Rantings of a Creole Princess

Let's talk about this...

"Black males now make up only 5 percent of college enrollment nationally, but 36 percent of the prison population."

Shocking School Achievement Gap for Black Males:  New Study Shows African-American Male Students Languish at the Bottom of Every Educational Category

What are you thinking?

How does this stack up with the males in YOUR family?

Where do you think the disconnect is?

Does this shock YOU?

Graduate Degrees

Did you receive your graduate degree from the same school you received your undergrad degree? 

Was it in the same field? 

Did you go full-time or part-time? 

Did you work while in school?

Do you feel getting the degree was worth it?

Parent Teacher Conferences

Have you had one this year yet?  Is your child doing well?  Did you have a list of questions you wanted to ask the teacher?  Do you ever ask if there are any signs of bullying going on?

*sigh*

My Teacher is a Witch

Your teacher tells your kid she's a witch.

You initially laugh it off because you think she's using it as a scare tactic to get your child to behave in class.

Turns out she wasn't joking.

She IS a witch.

You good?

Ms. Such and Such

How would you feel if your kids' school wanted the students to call the teachers by their first names?  Do you think this is odd? 

Question...

Has your child had many male teachers in school?

Poorly Performing Teachers

Do YOU have a problem with poorly performing teachers being released from their jobs?

Per Ted...

The word of the day is:  Propinquity

Please use it in a sentence.  :)

Student Loans

Do you have student loans? 

How much student loan debt did you have after you got out of school?

How many years is it going to take you to pay them off completely?

Do you think it was worth it based on YOUR career?  How are you advising YOUR kids regarding?  Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt

 

Vocational Trade School Scams?

I think this is soooooooo jacked up man.  I've been warning young people in Louisiana for years about those trade schools that make it so easy for you to sign on the dotted line for a loan to go to trade school cuz it's SERIOUS down South.  Damn shame folks gotta get "got" when trying to do better for themselves.  Sheesh!

For Profit and trade schools are charging folks $40,000 plus and getting them to pay via student loans when they don't come out making anywhere NEAR that much money.  Seems a lose/lose situation to me and those poor folks are getting caught up something serious.  *sigh*

The New Poor

What say you?  If a person doesn't want to go to college...what advice would you have for them regarding learning a trade?  Do you know anyone who got caught up in one of these situations?

Are HBCUs better at graduating Blacks?

Only 37% of students who attend HBCUs graduate within 6 years.

Only 29% of HBCU males complete a bachelor’s degree within six years

The graduation rate of Blacks who graduate from non-HBCUs within 6 years is 4% higher.

What does this do to the long held argument that HBCUs are better at graduating Blacks?  What do you think is needed to fix this?

Hmmmmm...

A teacher is doing a lesson with her advanced placement students about the negative effects of racism.

It was being filmed.

Four of the students were wearing traditional K.lan costumes for the shoot.

The teacher has been placed on administrative leave because of the K.lan costumes.

The school is outspoken regarding this being a poor decision made by the teacher.

What say you?  Justified?  Much ado about nothing?  How would you feel if YOU were a parent of one of her students?  Do you think that this reaction is one of the types that lead people to believe folks are trying to write history is such a way that it seems as if it was always warm and fuzzy?

Students Wear K.KK Uniforms to School

UPDATED: Sherri Lynn Davis - Teacher

Sherri Lynn Davis is a two time teacher of the year in a Houston charter school.

One of her students is a 13 year old boy with a history of violence towards teachers and students.

The young man was bullying and threatening a special needs girl.

Sherri Lynn Davis (who is a head or so taller than the young man it seems) snapped and proceeded to beat his azz in class.

Sherri Lynn Davis pretty much says she gets sick of dealing with kids who have no discipline and their parents are uninvolved in their education AND discipline as she states THIS child's mother is.  She is pretty much stating that not much teaching is going on in a lot of schools because of kids like this one and their need to figure out how to deal with them.

