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Stupid in America

“Stupid in America” is a nasty title for a program about public education, but some nasty things are going on in America’s public schools and it’s about time we face up to it.

Kids at New York’s Abraham Lincoln High School told me their teachers are so dull students fall asleep in class. One student said, “You see kids all the time walking in the school smoking weed, you know. It’s a normal thing here.”

We tried to bring “20/20” cameras into New York City schools to see for ourselves and show you what’s going on in the schools, but officials wouldn’t allow it.

Washington, D.C., officials steered us to the best classrooms in their district.

We wanted to tape typical classrooms but were turned down in state after state.

Finally, school officials in Washington, D.C., allowed “20/20” to give cameras to a few students who were handpicked at two schools they’d handpicked. One was Woodrow Wilson High. Newsweek says it’s one of the best schools in America. Yet what the students taped didn’t inspire confidence.

One teacher didn’t have control over the kids. Another “20/20” student cameraman videotaped a boy dancing wildly with his shirt off, in front of his teacher.

Watch this free online documentary and make up your own mind…is the American school system producing stupid citizens?

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  1. This was years ago. Look at what schools are like today.

  2. Public Education’s Dirty Little Secret…

    https://quillette.com/2019/02/10/public-educations-dirty-secret/

    As the weeks dragged painfully into months, it became apparent that the students wouldn’t learn anything. It was dumbfounding. It was all I could do to keep them quiet; that is, seated and talking among themselves. Sometimes I had to stop girls from grooming themselves or each other. A few brave souls tried to keep up with instruction. A particularly good history teacher once told me that she interrupted a conversation between two girls, asking them to pay attention to the lesson. One of them looked up at her scornfully and sneered, “I don’t talk to teachers,” turning her back to resume their chat. She told me that the best school she ever worked at was in Texas, where her principal managed not only to suspend the most disruptive students for long periods, he also made sure they were not admitted during that time to any other school in the district. It worked; they got good results.
    This was unthinkable in New York, where “in-house suspension” was the only punitive measure. It would be “discriminatory” to keep the students at home. The appropriate paperwork being filed, the most outrageously disruptive students went for a day or two to a room with other serious offenders. The anti-discrimination laws under which we worked took all power away from the teachers and put it in the hands of the students.
    Throughout Washington Irving there was an ethos of hostile resistance. Those who wanted to learn were prevented from doing so. Anyone who “cooperated with the system” was bullied. No homework was done. Students said they couldn’t do it because if textbooks were found in their backpacks, the offending students would be beaten up. This did not appear to be an idle threat. Too many students told their teachers the same thing. There were certainly precious few books being brought home.
    I tried everything imaginable to overcome student resistance. Nothing worked. At one point I rearranged the seating to enable the students who wanted to engage to come to the front of the classroom. The principal was informed and I was reprimanded. This was “discriminatory.” The students went back to their chosen seats near their friends. Aside from imposing order, the only thing I succeeded at was getting the students to stand silently during the Pledge of Allegiance and mumble a few songs in French. But it was a constant struggle as I tried to balance going through the motions of teaching with keeping them quiet.
    The abuse from students never let up. We were trained to absorb it. By the time I left, however, I had a large folder full of the complaint forms I’d filled out documenting the most egregious insults and harassment. There was a long process to go through each time. The student had a parent or other representative to state their case at the eventual hearing and I had my union rep. I lost every case.

  3. They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be… And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouthIn fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics. I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2?Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father? People putting their clothes on backward: Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something? Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from?? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa ….. I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid. I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don’t have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! ! With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ……… And all of them are in jail. Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..We cannot blame the white people any longer.’ Dr.. William Henry ‘Bill’ Cosby, Jr., Ed..D. WELL SAID, BILLIt’s NOT about color…It’s about behavior!!!

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    What’s on your mind?
     

      nd I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as …though retirement was a bad idea, and I’m tired. Very tired.

    I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

    I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

    I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia , New Zealand UK, America and Canada , while no one from these countries are allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach love and tolerance..

    I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

    I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

    I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

    I’m really tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

    I’m also tired and fed up with seeing young men and women in their teens and early 20’s be-deck them selves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making themselves un-employable and claiming money from the Government.

    Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 83.. Because, mostly, I’m not going to have to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter and their children.

    Thank God I’m on the way out and not on the way in.See MoreLikeUnlike · · ShareWrite a comment…

    David NielsenJune 30Commenting on the fires in Colorado. “It was like driving into HELL?” This fire is nothing like HELL. This fire is limited and finite…it will be put out. HELL is going to be endless, torment, misery and woe in the LAKE OF FIRE. The saddest part of HELL is that it is unnecessary. It is the destiny of anyone who rejects the forgiveness God has offered through His Son Jesus Christ for the sins of …man.

    Man through millenniums of years still refuses to acknolwdge or accept the truth it is God who controls mans’ life and not man. The disasters which are reported are labeled as ‘Mother Nature’ or ‘Nature’s Fury’. There is no ‘Mother Nature’ or ‘Nature’s Fury’. What there is, is a God in heaven who hates sin and has cursed this planet because of the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve.

    America is under the judgment of God and it does matter what political party or leader we have if America does not repent the America we know will be lost. I am not holding by breath America is going to repent and making that choice expect the situation only to get worse and worse.See MoreLikeUnlike · · ShareWrite a comment…

    David Nielsen shared a link.June 29American Muslims Stone Christians in Dearborn, MIIf this extremely disturbing video does not result in a Federal investigation into the human rights violations of those Christians physically attacked at the…LikeUnlike · · ShareWrite a comment…

    David NielsenJune 28Ben • Boise, Idaho • 1 day 1 hr agoReport Abuse David, America is certainly sick and it’s holier than thou, psuedo christians like you and debbie who are the primary cause of it. More death and hate is perpetuated in the name of God than any other source. Maybe David, before you judge anyone else, you should take a good long hard look into the mirror. Because as Jesus says, “Let he who is withou…t sin cast the first stone.” Further, doesn’t God say “As you judge others so shall I judge you?” But hey, hate away if it makes you feel better. I’m sure Jesus will understand your ignorance…
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    David • 4 hrs ago
    Ben America is not sick because of Christians. It is not the Christian who is driving drunk and killing innocent people It is not the Chistian who is responsible for the drug wars. It is not the Christian who is filling our prisons. It is not the Christian who has killed 56 million babies in the womb since 1973. it was not the Christian who took the 10 Commandments and prayer out of the schools and schools have been going down hill since, It is not the Christian who is burglarizing, murdering, fornicating. It is not the Christian who is producing all the pornography. It is not the Christian who runs the gambling in Las Vegas, It is not the Christian that is into human/slave trafficking.. It is not the Christian who is involved in prostitution, It is not the Christian involved in all the identity theft. It is not the Christian who is kidnapping, sexuallly assaulting and murdering innocent children. It is not the Christian who are rioting and burning cities. It is not the Christian who is spreading all the AiDS and STD;s. It is not the Christian who is filling the bars on Sundday, It is not the Christian who engaged in all the gambling on horses,See MoreLikeUnlike · · ShareWrite a comment…

    David NielsenJune 25Remove MUSLIM HERITAGE IN America : Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital, heard a Muslim orchestra, seen a Muslim band march in a parade, witnessed a Muslim charity, shaken hands with a Muslim Girl Scout, seen a Muslim Candy Striper, or seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life???? The answer is no, you did not. Just ask yourself WHY ??? Barack Obama …, during his Cairo speech, said: “I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America ‘s history.”

    Mr. Obama:
    Were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians. Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians. Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution? Declaration of Independence ? Bill of Rights? Didn’t think so. Did Muslims fight for this country’s freedom from England ? No. Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America ? No, they did not. In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery.. Your own half-brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as “pug nosed slaves.” Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family’s “rich Islamic heritage,” doesn’t it Mr. Obama? Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present. There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights. Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights, aren’t they? Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews. Finally,Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001? If they weren’t flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East . No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very “moderate” Muslims who’s asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day. And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the “rich heritage” Muslims have here in America .. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates. They were Muslim. And now we can add November 5, 2009 – the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan .. That, Mr. Obama is the “Muslim heritage” in America

    Muslim Heritage, my ass.See MoreLikeUnlike · · ShareWrite a comment…

    David Nielsen commented on a link.June 20Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America’s true living legends — a former P & G executive, an acclaimed author, a dynamic teacher, and one of the world’s most highly rated speakers. It was he who changed the way America does business by …creating an audacious concept that came to be known as “Partnering”.

