Nextset – we all have to support Lisa and Robert. They are doing God’s work because they won’t take no for an answer and are willing to meet with defiance the hand they have been dealt. That makes them the best kind of educators.

What do you think of the new thread about graduation rates?

Who’s fault/responsibility is it the various groups are where they are on graduating? Their parents? The teachers? The State? The students themselves? The Food Producers?

It’s his eye-sight that’s causing the confusion here. The “bubble’s” existance is his “comfort zone”. Apparently, he can’t get out of his own “comfort zone” no matter how many times he advises others to get out of theirs.

Some of us want to, and do, get out and swim in the ocean, while, like Nextset, some prefer to stay in their small pond where they can feel like they’re a big fish.

When I played high school sports, we wouldn’t see the next level until North Coast Sectionals — and then it was like we were running in sand.

Think of BAUDL as OAL and the invitationals as NCS and the parallel is pretty simple.

BTW, Tanesha is going to UCLA and hopes to start a Policy Debate team there because they don’t have one. She is hardly keeping herself in a bubble.

“BAUDL League set the bar high.”
That’s not the point. The problem I see (complained about) here is that the students are being gently steered into debating only with certain people and not with the others. White/Jewish dominated schools for example that don’t make the 40-40 cut.

“In addition you can not say this is a race based activity … We have (Blacks, Whites, Asians, Mexicans)”.
Also not the point. My beef is that you are carefully being pitted only against racially “balanced” schools so that you don’t run up against a school of Mormons, a school of Southern Whites, A school of WASP patricians, etc. It is less safe to reach employment age/career age and not to have the experience of dealing with everybody and their behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. You wouldn’t even know what you are missing.

“The Bay Area Urban Debate League …” (gives us a good experience).
That may be true, but don’t say they are exposing you to all comers and all takers. You are being run through a limited experience. It is what it is, there’s not enough money to do everything. But look out for hidden political agendas designed to keep you on the reservation.

” (they like me, they do things for me, they give me a laptop even) ”
Also not the point. No one said the people who spend time and energy don’t like you. There is a line about pats on the back holding you back… it’s TRUE. No malice implied, just that you are about to experience a lot of people keeping your training wheels on and keeping you on the reservation. Open your eyes and look at all of these experiences critically rather than being so grateful you were let out of the house at all. There is a reason why you were paired with “appropriate” schools as opponents. Never go through life taking somebody else’s word for it that you should stay with “appropriate” – even if they might be right and you might be safer & comfortable that way.

There is a lot of goodies out there for some black folks that move quickly and early away from safe and expected fields of study and competition.

Just ask Condeleeza Rice. Now how old was she when she started studying Russian & Concert Piano? How about those board seats before she became Secretary of State?

I may hurt to think this way, but it’s later than you think. I have met too many black folks in my life who, going back to the turn of the century – the previous one – did something NO black folks did and hit it big. Sometimes they went to places where they were the only one, sometimes they went to far away schools, sometimes they studied some subject the other blacks never did, sometimes they just made friends with people no one else did.

Actually between meeting and reading about black folks who were extraordinary, if there is one thing I learned it’s that can pay big to pursue unconventional education, travel, experiences and occupations.

Letting anybody else draw reservation boundries and stick you into it doesn’t pay if for the simple reason you end up being just another one of a herd. Sometimes it’s better to run off to Paris.

I reacted to this issue because of my own experiences. You’re just getting yours. Enjoy the time in school and make your own decisions.

As if Mr. Sherr sets policy for the district and what leagues the district will join or not… As far as I know he is a teacher not an administrator.

But to your point.. I would not work as a OUSD Teacher. I don’t buy into the philosophy of OUSD or the way it is run or the way they treat their workers. If was to take a Bay Area teaching job it would be at college level unless it was Piedmont Unified. The reason is the (more) appropriate working conditions.

There is no future in working for a badly run charity – or contributing to one.

And if you are going to steal my handle – tell us something about yourself so we can decide if we should even sconsider taking your point of view seriously. What is your education and experience?

One of the duties I believe the educators of black students have is to get their students as prepared as possible to get out of the Negro Leagues into mainstream competition for jobs/occupations as part of the duty of education to promote economic and social mobility. And the odd part of all this is that the students is most cases are in no hurry at all to get out of their comfort zone. They might just decide to stay in the N leagues in many things.. like the menu better and all that.

Or maybe this kind of thought is just a relic of 1964. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The grass was always greener. So’s the service.