....And a Roosevelt High School student dead, leaving an anguished mother. But let me back up a minute. As a Seattle resident and parent of two young children, I had hoped to send my kids to Seattle Public Schools; even worked on a school levy when we were expecting our first, back in '96. So many, many things have happened since then, when the late John Stanford was Superintendent. A district poised to return to respectability under Stanford's leadership has gone straight to hell - academically, financially, politically and administratively. Ignoring death threats against students is not smart, especially when they turn out to be real. The Seattle Public Schools got off light with the $250,000 settlement paid to John Jasmer's mother. As the Seattle Times reports today:
In the days preceding John Jasmer's...slaying, at least one school-district employee was aware of a murder plot, according to Seattle police.....two days before the slaying a parent told a district employee that members of the Roosevelt High's football team planned to kill Jasmer (ed. - that's what happened).....the employee called a Roosevelt vice principal but only left a voice-mail message. The parent who brought the information forth also left a message for the vice principal...The vice principal said he didn't receive either message......The new policy requires that all "lethal threats be promptly reported" to the district security office....
That'd be a good idea. There are other aspects to this story. The motive was jealousy: Jasmer had had sex with one of the killers' girlfriends; she had said it was rape but later backed off that claim. Jasmer was then lured into a pot-buying mission with the two killers. All three were kids somewhat out of control, and parents bear considerable responsibility for the actions of their children. The school district is not solely to blame here. But there is no excuse for the district's bungling of what turned out to be an accurate report of a death threat.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 26, 2005 03:22 PM | Email ThisWhat this example highlights for me is the fact that more than half of all claims of rape are false allegations.
Posted by: DeadManVoting (aka Iguana) on March 26, 2005 04:02 PMBut every now and then they mess up on their indoctrination exercises and one comes out against all odds. Major Terry Thomas, USMCR, escaped and he needs our support. I wonder is Baghdad Jim McDermott a Seattle product?
'NUFF SAID!!!!
Pudster
Posted by: Puddybud on March 26, 2005 07:08 PM(Though the undead media waste no time in dredging up any connection, tennative or otherwise to the church, a congregation, denomination or Christianity regarding any timely news story and giving it as negative a spin as possible.)
What is missing at the government schools is prayer and the teaching of faith.
Stop being selfish - get your kids out of government schools.
Posted by: Jericho on March 27, 2005 08:48 PMMy daughter has been sent to the principals office two times and been put on detention twice, shame on her (ha), for chewing gum in class! The last time I heard of that I called her and started the call to her cell phone with "I'm going to have to take your car away because we cannot tolerate the kind of behavior we have lately been seeing. Pause! Gum Chewing in school has become a continual issue and must end!!!! We had a great laugh over that together. Bottom Line:
Same Kids + Different strict rules + Different strict Schools = Different Strict Positive Outcomes. Time and Time and Time again.
Then you look at Jaime Escalante. He took the barrio kids in LA and proved that they could perform advanced math. Again the Union was po'd. Did you know that the school system forced his kids to take the AP Math test twice that first year because the Union didn't support Escalante? The students passed again. HE too didn't support bullying.
Third instance was the principal Mary lady in Chicago. She made 60 Minutes. She created a charter school for inner city black boys. They wore uniforms, had strict discipline, and were at the top of the charts for academics. What did the NEA and the Chicago school board do? They fired her butt. Why? She didn't follow the rules of mediocrity.
Fourth instance. Another lady in downtown Harlem NYC. She had similar programs to Mary in Chicago. She too made 60 Minutes. She too lost her job to Union pressure. MAybe 60 Minutes is the catalyst. What you say? Forged Documents? Naahhh...
So why is this? The union wants no one that affects them and their goals. So if some inner city kids have issues, does it affect them? No! The overall effect is we got ours and we can't lose our control. SO what if a few kids have issues and we overlook it. Look at what great products they put out today. Just look at the Deomcratic complainers on this blog!
So in closing, the Seattle school district will not change. If they did they would be admitting defeat of their policies. Can't have that, right?
NUFF SAID!!!
Pudster
Posted by: Puddybud on March 28, 2005 06:59 AMI saw the sentencing of these two boys (and yeah, they are still boys) and it was very sad. The murder victim's mother was very sad because she had trusted both boys with her son.
But those who think that private schools will protect your child (and, laughably, think your child could never be bullied...at a Catholic school) are the same people who live in small towns and when something horrible happens say, "We never thought it could happen here." That's why things happen; many don't want to believe they can or will.
Westello
Posted by: Melissa Westbrook on March 29, 2005 01:21 PMThe destruction of families through feminism, the repudiation of christianity as the essential core of our societal moral ideals, and the consolidation and perpetuation of liberal socialism are leading us away from solutions into more problems. Even those of us who believe they are conservative are overtaken with liberal solutions from time to time.
Terry Shaivo's murder (yes, I say murder), school shootings, and filibustering judicial appointments are all directly connected to each other by liberalism. When in doubt, just call Bush Hitler, pretend that when the left expresses hate for America that they are something other than America's enemy, and watch as things get much worse. Fullfillment of self satisfaction necessitates strong opinions. Opinions require some kind of evidence and feelings equal evidence. Because evidence produces facts and all feelings are equal, all opinions are equal except conservative ones. Because conservative opinions are based on Bush (Hitler) they are incorrect. In a world where nothing really matters except what feels right, anything goes.
Watch TV to learn history, prime time news to understand politics, watch our young people obtain parental advice from school teachers and peers, and pretend that the opinions of Micheal Moore and Ted Kennedy as national political and cultural leaders are anything but insanity. Turn the young girls into shameless whores who can get abortions at will in the name of privacy and personal freedom of choice, and then wonder why so much of our culture is so whacked out.
Testing is against the goals of education, O.J. is not guilty, Bill Clinton was the greatest American president, and global warming is our most fearsome modern problem. Who cares about a few little murders done by a few misunderstood boys? Give them drugs and therapy, young whores who can get abortions at will in the name of privacy and personal freedom of choice, tatoos, nose rings, color TV's and teach them to vote often for democrats who will put more money into education.
Then take guns away. That'll solve it.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on March 29, 2005 06:21 PM