    Here is part of a speech given by Lou Pritchett April 15, 2012.

    I was born in year two of the Great Depression (1931) and spent the first 10 years of my life influenced by the extreme hardships of the depression. By today’s standards my family was about a mile below today’s so called poverty level; but if you never had—doing without was not so bad. Borrowing shoes to graduate from the 8th grade didn’t seem at all demeaning because most of the 8th graders did the same thing. In June 1944, my only brother, Joe, was killed in action on Utah Beach in Normandy, France during the D-Day landings. Exactly one year later, my father died and left me, my mother, and my sister to go it alone. And alone we went. My mother went to work at a department store, my sister dropped out of school and joined her and I went to work shining shoes on the streets of Memphis for a dime a shine. Government assistance was not available and if it were I am confident my mother would have refused it because she never wanted the government involved in our lives. I mention this bit of personal history to help you understand that millions of Americans, including your parents and grandparents, grew up like me during the Great Depression and never expected nor wanted the government to offer them anything other than an opportunity. And now to see what Obama is trying to do to our country tends to make you crazy.

    As some of you know, my ‘You Scare Me” letter went viral with millions of hits on the internet during the past 3 years. I have now written a follow-up letter which I will now share with you. It will be released to the press tomorrow morning. ”

    To the editors:

    “In April 2009, I sent President Obama and the New York Times a letter titled “You Scare Me” because, as a candidate, he promised to “fundamentally transform America.” Now, after observing his performance for over three years, he no longer scares me— he terrifies me for the following reasons:

    FIRST He has done more to damage America’s standing in the world, to lower the standard of living in America, to impoverish future generations and to shake our faith in the country’s future than any other American president in history.

    SECOND– With a compliant Democrat congress, a lapdog media and a weak, almost nonexistent Republican opposition, he has shattered the American dream of job security, home ownership and rugged individualism for millions of Americans and has poisoned and divided our civil society with his politics of envy, class warfare, race warfare, and religious warfare which he is using as fundamental building blocks for his ‘socialist’ agenda.

    THIRD– culturally, he remains totally out of touch with traditional American values. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or where he was born, rather it has everything to do with where, how and with whom he was raised, schooled, educated, trained and associates with still today.

    FOURTH– he has surrounded himself with naive academicians, lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats and socialist leaning czars who arrogantly think and behave exactly as he does. People who offer no balanced suggestions or devils advocate positions and think in lock step with him that big government is the answer to all our problems.

    FIFTH– he not only encourages but aids and abets the unionization of all American industry, the albatross around the neck of the free market. In turn, they provide the money and muscle to intimidate his opponents.

    SIXTH– he has increased the national debt by over 30% in just three years. If re-elected and this rate of increase continues, America will be burdened with an unsustainable 20 trillion dollar debt which will result in the Country’s financial death. Recovery will be impossible —- America will be the Greece of 2016.

    SEVENTH– given his fanatical beholding to the ‘environmental’ and ‘man-caused global warming’ fringe, he has deliberately discouraged U.S. fossil fuel exploration and production while wasting millions of tax payer dollars on solar, wind and algae experiments. He refuses to accept that oil, gas and coal are not America’s enemies, they are America’s assets which, properly managed, could make us energy independent within a generation.

    EIGHTH– He views the U.S. as a power in retreat which abused its World dominance. Therefore he systematically apologizes round the world. Last March, unaware of an ‘open mic’ he whispered to Russian President Medvedev “–this is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility”.– Just what is the secret that Obama and Medvedev are concealing from the American people until after the election? With what other leaders has he made similar secret agreements?

    NINTH—and finally, after all his mis-steps, bad decision making, poor management, and zero leadership, the fact that he has the audacity to seek re-election should terrify every American.

