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There is a certain disconnect between those who want drama and reality. CNN is breaking through this quite nicely. They are providing both within one documentary. That I like. However, they need to be careful here...trying to combine fact and fiction is always a big gamble. If they stick to non-fiction they will be OK, but adding fiction is dangerous. I can't remember a series that offers both, but perhaps CNN can make it work. Non-fiction based on fiction is a slender slope. Good for them for making a try at it.
I started to watch it, and I learned things I didn't know. Documentary films don't hold my attention any better than PBS' English maids and lords. I'll take Poirot and Charlie Rose.
I have a real problem with a 10 year old coached to get up to a microphone and just yell, recite the word 'racist' without really being old enough to understand the context of how he is using it, and - what a coincidence - his mother has something to do with the Teacher's Union. This isn't about racism or schools closing - necessarily - it's about his mother ending up with no job. I get it. I know how hard it is to work in education...often you have to wait until the end of August to find out if you even have a job, but up here it's different because there's hardly any jobs to start with. Chicago is the third-largest city in the US. There are other jobs. Bottom line: I have a real problem using kids who don't even know what they're talking about to make some political statement with a hidden agenda. The mother should be ashamed for putting him up to this. And dear God - I hope he doesn't end up 'the president someday'.
I love Chicago but would not like to live in a place where you have to dread the first nice, warm day because of gunfire. I would hate to live somewhere that you couldn't organize and conduct a peace march because the area surrounding the high school isn't even safe enough - during the day! - to make that happen. I know that it was given a rain check, but seeing the looks on those high school kids' faces after they worked hard to organize this was really upsetting. They really want to make a difference. I can tell these kids will go places someday, but they just have to have the right people around them to believe that, and the principal looks to be doing everything she can. I can't imagine how hard her job is considering she is doing this pretty much alone.
Regarding the school closings - it's happening everywhere. We've lost many kids here to online-based high schools because of parents who are fed up with bullying, loss of classroom instruction and teachers who are ten years past retirement and refuse to learn new media to prepare students for life in the 2020's, when most will be attending college.
What bothers me about Chicago is that I see a lot of people under age 50 who are 'community activists' who don't appear to be dressing up for work or actually going to a job, but sitting on a front porch. If there are so many community activists in these parts of the city where gang violence runs rampant, and they are on their front porches all day and night, then why on earth can't they do something to organize against gangs ruining their city?! You want to make it safe for these children to cross gang territory and have a safe route to school? Then work with the authorities so that these gangs are charged with federal crimes for obtaining guns from across state lines, work towards catching them in the act for narcotics distribution (automatic 15-20 years there) and drive these people once and for all out of your city so there are no concerns about kids walking to and from school.
There is a mentality where 'well, these kids aren't safe crossing gang territories!' - then DO SOMETHING! You DON'T have jobs, you don't go anywhere, if it really meant that much then you'd find the appropriate agencies to work with and make it happen. You can't be that passionate about keeping schools open while doing nothing to improve safety where you live. That, to me, says you care more about getting free Section 8 housing, free SSI/Disability and free bus passes rather than chance that to do the right things for your kids. That's the affect that generational welfare has had - 'well, I can't be seen working otherwise my benefits will be cut!'.
Bottom line is they don't care. Doing nothing and getting disability for some phoney medical condition is more important than kids getting shot on the way to or from school. That's where I really had a problem with this show. This mentality won't go away until these communities are broken up and most end up moving to small towns (because they will, inevitably, become the most affordable) where these excuses won't fly. Chicago will end up being like other megacities where the winners will be living there paying $2000 in rent while those on welfare, or without masters degrees or with kids will be forced to move to the middle of northern Montana, where they can get an apartment for $300 a month.
Last edited by IntlFalls56649; 03-08-2014 at 09:39 AM..
What bothers me about Chicago is that I see a lot of people under age 50 who are 'community activists' who don't appear to be dressing up for work or actually going to a job, but sitting on a front porch. If there are so many community activists in these parts of the city where gang violence runs rampant, and they are on their front porches all day and night, then why on earth can't they do something to organize against gangs ruining their city?!
