In my business, experience and training I understand the predictive power of actuarial tables (statistics). You can have an (individual) exception from stats – that happens. What does not happen is wholesale deviation from established norms without a powerful change/explanation. Only a fool thinks otherwise.

And yes, people do cheat – especially if they have no problem with lying, cheating and stealing in the first place.

Great job, big fella.

I believe something does happen during that transition from elementary to middle and high school. That is why I think it is so important to catch them while they are young, and continue to support them as they move through these transitions.

Best wishes for continued success to the Superstar Students. 80)

That’s the same outrage when dead students friends and families object to anyone asking why or discussing how their deaths occurred. You believe this policy blog is for your private Facebook-like use.

Well you’re really going to be unhappy. Policy blogs are about policy not individuals. You whining that discouraging words be silenced, while typical of liberals, doesn’t seem to control things. You don’t control things. That must be very difficult for you.

You also think that my comments “assail children”. As opposed to assailing you perhaps? Nonsense. Amir is doing well. I would love for him to continue to do well – in OUSD. He’s probably be better off in a better school district but that’s just one person’s opinion. I’ll spell this out again so that you can get it.

Amir is a bright black child. There are others. I am concerned about what happens to the bright black children in the black failure factory is see OUSD being. It’s very tough competing against the Jewish kids, the White kids (they are not the same), the Asian kids, Indian kids, and all the other competitors with Tiger Moms. Where are the 17 year old “Amirs” and what is happening to them – especially the black boys who were once 3rd grade “Amirs”? Are my concerns unnecessary and the bright black boys of OUSD are really being well handled? I wish.

What I have reason to believe and do believe is that they are dulled by OUSD to the point that they are not moving up socially, economically and professionally. Maybe they are being groomed to be “activists” or social workers, not Judges, physicians and business executives, or scientists. My beef is that it’s easy to divert talent away from the higher levels. A little too much tolerance, compassion, black english and ethnic studies rather than science, history (real not PC) and math.

How many black males are (seriously) directed to the Service Academies out of OUSD? Any eagle scouts, etc..

So here we are you and I. Look for that “Ignore” button – must be one around somewhere. I think it’s there on AOL!

Quit dealing with individuals and debate policy please. This isn’t Facebook.

Ms. Murphy, might you look into enhancing your blog with an Ignore button? I respect and share your reverence for free speech, but in the real world, we also have freedom of association. If the discussion here weren’t all about schools, it would be easy enough to ignore the inevitable oafs and troubled souls of the Internet. But when a grown man purposely and repeatedly sets out to assail children, the rules change.

It would undoubtedly increase the traffic here, and bless the city of Oakland, if visitors to your site had at least the option of disappearing this person’s remarks. Many thanks for your consideration.

You have your opinion, I have mine.

I don’t believe it takes away great news for one child for me to complain that this school district is manufacturing misery for countless other children. And as you should know by now, I insist the district is deliberately pushing the good news of the young children to turn us away from the failure OUSD produces for the older minority children

So get used to this.

As far as my commentary of my experiences – learn from it. Let’s hear of yours. Are you a white liberal? Knowing what you are helps the reader understand where your point of view comes from. Are you 35 or 55? It would help to know this to decide how much creedence to give your opinion.

I see black folks as well as white middle class folks having increasingly more desperate problems and I’m angry about it. I see that the quality of the secondary schooling these people had affects their quality of life tremendously. It’s just that simple.

Brave New World.

I’ve asked this before, so I’m really not expecting anyone who’s so pitifully unable to recognize what a self-centered fool he’s making of himself to suddenly develop a sense of decorum, consideration, or dignity. But there ARE numerous other topics on the blog to which you can reply, complain, recycle the same blather for the leventy-hundredth time, boohoo about your own childhood, exhibit your need for long overdue personal therapy, or otherwise rehash your delusions that the entire world revolves around you and that your unseemly belly-button gazing remotely interests anyone else.

Check your inner Eeyore, please (with apologies to Eeyore, who was at least interesting), and quit peeing on these children’s parades. You cannot possibly be cognizant of how bad you look when you pull this stuff, so trust me, just knock it off.