    I predict that if re-elected, future historians and political interpreters will look back at the eight year period 2008-2016, and conclude “the 44th President of the U.S. allowed the takers to overpower the payers which resulted in the greatest economy in history vanishing from the face of the Earth”.

    Farewell America, the World will really miss you!

    Lou Pritchett April 15, 2012.See MoreObama attacks Mitt Romney as a ‘corporate raider’ in a pair of new adsnews.yahoo.comPresident Barack Obama’s re-election campaign redoubled its assault on Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Wednesday, assailing him in a pair of new attack ads as a fee-hiking “corporate raider” who oversaw jobs flight to China and Mexico. The former Massachusetts governor’s campaign hit back hard …LikeUnlike · · Unfollow PostFollow PostWrite a comment…

    David Nielsen commented on a link.June 15This is just so much dishonest propoganda. It sounds so sound on the surface but is misleading and dangerous. What is really important in life is not how much time you spend with your famiily, the quality of your lifestyle or your positi…on in life. Jesus taught, “..what does it profiit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?” What is important in life is if you are ‘born-again’. This life is a vapour but eternity is forever. When God created man in His own image He created man with an eternal soul and when our first parents sinned against God and brought sin and death into the world that sin was passed on to all who came after. Each person is born ‘spiritually dead’ and that is why Jesus said, “ye must be born-again”. A person needs to recognize God is their creator, they have sinned by violating His commandments, deserves HELL, repents, and receives the free gift of eternal life God offers by the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.See MoreThe Empty Pickle Jarplay.simpletruths.comCorporate Gift Books from Simple Truths by Mac Anderson,the Founder of Successories. These gift books make great business gifts. Each book is filled with Mac’s insight’s on Customer Service, Leadership, Teamwork, Attitude and Success. They include some of Mac Anderson’s favorite inspirational quotes…LikeUnlike · · Unfollow PostFollow Post10 people like this.Harold Cherrie IDIOTJune 27 at 4:30am · LikeUnlikePamlyn Lee Eidson David I have heard this illustration used before but the golf balls , pebbles, and sand were used as worldly things in our hearts that keep the HOLY SPIRIT (chocolate milk) from filling our hearts. As we remove each golf ball, pebble, grain of sand we have more room for God’s Holy Spirit to enter our hearts so we can be filled with an over flowing of His SpiritJuly 1 at 4:26pm · LikeUnlikeWrite a comment…

    David Nielsen commented on a link.June 15Being compassionate is not the same as tolerating SIN and that is what a lot of Evangelical leaders want in their ‘political correctness’ and acceptance of ‘same-sex perverted marriages’. What these Evangelical leaders need to do is to get… back preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ instead and all these cultural issues will be addressed. Immigration Reform is not a problem it is a symptom of the problem; the problem is SIN. And when these ‘latinos’ come into this country they bring their ‘pseudo-Christianity’ called Catholicism which is not Christianity nor has it ever been Christianity nor will ever be Christianity. When America gets back to addressing SIN America will once more be blessed by God.See MoreEvangelical radio ad urges Christians to support immigration reformnews.yahoo.comAs Yahoo News first reported on Monday, a coalition of evangelical leaders is funding ads on Christian radio in the battleground states of Florida and Colorado that urge listeners to support comprehensive immigration reform. “Christians should be known by their love,” Southern Baptist leader Richard…LikeUnlike · · Unfollow PostFollow PostWrite a comment…

    David Nielsen commented on a link.June 13They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, … Where you is,
    What he drive,
    Where he stay,
    Where he work,
    Who you be…

    And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.

    And then I heard the father talk.

    Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
    In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

    People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around.

    The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.

    These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.

    $500 sneakers for what?

    And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

    I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.

    Where were you when he was 2?

    Where were you when he was 12?

    Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol?

    And where is the father? Or who is his father?

    People putting their clothes on backward:
    Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong?

    People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something?

    Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

    What part of Africa did this come from?

    We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa….. I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid. I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don’t have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands. The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa. So stop, already!
    With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap……… And all of them are in jail.

    Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem.

    We have got to take the neighborhood back.

    People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now.

    We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

    We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.

    Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

    We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..