So you know that they are filming street scenes during business hours and not on weekends or evenings? You know that people aren't working night shift jobs? Aren't changing clothes when they get home (or don't have to wear specific work clothes)?
Producers usually just walk around and find people hanging out to talk to, and they love the image of people sitting out on a porch for these pieces. That's what they look for and film. You're making a hell of a lot of assumptions that show nothing other than your own biases.
Standing-up to armed gang members when, in all likelihood, you're unarmed an outnumbered is easier said on an internet forum than done. I'm not sure what the solution is, but calling people lazy because they don't want to get shot or get their family killed for standing-up to organized murderous criminals isn't the answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntlFalls56649
I have a real problem with a 10 year old coached to get up to a microphone and just yell, recite the word 'racist' without really being old enough to understand the context of how he is using it, and - what a coincidence - his mother has something to do with the Teacher's Union. This isn't about racism or schools closing - necessarily - it's about his mother ending up with no job. I get it. I know how hard it is to work in education...often you have to wait until the end of August to find out if you even have a job, but up here it's different because there's hardly any jobs to start with. Chicago is the third-largest city in the US. There are other jobs. Bottom line: I have a real problem using kids who don't even know what they're talking about to make some political statement with a hidden agenda. The mother should be ashamed for putting him up to this. And dear God - I hope he doesn't end up 'the president someday'.
I love Chicago but would not like to live in a place where you have to dread the first nice, warm day because of gunfire. I would hate to live somewhere that you couldn't organize and conduct a peace march because the area surrounding the high school isn't even safe enough - during the day! - to make that happen. I know that it was given a rain check, but seeing the looks on those high school kids' faces after they worked hard to organize this was really upsetting. They really want to make a difference. I can tell these kids will go places someday, but they just have to have the right people around them to believe that, and the principal looks to be doing everything she can. I can't imagine how hard her job is considering she is doing this pretty much alone.
Regarding the school closings - it's happening everywhere. We've lost many kids here to online-based high schools because of parents who are fed up with bullying, loss of classroom instruction and teachers who are ten years past retirement and refuse to learn new media to prepare students for life in the 2020's, when most will be attending college.
What bothers me about Chicago is that I see a lot of people under age 50 who are 'community activists' who don't appear to be dressing up for work or actually going to a job, but sitting on a front porch. If there are so many community activists in these parts of the city where gang violence runs rampant, and they are on their front porches all day and night, then why on earth can't they do something to organize against gangs ruining their city?! You want to make it safe for these children to cross gang territory and have a safe route to school? Then work with the authorities so that these gangs are charged with federal crimes for obtaining guns from across state lines, work towards catching them in the act for narcotics distribution (automatic 15-20 years there) and drive these people once and for all out of your city so there are no concerns about kids walking to and from school.
There is a mentality where 'well, these kids aren't safe crossing gang territories!' - then DO SOMETHING! You DON'T have jobs, you don't go anywhere, if it really meant that much then you'd find the appropriate agencies to work with and make it happen. You can't be that passionate about keeping schools open while doing nothing to improve safety where you live. That, to me, says you care more about getting free Section 8 housing, free SSI/Disability and free bus passes rather than chance that to do the right things for your kids. That's the affect that generational welfare has had - 'well, I can't be seen working otherwise my benefits will be cut!'.
Bottom line is they don't care. Doing nothing and getting disability for some phoney medical condition is more important than kids getting shot on the way to or from school. That's where I really had a problem with this show. This mentality won't go away until these communities are broken up and most end up moving to small towns (because they will, inevitably, become the most affordable) where these excuses won't fly. Chicago will end up being like other megacities where the winners will be living there paying $2000 in rent while those on welfare, or without masters degrees or with kids will be forced to move to the middle of northern Montana, where they can get an apartment for $300 a month.
Location: Schaumburg, please don't hate me for it.
