The president of the Detroit school board can barely read and write. Does it matter? (college, degree)
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(NOTE: I also posted a thread on this topic in the Detroit forum, but I thought I'd see if it's something that might start a discussion here, too.)
Laura Berman's column in the Detroit News begins with this:
Quote:
The president of the Detroit school board, Otis Mathis, is waging a legal battle to steer the academic future of 90,000 children, in the nation's lowest-achieving big city district.
He also acknowledges he has difficulty composing a coherent English sentence. Here's a sample from an e-mail he sent to friends and supporters on Sunday night, uncorrected for errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage. It begins: If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason's he gave for closing school to many empty seats.
It goes on to raise questions about whether he should be considered a success story, as someone who has overcome his shortcomings, or held up as an example of the failings of school systems that graduate students who can barely read and write. Pretty interesting article - I recommend reading it.
Just in case you can't be bothered to click, here's another example of the grammar stylings of the president of Detroit's school board:
Quote:
Do DPS control the Foundation or outside group? If an outside group control the foundation, then what is DPS Board row with selection of is director? Our we mixing DPS and None DPS row's, and who is the watch dog?
From The Detroit News: DPS leader's bad writing: Wrong message? | detnews.com | The Detroit News
My first reaction was to be appalled that this man is the president of the school board. It just drips with so-laughable-it's-sad irony. But upon further reflection, I can see how he could be an inspiration to some. So yeah. I don't know.
What do you think? Not a big deal? Or horrifying? Somewhere in between?
My son and daughter have language issues, and it is inspiring to hear of someone who dealt with this and succeeded in life.
But the story also said he had been identified as in need of special education since the 4th grade, and I'd like to see how well that was handled. Or wasn't handled.
Just maybe this guy has a lot to offer and truely understands the importance of turning the Detroit schools around.
Perhaps, but this is a large US city. Its more likely he is a political crony with the right party affiliation and fundraising abilities. (You know, like buying a senate seat in Illinois )
Besides, I'm aching for someone to make fun of for stuff like this since Bush left office.
He may understand the importance of turning Detroit schools around, but does he have the ability to do that? I seriously wonder. His writing and speaking skills are so atrocious I wonder if the people he has to work with even understand what he is saying.
But there is more at issue here than just his lack of coherence, sentence structure, and grammar. He is demonstrating a fundamental lack of leadership ability. His thoughts express his complete lack of understanding of the organizational structure.
Turning an organization around, any kind of organization, requires clarity and decisiveness in decision-making and purpose. This guy just doesn't have it.
Oh my no, this guy should not be in charge of anything. I'm not saying he isn't intelligent but being able to communicate effectively is the cornerstone to EVERYTHING. I personally would not be able to take him seriously in a business setting. Or a personal one for that matter.
Unreal. I don't even have a college degree and I am capable of speaking and writing well. How can somebody with atrocious grammar skills be in such a prominent and important position?
Unreal. I don't even have a college degree and I am capable of speaking and writing well. How can somebody with atrocious grammar skills be in such a prominent and important position?
Because some people (like I said, they might have been on drugs) started up a meme somewhere along the line (like I said, some time around the 60s) that there is a virtue in elevating incompetent people to important positions. The idea isn't just that competence doesn't matter. It's that competence is a bad thing. It makes you "elitist" and "unable to connect with the less fortunate" and yada yada. It's a bankrupt way of looking at the world, but it does seem to be hanging on in some locales. Detroit is, unsurprisingly, one of them.
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