    We cannot blame the white people any longer.’ Dr.. William Henry ‘Bill’ Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.See MoreObama campaign launches first ad targeting black votersnews.yahoo.comPresident Barack Obama’s reelection campaign is launching its first ad specifically aimed at black voters, a national radio spot entitled “We’ve Got Your Back,” a campaign aide confirmed to Yahoo News. The Grio first reported the news. “Four years ago, we made history. Now it’s time to move forward …LikeUnlike · · Unfollow PostFollow PostWrite a comment…

    David NielsenJune 13From Bill Cosby: They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, … Where he work, Who you be… And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics. I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father? People putting their clothes on backward: Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something? Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from?? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa ….. I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid. I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don’t have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! ! With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ……… And all of them are in jail. Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back.  le used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.. We cannot blame the white people any longer.’ Dr.. William Henry ‘Bill’ Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.

  5. I think it has more to do with a cartoon-like media which avoids complexity and embraces sensationalism. A bit like this documentary. Some decent broadsheets aside news coverage is appalling. So you end up with Vice-Presidential candidates who lack basic knowledge of geography and Presidents who can’t use English properly and see the world as a Star Wars movie (Bush obviously).

  6. I’m probably going to get bashed for writing this: I have traveled all over the world and met all kinds of U.S. citizens. Many came from wealthy families and attended the best schools. Some were U.S. university graduates. During conversations, it would inevitably become apparent that these people knew nothing about anything outside of the U.S. about geography, politics, climates, world events, ect. It has never ceased to amaze me. What are they taught in school?

    • I have noticed the exact same thing, its as if these people think we all live in mud huts outside of USA. When i say i’m from Scotland they wonder why i dont have ginger hair and im not wearing a kilt. Ignorant to say the least

  7. This is the cheapest and rediculous propaganda video against public schools. Freddy Mercury’s moustache pointed out that the public schools spent 10000$ per student but didn’t say a word about the costs of a private school, where the parents will end up donating kiddneys in the black market in order to find some extra cash.

    Intersting point is how the moustache is dealing the issue of unions, with a Neaderdal-like argumentation “BAD UNIONS, ME DESTROY BAD UNIONS”.  I think even the telemarketing spots have a better argumentation. Is it a bad thing to have rights in USA or what?!

    Hilarious moment: phoning your teacher even late at night to ask question. Nice movement, let’s turn teachers into slaves with no personal life.

  8. screw the union who only care for themselves and the status quo..the status quo should be destroyed for good

  9. I am from Belgium and I have to say that in general our schools tend to score very high in international comparissons, although I have to mention that Flemish schools score better than the Belgian average compared to Walloon schools. Anyway, the possibility of choice does make sure our schools have to be resourceful and, in the end, better. On the other hand, Belgium is about the same size as Maryland, so in the USA I would suggest to limit the choice to a state.

    In a similar way, our health care system is considered to be one of the best in the world. Here too choice has pushed everything forward: if you don’t like your doctor, you can go to another one next time.

    And if the freedom of choice leeds to any sort of excesses, we correct them. Just to say that “competition” isn’t absolute…

  10. if you want to know just google it 

    the USA is 32 end in the world IQ test .

    sure nothing to be prod of

  11. As an ex-teacher, this is quite a one-sided documentary.

  12. The lower scoring children in other countries are culled out of the system by the time they reach high school level.  Lower achieving kids are re-directed to vocational training.  Here in the U.S., ALL kids are in a compulsory standardized schooling situation.  This, therefore, brings the average of test scores down in the U.S.A. as compared to the “creme of the crop” foreign kids.  Don’t get me wrong.  There is also the alarming phenomena of this culture of stupidity being cool in America.

  13. The lower scoring children in other countries are culled out of the system by the time they reach high school level.  Lower achieving kids are re-directed to vocational training.  Here in the U.S., ALL kids are in a compulsory standardized schooling situation.  This, therefore, brings the average of test scores down in the U.S.A. as compared to the “creme of the crop” foreign kids.  Don’t get me wrong.  There is also the alarming phenomena of this culture of stupidity being cool in America.