Sherri Lynn Davis says she simply...SNAPPED...and she has since been fired.

"Teacher Cites Frustration, Lack in Training in Attack"

What say you?  How would you feel if this was YOUR child being handled?  How would you feel if YOUR child was one of THIS child's victims?  

Should teachers have to deal with kids who are threatening and violent?  Do YOU know of a teacher who has been hit by a student?

Video with his mother speaking out regarding:

Testing...

Is there a lot of pressure in your school district for the kids to do well on standardized tests?  Do you feel the pressure to do well on these tests hinder them learning what they need to learn?

Did you have a lot of pressure to do well on these tests when YOU were in school?

Proud Mama Moment from S23!

Just got this from S23 and it made me grin from ear-to-ear!

S23:  I don't know if y'all remember the days when I had to go to school and threaten him to behave, but he's almost done with 2nd grade and he continues to make me the proudest mommy! I couldn't have asked for a better kid...

GO TAN GO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Monnie,

How are you?  I just wanted to share my accomplishment with you and the tribe.   I have graduated from University of Maryland University College with my Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.  I'm so proud of myself!

Thank you,
Tan

Ready for College?

Do you think that the school system in your area is doing a good job preparing kids for college?

Church and School

Did YOU go to a faith based school?  What kind?

Would you prefer it if your child went to a faith based school or do you prefer it when there is no church in school?  Why?

Question...

How would you feel if your child's teacher sent a letter home full of misspelled words?

AS.IF!

Parents Not Allowed

Scenario...F Students on NOTICE!

There is a school dance.

All the kids are looking forward to it.

The Principal has decided that if you have an F average...you can't go to the dance.

He posted the list of students with an F average outside of his office with a note that says 'NO DANCE.'

A bunch of the F students' parents are mad saying their children's privacy is being violated.

Would you be?

Scenario...

Your child's teacher calls you at the office.

She wants to know why you didn't show up for the parent/teacher conference today.

You didn't know about a parent/teacher conference.

Your 14 year old has gone to great lengths to hide this from you.

Your 14 year old was caught cheating on a test and signed your name to the letter sent home.

Your 14 year old has also deleted all emails the teacher sent you as well as phone messages.

How do you handle?  Wht is an appropriate punishment?

Private School

Did you attend private school?  Do your children?  Why or why not?  If it's a decision driven by cost...if they could be placed in a lottery for a private school scholarship...would you do it?

*sigh*

Being Black at a Predominantly White University

Did you have any struggles?  How did you overcome?

Did you feel "lost?"

What types of activities did you enjoy?

Were most of your friends Black?

Did you feel nurtured by your advisors and professors?

What was the hardest thing about attending?

Opinion From My Inbox:

Monica,

I didn't want to post this on the HBCU post and would like for you to please
post anonymously.  I'm an HBCU graduate and went to a PWI for my graduate
degree.  In high school I was an honors student and I excelled at the HBCU

too graduating with honors.  I decided to go to a prominent school in my fieldand wasn't very

surprised that I was accepted nor was I surprised that I received a
scholarship.

Right in the beginning I felt at a disadvantage and didn't feel I knew as
much as my other counterparts who did not attend HBCUs.  I found that
even the basic things were not the same as what I knew and my grades really
suffered a lot in the beginning.  After finding a mentor who explained my experience was more
common that I thought.  My confidence was shattered and it took a lot of
very hard work for me to maintain even the basic average to stay in my
program.  I lost my scholarship because I couldn't maintain the grades
required for that so I had to get student loans for the first time in my life.

I know that most people's experiences are different but I'm curious as to
how many people who are defending their excellent HBCU education actually
have anything to compare it to.  Everyone I know who attended an HBCU and
then a PWI struggled greatly because the standards weren't the same in the
curriculum and in what we were expected to know.  At the HBCU we were all
coddled it seemed and I now feel that the family feeling you have while
attending an HBCU isn't worth not being as prepared as others are in my field.

