Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Pittman stands up for illiteracy with encouragement from Superintendent.

Civil rights activist Ineva May-Pittman criticized the third grade reading tests and asked parents to sue the state over the results in comments made at the May 19 meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Jackson Public School District of Jackson in the Magnolia State of Mississippi.  Superintendent Dr. Cedric Gray encouraged opposition to the law and tests as well as can be seen in the video posted below.




Kingfish note:  Ms. Pittman stood up to many injustices in life but she is wrong in this case.  The real crime is that nearly a third of the third-grade students in a "D" rated district in the worst educational system in the nation can't pass the reading test.  They are given two more opportunities to take the test.

If Ms. Pittman wants to lead and not march, what she should do is urge the Superintendent to work with the local churches in Jackson to get those students in those churches after school and on weekends to learn how to read.  The civil rights activists worked many long hours registering people to vote.  Its time they took that energy and focused it on teaching those kids to read instead of as usual, attacking the standards or the test. 

As for Dr. Gray, well, his comments need no additional comment.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, kids. You're the "white man's burden." We can ride this train for another hundred years.

Come on, Cedric. Demand excellence!

Anonymous said...

With leadership like that...

Anonymous said...

I disagree with your assessment JJ. I havent read all of Ms Pittman's opinion, but I think this points to abject failure of the education system in Mississippi. I think a lawsuit is a stretch but it sure gets attention. The State is responsiblenot only to those children and families but to me as well, taxpayer / property owner / citizen

Anonymous said...

Pittman is an idiot. Despite your defense of her because of something she may (or may not have actually) done decades ago, over the past two decades she has done nothing except to harass and bitch. All she is missing is the national attention, and therefore dollars, of a Jackson or a Sharpton. All bitch and no action, thus no results. But they don't care - this group doesn't want results, they just want personal attention. If Pittman wanted results, she wouldn't suggest a lawsuit, she would be demanding that the schools educate the children, and that the parents would get involved/interested in the advancement of their children.

Anonymous said...

I M Pittman epitomizes the problem - certainly not the solution. If she was a first/second/third grade teacher, there is no wonder that parents of children in school today can't read. She taught school and believes that someone that can't read in the third grade should be passed on to the fourth grade!! Unreal.

My daughter teaches second grade and has in the past taught first. Her students didn't move on to second if they couldn't read. But then again, they didn't get As and Bs without being able to read either.

If Ms Pittman thinks that kids are getting As and Bs but can't read in the third grade, then the problem is with the teachers and the system that gives these grades. And if the highly paid superintendent thinks that this kind of education should continue, as he evidently does based on his comments and encouraging people to vote against legislators that instituted the third grade reading gate - then its just too bad that we don't have the opportunity to exercise our vote against him!! Maybe we should vote against those that appoint the poor leadership of the JPS that gives this kind of leadership raises rather than sending them packing.

Step Up And Receive Your Trophy said...

1:35; Methinks you miss the point entirely. It's not about your burden. It's about black people not wanting accountability and coveting a world where there are no measures of progress or failure.....a world where all are average and everyone gets a trophy (and, in this case, an advancement to 4th grade)....a world where the white man cannot hold back non-achievers and deny them their right to the piece of the pie to which they are entitled.

Are you beginning to see more clearly now?

PS: Having met and followed Dr. Grey, I am disappointed. We might as well return to the non-management of Jane Sargent (sp)....

Anonymous said...

4:34 pm I see clearly that you don't seem to understand that there are white children that can't read in the third grade as well! And, you don't know that there are more than a few whites in this state whose reading comprehension never gets beyond that of a 5th grader! You might want to wonder why Mississippi only used ACT rather than SAT scores for so many years as well and why Mississippi couldn't have professional recognition agreements with so many other states for so long!

Look at the results on ACT and SAT tests compared to other states.

You might also look at the weight given Mississippi schools, public and private, in those colleges and universities that use mathematical formulas to decide on acceptance!

Yes, we have bright children from well educated families that overcome these obstacles that are nice exceptions that some of you will love to use for denial of decades of a education system in need of reform at every level!

If Ms. Pittman is doing nothing more than saying " The Emperor has no clothes", that's at least more of an effort that those of you who seem to fear or avoid knowledge are doing!






Anonymous said...

It's about black people not wanting accountability and coveting a world where there are no measures of progress or failure ...

Or, in Brad Franklin's narrative, a world where you are placed into key jobs not because you are qualified but simply because you think it is your turn.

Anonymous said...

June 4, 2015 at 7:20 AM = Yada, yada, yada

Anonymous said...

Anyone that knows anything about testing knows you must create a baseline through pilot testing before you can set passing levels. There was no pilot test. A lawsuit will be successful.

Anonymous said...

9:05 - I'm sure you and Ronnie Musgrove can fathom such a lawsuit, but I'll take bets on its success. To use your theory, there would be no holding back of a kid in any grade for failing. You don't pass the basic requirements, you don't pass to the next grade. The reading gate is nothing different than all the other tests administered in all school systems.

7:20 - yes, there are white kids that can't read either. This is not a racial issue until it is brought into JPS and Ms. Pittman's blather. If a kid cannot pass the basic reading test (and I believe they are given three chances, just like Little Bunny FuFu) by the end of third grade he doesn't have a chance in future grades to learn and thus eventually is either 'socially passed' or drops out. Either one is a failure of our education system. I agree with you, it is failing in too many areas of the state. Problem in Jackson is - the administrators laud the theory and Ms. Pittman's statements - that we shouldn't hold back a kid that can't read.

Anonymous said...

I'm 9:05. I'm not saying I'm against the test. What I am saying is the Guv put this in effect without a pilot year of testing to set a baseline. Anyone knows in testing and measurement that you can't set passing levels without historical data. To even complicate it more the passing score was set after the test was given, so basically whoever set the passing score chose which students would fail without any supporting historical data from MS. The lawsuit will be viable if someone chooses to challenge it. 10:25, I'm just looking at it without a bias either way.

Anonymous said...

11:42 pm I agree. And, another component is to find how WHY the child can't read!
For goodness sakes, some of those failing might be farsighted and never have been tested! Some may be dyslexic! Some may have undetected hearing lost so as not to hear some ranges but not be noticeably deaf! Some may have profound learning disabilities.

This is about doing the best by ALL this Nation's children that we are capable of doing. And, if you think that is a partisan or racial issue, you are literally fanatically INSANE!

Our Nation will do only as well in the future as it's children!

Playing politics with education is what has broken this system and you can cast blame by nitpicking different failures all you want but ALL of the political parties are to blame . They are to blame because they can't EVER own up to a mistake or face that they aren't always right!

Kingfish said...

You make good points about pilot testing but there is still the problem that too many of these kids can't read.

When half the third graders in a school can't read, the problem is not the lack of a pilot testing program.

Anonymous said...

I agree KF, but no one's really looking at why they can't read.



Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.