  14. The lower scoring children in other countries are culled out of the system by the time they reach high school level.  Lower achieving kids are re-directed to vocational training.  Here in the U.S., ALL kids are in a compulsory standardized schooling situation.  This, therefore, brings the average of test scores down in the U.S.A. as compared to the “creme of the crop” foreign kids.  Don’t get me wrong.  There is also the alarming phenomena of this culture of stupidity being cool in America.

  15. It is the same way,unfortunately that here in Australia, the education system is dominated also by extreme union socialist left , running the public schools, and pretty much brainwashing them, right from the start with there own agenda.Thanks to all the teacher’s that  I know, that work hard to do the right thing to teach them well. Working with some teenagers, I was stunned to find,that some could not read legible instruction’s or rudimentary math’s etc.,How can that be? they could learn more , if the they had a fair chance!!!!! The teacher’s here get 10 wks. paid holiday’s and and unbelivable working conditions also. cheers!

    • its actually not that bad in Australia…. now that I know how zoning works in the states I realise that I was pretty lucky to get educated here. I think the fact that we have under-performing schools closing down is a positive. On top of all that, we have the myschools website that compares the performance of schools giving parents options… by the sounds of it, we have a pretty good deal.

    • its actually not that bad in Australia…. now that I know how zoning works in the states I realise that I was pretty lucky to get educated here. I think the fact that we have under-performing schools closing down is a positive. On top of all that, we have the myschools website that compares the performance of schools giving parents options… by the sounds of it, we have a pretty good deal.

  16. It is the same way,unfortunately that here in Australia, the education system is dominated also by extreme union socialist left , running the public schools, and pretty much brainwashing them, right from the start with there own agenda.Thanks to all the teacher’s that  I know, that work hard to do the right thing to teach them well. Working with some teenagers, I was stunned to find,that some could not read legible instruction’s or rudimentary math’s etc.,How can that be? they could learn more , if the they had a fair chance!!!!! The teacher’s here get 10 wks. paid holiday’s and and unbelivable working conditions also. cheers!

  17. American society as a hold.Children have no respects for parents ans teachers.The society allows every practice in the name of child right.The teacher has limited powers when it comes to discipline.Where i come from,there is student discipline.The teacher has unquestionable disciplinary measures and no parent or head teacher can question that.Give back the teachers right America.

    • It’s a delicate balance, though. While kids who misbehave need to be dealt with properly, The teachers often don’t know the best way to handle children when they act out. They don’t care about why something disruptive happened, and so the victim of a fight gets punished just as harshly as the instigator. Even worse, there are teachers who knowingly abuse their position and use it as an excuse to bully kids. It’s not just a matter of how much the teacher can do to discipline children, the problem is that there really isn’t any system in place for how they should handle these types of issues.

  18. What are you parents doing if you leave the schools alone to teach your children. Sure schools in America can use some changes but parents its your job to help your kids at home too!

  19. What are you parents doing if you leave the schools alone to teach your children. Sure schools in America can use some changes but parents its your job to help your kids at home too!

  20. What are you parents doing if you leave the schools alone to teach your children. Sure schools in America can use some changes but parents its your job to help your kids at home too!

  21. 90% of your replies contain grammatical errors, as does the description of the documentary, irony anyone?

    • your response is missing a semicolon.

      irony, anyone?

      • of course teachers are perfect they could never be questioned!!! my sister is a teacher she is not smart and frankly i would be scared at the thought that she is what we would call the ideal teacher. teachers are humans and have just as many faults as the rest of us. this simply shows that more and more people are getting involved in the Education money grabbing game.

  22. this documentary is disappointing. as an educator, i had hoped to see a well researched, fairly balanced overview of the pub.ed system in the US, and all i really seemed to see was pointless union-bashing.

    the doc didn’t even start off well. he took us to several schools around the country and proceeded to lament the fact that most administrations wouldn’t let them film in the classroom–and the ones that did only let them film the “good” classes. this is seen as bad. well, why wouldn’t they do this? who wouldn’t want to show off their best and brightest? misbehavior would be embarrassing for the school, the parents AND the students. who would blindly allow this?