955 posts, read 1,832,102 times
Reputation: 1235
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntlFalls56649
I have a real problem with a 10 year old coached to get up to a microphone and just yell, recite the word 'racist' without really being old enough to understand the context of how he is using it, and - what a coincidence - his mother has something to do with the Teacher's Union. This isn't about racism or schools closing - necessarily - it's about his mother ending up with no job. I get it. I know how hard it is to work in education...often you have to wait until the end of August to find out if you even have a job, but up here it's different because there's hardly any jobs to start with. Chicago is the third-largest city in the US. There are other jobs. Bottom line: I have a real problem using kids who don't even know what they're talking about to make some political statement with a hidden agenda. The mother should be ashamed for putting him up to this. And dear God - I hope he doesn't end up 'the president someday'.
I love Chicago but would not like to live in a place where you have to dread the first nice, warm day because of gunfire. I would hate to live somewhere that you couldn't organize and conduct a peace march because the area surrounding the high school isn't even safe enough - during the day! - to make that happen. I know that it was given a rain check, but seeing the looks on those high school kids' faces after they worked hard to organize this was really upsetting. They really want to make a difference. I can tell these kids will go places someday, but they just have to have the right people around them to believe that, and the principal looks to be doing everything she can. I can't imagine how hard her job is considering she is doing this pretty much alone.
Regarding the school closings - it's happening everywhere. We've lost many kids here to online-based high schools because of parents who are fed up with bullying, loss of classroom instruction and teachers who are ten years past retirement and refuse to learn new media to prepare students for life in the 2020's, when most will be attending college.
What bothers me about Chicago is that I see a lot of people under age 50 who are 'community activists' who don't appear to be dressing up for work or actually going to a job, but sitting on a front porch. If there are so many community activists in these parts of the city where gang violence runs rampant, and they are on their front porches all day and night, then why on earth can't they do something to organize against gangs ruining their city?! You want to make it safe for these children to cross gang territory and have a safe route to school? Then work with the authorities so that these gangs are charged with federal crimes for obtaining guns from across state lines, work towards catching them in the act for narcotics distribution (automatic 15-20 years there) and drive these people once and for all out of your city so there are no concerns about kids walking to and from school.
There is a mentality where 'well, these kids aren't safe crossing gang territories!' - then DO SOMETHING! You DON'T have jobs, you don't go anywhere, if it really meant that much then you'd find the appropriate agencies to work with and make it happen. You can't be that passionate about keeping schools open while doing nothing to improve safety where you live. That, to me, says you care more about getting free Section 8 housing, free SSI/Disability and free bus passes rather than chance that to do the right things for your kids. That's the affect that generational welfare has had - 'well, I can't be seen working otherwise my benefits will be cut!'.
Bottom line is they don't care. Doing nothing and getting disability for some phoney medical condition is more important than kids getting shot on the way to or from school. That's where I really had a problem with this show. This mentality won't go away until these communities are broken up and most end up moving to small towns (because they will, inevitably, become the most affordable) where these excuses won't fly. Chicago will end up being like other megacities where the winners will be living there paying $2000 in rent while those on welfare, or without masters degrees or with kids will be forced to move to the middle of northern Montana, where they can get an apartment for $300 a month.
My golly, the naïve assumptions and random misconceptions in this post are close to a cumulative record for a poster on this forum. Even for an outsider.
Now you know why folks like this spend their winters in ice fishing shanties, pickin' frozen nose goblins to use for bait.
Schools with a lot of problems frequently have younger principals, although I'd guess she's in her 30's.
Part of it is that they just have a hard time attracting any candidates for the positions since it's a tough job that pays less than the same job in most suburbs around the city. It is also a thankless job, since all school staff are judged on the performance of students, so it can be career suicide to take a job at a troubled school that isn't likely to improve. If a school doesn't show improvement (in a relatively short time frame) the entire staff can be let go, and end up with that as a black mark on their resume. She can make incredible strides in making the school safer, supporting the students in their personal lives, and getting the parents more engaged. But none of that matters if test scores don't go up, and she and all of the staff will be let go. This is why people are opposed to high stakes testing.
