tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post5792102845824636508..comments2023-10-02T08:28:06.724-05:00Comments on Ecology of Absence: Adams Recommends Closing Six School BuildingsMichael R. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17262548806079447404noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-11896284228632430662010-04-22T23:20:41.623-05:002010-04-22T23:20:41.623-05:00Harvard sociologist William Wilson argues that man...Harvard sociologist William Wilson argues that many urban poor hold "middle class" values such as the idea of hard work, however are constrained by its absence. I cannot speak for Naples, but within many squatter cities one will see high crime as living in squalor without a job or education often constrains choice regardless of values or "morality." It might be easier to pass judgment upon those in St. Charles for example, who have access to much better schools, higher quality food, as well as institutional support which is largely absence from areas like North St. Louis due to the exodus of the African American middle class. <br /><br />The behavior you decry will not be solved with privatization of the SLPS, gentrification, or through prisons. It begins with either jobs locating in the City, a huge transit expansion, or affordable low income housing in areas like Clayton or Chesterfield. <br /><br />Hopefully we can find a use for our SLPS buildings -- perhaps cryogenic storage until all of the white people return from suburbia after the African Americans are pushed into the inner ring. If I had children then I would send them to the SLPS. Given dissatisfaction, I would become involved. If every parent took their child out of catholic school then the SLPS wouldn't need closure nor would the state have taken over the district.Doug Duckworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15684467055184767166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-23466936668068464612010-04-18T21:42:23.480-05:002010-04-18T21:42:23.480-05:00I just got back from Naples, Italy, a severely poo...I just got back from Naples, Italy, a severely poor city with 33%(!) unemployment. I walked around some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, and not once did I see children grossly misbehaving. Poverty is not an excuse for lacking morality.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08064334959354090683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-69150586589854659372010-04-18T21:39:08.865-05:002010-04-18T21:39:08.865-05:00Doug, would you enroll your kids at Roosevelt? Wh...Doug, would you enroll your kids at Roosevelt? Why or why not?Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08064334959354090683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-36907268868848588312010-04-16T23:50:48.621-05:002010-04-16T23:50:48.621-05:00Force their children to behave?
How about plann...Force their children to behave? <br /><br />How about planned underdevelopment in cities for decades. In 2000 the unemployment for African Americans was already nearly 20%. Being unemployed myself I have a hard time enough trying to behave. I couldn't imagine having children by myself or being raised by an underemployed single parent. Perhaps my attitudes for discipline and reality might incur a disconnect?Doug Duckworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15684467055184767166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-46168711290219805572010-04-16T14:45:40.761-05:002010-04-16T14:45:40.761-05:00Until parents force their children to behave, ther...Until parents force their children to behave, there is no hope for St. Louis public schools. And considering the way many of my adult students (parents of many SLPS students) act, there is no hope.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08064334959354090683noreply@blogger.com