    secondly, they tell us that, on a test they administered to some students in jersey vs belgian students, the american students’ scores were dismal, while the belgian students’ were much higher. but i am left wondering: were those scores averages? how did the WORST belgian student do? what does ONE standardized test in ONE class really say about any pub.ed system, anyhow? all we know now is that this particular group did better than another particular group. were they all even the same grade? were the classes AP/european equivalent? they go on to note that, on the “international test” americans can’t even beat so-called “poorer” countries. so? why does he even mention that? the relative wealth of the country isn’t always a viable marker for student successes. how do their “poorest of the poor” students do vs america’s “poorest of the poor”, anyway? how big are their classes? how far away from the home do the students have to travel to get to school? are there a lot of single-parent households? do their students travel to school tired and hungry, and thereby distracted and difficult to teach?

    privatization MIGHT work, but people tend to forget hugely important factors that really determine much more than “choice” how well the students will do. obviously, parent participation is enormous. i felt sad for the woman who complained that her 18-year-old couldn’t read but i couldn’t help but wonder: where was she for 18 years? my siblings and i learned to read at age two because my mom taught us how, AND i went to a public school, AND i’m a product of a single-parent household, so what was her deal? next, giant classrooms full of students (35+) are overwhelming for even the best teachers. there’s a reason why, in college, the more difficult the class is the smaller it tends to be. also, backwards administrations that force archaic and silly curricula on teachers are a problem too, as are admins. that expect teachers to make their 8-4 into a 6-10 (without extra pay) and then simply fire the ones that protest this (that is why we have unions!).

    all of these factors explain why charter schools work better: parents very invested in the education of the students (interested enough to look for a “better” school) + smaller classes + happy and less-stressed teachers + an administration that trusts its educators = students that have support at home, more attention from teachers, and thus better scores. this is why taking a macro view of the charter system and declaring it “better” is almost silly: it’s important to note WHY it’s better, not just that it IS, and try to implement those things into the current system.

    anyway. that’s my $.02 .

  23. I’m good to live where I get a dutch learning education … I live in the Caribbean in curacao near the coast of Venezuela .Here you have the option to change school/to choose your school …, and here we got competition sometime the more student the school have the more money they get from the government.There are always the kind of guys that sleep in the class that is unavoidable.Last here they can fire a teacher e little more easy than in America.

    P.S Here we don’t follow school in our own native language but in dutch that is more difficult then normal.

  24. I meant the ones that appear early in the film… No discipline whatsoever

  25. Huh! What a bunch of stupid kids! Greetings from Finland! 🙂

  26. @ Jessica

    What competition? There is no competition. You are required to go to the public school within your area, unless you can afford a private school. It is clear that the teachers union is out of control, much to powerful. The only real question is why does the US government allow this to happen here. The answer in my opinion is because they know that an ignorant, misinformed, nonvoting public is best for them. If they leave the system like it is they can continue to stick some charismatic guy in front of the American public and he will get elected. Not on his politics but according to how much money he has to spend on commercials, how cute he or she is, what there religious views are. None of these things should matter to the voting public, but they do. Over and over we elect people based on there morality and how big of a spectacle they can create on tv. Instead we should be asking what there economic policies will be, what there foreign trade ideas are, who will they nominate for the supreme court, etc. These things decide how we live everyday, not whether or not the candidate is baptist or catholic, or who had the better and more frequently shown tv commercial.

    • Thank You!!
      After reading all the replies I was glad to see someone hit the nail on the head. Our politicians realize that Public Schools are filled with the working POOR and that the system is controlled by a Union. Who do you think the politicians will pander to, the Union, that will get them votes, or the POOR that do NOT Vote. As KIM has already said a few comments below this one, read

      A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

      But more importantly make your Sons and Daughters read it.

      For a little more insight watch another Doc called Class Dismissed

    • Clearly this was the main message of the documentary and not my personal opinion. I don’t take your remark personally (not everyone appreciates sarcasm in the same way), but please do not criticize something before you fully understand it. Even I, a lowly graduate of the American schooling system, can see the danger in that.

  27. @ Michal

    Yes, poorer in a economic sense. Surely you do not deny that they are poorer economically than countries like the US or Britian. No one is trying to be offensive, infact it was a compliment to say you guys did better with education while using less money. Aren’t you being a bit overly sensetive? Facts are facts, sorry. If you had of finished watching you would have seen this was an attack on the US educational system, not an attmept to assert our dominance over some other country.