Elizabeth Dozier though was asked by Arne Duncan to join a team called the Turnaround Team in 2008. She served as co-principal of the very first Turnaround school in Chicago and then went on to become the Principal at Fenger. She is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher of Mathematics and a graduate of the New Leaders Program. Her Bachelor's degree is in Business.
Fenger, btw, is located where Barack Obama did a lot of his community organizing.
Dozier has put in place a restorative justice system at the school asking the kids to be involved in peace circles and giving them the power to resolve conflicts.
Dozier is 35, by the way. She became a principal at 31 in 2009 at Fenger. It looks like she has done her job well. She grew up in suburban Crestwood which is a pretty small town really.
I have a real problem with a 10 year old coached to get up to a microphone and just yell, recite the word 'racist' without really being old enough to understand the context of how he is using it, and - what a coincidence - his mother has something to do with the Teacher's Union. This isn't about racism or schools closing - necessarily - it's about his mother ending up with no job. I get it. I know how hard it is to work in education...often you have to wait until the end of August to find out if you even have a job, but up here it's different because there's hardly any jobs to start with. Chicago is the third-largest city in the US. There are other jobs. Bottom line: I have a real problem using kids who don't even know what they're talking about to make some political statement with a hidden agenda. The mother should be ashamed for putting him up to this. And dear God - I hope he doesn't end up 'the president someday'.
I love Chicago but would not like to live in a place where you have to dread the first nice, warm day because of gunfire. I would hate to live somewhere that you couldn't organize and conduct a peace march because the area surrounding the high school isn't even safe enough - during the day! - to make that happen. I know that it was given a rain check, but seeing the looks on those high school kids' faces after they worked hard to organize this was really upsetting. They really want to make a difference. I can tell these kids will go places someday, but they just have to have the right people around them to believe that, and the principal looks to be doing everything she can. I can't imagine how hard her job is considering she is doing this pretty much alone.
Regarding the school closings - it's happening everywhere. We've lost many kids here to online-based high schools because of parents who are fed up with bullying, loss of classroom instruction and teachers who are ten years past retirement and refuse to learn new media to prepare students for life in the 2020's, when most will be attending college.
What bothers me about Chicago is that I see a lot of people under age 50 who are 'community activists' who don't appear to be dressing up for work or actually going to a job, but sitting on a front porch. If there are so many community activists in these parts of the city where gang violence runs rampant, and they are on their front porches all day and night, then why on earth can't they do something to organize against gangs ruining their city?! You want to make it safe for these children to cross gang territory and have a safe route to school? Then work with the authorities so that these gangs are charged with federal crimes for obtaining guns from across state lines, work towards catching them in the act for narcotics distribution (automatic 15-20 years there) and drive these people once and for all out of your city so there are no concerns about kids walking to and from school.
There is a mentality where 'well, these kids aren't safe crossing gang territories!' - then DO SOMETHING! You DON'T have jobs, you don't go anywhere, if it really meant that much then you'd find the appropriate agencies to work with and make it happen. You can't be that passionate about keeping schools open while doing nothing to improve safety where you live. That, to me, says you care more about getting free Section 8 housing, free SSI/Disability and free bus passes rather than chance that to do the right things for your kids. That's the affect that generational welfare has had - 'well, I can't be seen working otherwise my benefits will be cut!'.
Bottom line is they don't care. Doing nothing and getting disability for some phoney medical condition is more important than kids getting shot on the way to or from school. That's where I really had a problem with this show. This mentality won't go away until these communities are broken up and most end up moving to small towns (because they will, inevitably, become the most affordable) where these excuses won't fly. Chicago will end up being like other megacities where the winners will be living there paying $2000 in rent while those on welfare, or without masters degrees or with kids will be forced to move to the middle of northern Montana, where they can get an apartment for $300 a month.
you seem to possess an awful lot of information about something you just watched a short, surface level documentary on.
let's be honest though, you just made this post to let out some political bitterness that's been building up inside of you.
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