I don't want to start any drama but I wanted to share that with the tribe.  I
wouldn't allow my child to attend an HBCU because of my firsthand
experience and send money whenever I can to my alma mater to help.

MIssissippi HBCU Merger

Jackson State University has 8,785 students

Alcorn State University has 3,339 students

Mississippi Valley State has 2,819 students

So...the Governor of Mississippi has a proposal on the table to merge these three schools.  They are not being run "well" apparently and haven't been run well "allegedly" for years.  Students' education has been compromised because leadership is lacking and money hasn't been used well.

They've been trying to figure out, for a while, how to make the schools better...INDIVIDUALLY.

BUT...nothing has changed so...the proposal is to merge the three schools making them one big school and using the best of the best administrators from each school to run the big school.

Now...Black people in Mississippi and from HBCUs all over the country are up in arms saying that this is a racist move and that the schools simply require adequate funding in order to do better be better.

The one big school is not a draw for them as they are holding on to traditions from each of the schools regardless as to what the stats coming out of those schools are telling them about the success of the majority of these grads coming out of these "poorly run" schools.

What do YOU think?  Is the merger racist?  Can the schools continue to survive as is?  Would a merger be a good thing to SAVE the schools and preserve the institution of HBCUs in Mississippi?  Would you allow YOUR child to attend one of these 3 schools as is currently? 

What say you?

Too Fat To Graduate? Lincoln University's BMI Requirement Causes Uproar 

Morehouse Dress Code: Boys Will be Boys

Two years ago Morehouse (a private university) decided a dress code was needed because students of the prestigious university had lost their ever-loving-minds.  Seems the menfolk were wearing sagging pants, pajamas bottoms with t-shirts and flip flops to class.  The new administration got annoyed when some of them walked around and saw their version of the talented tenth looking more like they were scattered around a crack house waiting on Pookie to bring them their fix.

I was cool with that.

I'm the type of adult that will tell a young man to pull up his pants in public.  I always make sure I tell him in a way that doesn't embarrass him in front of others but yeah...I tell him.

And they pull up their pants.

So yeah...I was cool with that.  It's Morehouse ya know?  MOREHOUSE.  Respect the legacy.

Last week Morehouse found themselves needing to CLARIFY the dress code a bit by adding the following rules:

Room without a view...

I read a fascinating article recently about kids, technology and school.  My brain started binging, of course, and it lead me all over the net to other articles regarding.

Question...

Do YOU think children would learn better in classrooms with absolutely no technology OR do you think technology is needed in the classrooms?  No computer, no cellphones, no calculators, no iPods, no iPhones, no eBooks...

What say YOU? 

Homeschooling

Could you do it?  What would be your reasons for doing so?  What would be your reasons for not doing it?

Question...

Did you live on campus? 

What did you like about it? 

What did you dislike about it?  

If you didn't...did you feel like you missed out on anything?

Educate Your Mind!

What did you major in in college?  Do you work in the field of your major?

Going to school while working FULL TIME...

Any advice?  Tips?  Warnings? 

Did you do it?

HOW?

From Nathan Jefferson:

I am attending  Baltimore City Community College and am wondering should I transfer at thirty credits or the maximum sixty. Did anyone attend any of Maryland’s finest colleges if so which ones? Is it better to take a pre-law course or a regular course such as Sociology or Philosophy before moving on to law school? Am I too old for law school (36) will finish at the ripe old age of (43) after I get my bachelor’s degree? I always wanted to be a lawyer and am tired of dreaming about it and am going to work my ass off for it.

Online Education

"...But I am not feeling the online education thing. I think too many people are thinking that an online education is the same as sitting in a classroom and I totally disagree. I do not want online education to be considered the standard." - Babs

This was a very interesting comment.  What do you guys think.  Does online education measure up?  What about the places like the University of Phoenix?  Do you think employers believe education from these types of places aren't a REAL education?