  28. I see nothing wrong with a voucher system. Attach a voucher to each child at birth and let their parents decide where they will spend that voucher. I am in favor of unions most of the time, but this has gotten far out of control. We need competition to spur innovation, and accountability to promote better performance. No other union I know of gets these kinds of concessions. This is the most important thing we can do for our children, our global image, and most importantly our country. Why are children not required to learn how our political system works? Why are they not required to register to vote before graduating? Is it possible that the political machine knows that an ignorant public, a nonvoting public is less of a threat to the status quo?

  29. Well I have to share one thing. I was looking forrward to see this document, but after first 6 minutes, when the person talks about the score in tests between the countries says “even the poorer ones like Czech republic or Poland or S. Corea” i just stopped watching….Im from Slovakia and I dont consider those countries as “poorer ones”, poorer in what? education? economic? human stupidity? geography? and this is a international document? thank you 😉

  30. Soooo…. competition = good. Glad it took them 40 minutes to tell me that one.

    The only lesson that I learned from this is to question documentaries that make the people they are “against” sound stupid. Especially when they cut what the people have to say every five seconds. The responses given by the supporters of the teacher’s union sounded moronic, and didn’t even ANSWER the question asked by the host. This leads me to believe that more was said, but maybe not shown. Or, they possibly cut what they said and then tailored it to their own views.

    I do agree that there are fundamental problems within the school systems of the U.S. This could be due to competition, curriculum (which was not even addressed), etc. However, I believe that learning about these problems takes much more background research than this documentary provided.

    Also, the host talked in a manner that made me feel as stupid as he tried to make these kids look.

    Conclusion? : Reasonable for the general television viewer. Bad for the genuinely interested and concerned. Overall, lame.

    Personally, I prefer real documentaries.

  31. Oops! langue = language

  32. Excuse me, my native langue isn’t English, but shouldn’t it be “…can THERE be any…” instead of “…can THEIR be any…”?
    I don’t know if this says anything about your education system…
    greetings from Amsterdam!

  33. I am an education student doing my student teaching in a public school. The problem in the public schools is that the administration does not back up the teachers. If the school does not have a discipline plan and they only give students detentions for serious offenses like physical fights, how can their be any order? If the school does not allow teachers to administer consequences for misbehavior how can they stop misbehavior?

    One example is cell phones in school….it is totally OUT OF THE QUESTION with the administration to do anything to ban cell phones in school, even though they are the biggest distraction to students.

  34. good to live in Switzerland =P

  35. Why are we trying to conform children to an outdated paradigm of education instead of conforming education to the needs of children.

    I was bored and frustrated out of my mind by my public school education – and I was at the top of my class. I didn’t feel that much of what I learned prepared me for life.

    The public US education system is so out of touch with the reality of the modern world. It always has been more of an institution than a meaningful enterprise – read A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn to learn how our contemporary public education came into being and more importantly WHY. It’s not because this country wanted educated self-thinking individuals!

    The system was broken from the outset. It has created generation after generation of broken people. Look around you, some 30% of New Jersey republican residents actually believe or aren’t sure if Obama is literary Satan incarnate. Do you think we’d be a nation of idiots if we had rational, sensible education for the populous?

  36. There are so many to blame- students, parents, teachers, school systems, all of it is working against us. If teachers are afraid to enforce discipline in their classes (by which I mean sending disruptive children out of the class and gaining respect while creating an environment that will work for both the teacher and the student) and students are allowed to be indifferent there will be no improvement. The fear of being sued by over protective parents for excluding trouble students or raising your voice (not to mention the fear of the students themselves in some cases) will continue to defeat the most motivated teachers.
    I agree Wizard, we should be looking at what works elsewhere and start adopting them- some must be useful within the US.

  37. I found this “documentary” quite disapointing. Instead of discussing solutions to the public school system it pretty much became a pro-privatization film.

    There was hardly any comparison with other public school systems that actually work except for a short part about Belgium.

  38. I think you should carefully considering what the the US school system is (consciously or unconsciously) designed to produce before answering the “is the American school system producing stupid citizens?” question.