between this and what Kansas has done, can we concede that the PS standard is a political football, quality subject to the whims of the electorate?

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Oh the things we discover when we actually

click on the link and READ the article :)

I want to know what the requirements for Math and Science are in PA. If the kids take those required classes and have time left over for these Religion classes, then what is the problem? If they aren't taking enough Science and Math, then state graduation standards need to be changed.

I have a larger problem, frankly, with the practice of kids going to high school for half a day and then on to work. A certain amount of job training in high school is probably good, but we have kids here who get to senior year and have only one or two classes left to graduate. So the school puts them in work study programs. Why not college classes? That was the practice when I was in high school.

Here in MO, they have changed the Math requirements and are currently looking at Science. The state recognizes the need for more rigor in high school programs. Thank goodness.