Chapter 10 covered a lot in terms of equal opportunity and the structure of the school system. I found the part about mentally retarded people and the idea of sterilization quite shocking. I suppose I can understand the reasoning behind it, but it is just upsetting that people think that way. I remember from my time in High School there was a mentally retarded kid named Richard in my class. He was not only nice, but also participated more than the average kid. He never disrupted the class either. From my own experience with him I would have to say that the whole concept of sterilization is ridiculous, because he managed school just fine, and even attends community college now. I understand Richard is just one man, but to me he was representative of people like himself, and he was in the back of my mind throughout reading the chapter. I was wondering based on Richard’s story and the chapter: Do you think there should be assistance for kids with mental disabilities in each class, or should there be separate programs for those in need? Should it be up to the parents to choose which course to take, or the schools? Is there any factors that would change you opinion, such as how many students in the class, or location of the school…
Another thing which I thought about while reading this section of the book is our discussion from class we had the other week regarding Mayor Bloomberg appointing some woman, I believe her name was Cathy Black, as the head of New York City school’s. She is basically a symbol for what this chapter talked about in terms of treating schools as businesses to be run and organized. I myself am not opposed to this idea—especially in NYC. The school system is so large that at the top there is bound to be a disconnect between students and organization. This should be handled as such, however I do not think that the students should be treated as objects or pawns, so small in the system that they do not matter. This is where standardized testing places them—which I am not in favor of. Tests such as the SAT and ACT are the fatal flaw in the school system which make for too much control by numbers and disconnected officials. However, Do you think that the business approach would be successful if not for these exams? If it were not for things such as this I think that a business like approach would be doable. These tests and other approaches to make intelligence and performance quantifiable ruin it though.
