How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind • Hacker News Board

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#341

Post by a1369209993 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:26 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #281

a1369209993 wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Discipline rates can be meaningful, but if one school doesn't expel anybody because all the children are angels, and one school doesn't expel anybody because they haven't noticed the large numbers of murders during recess, the numbers look the same. I think any town not named Sunnydale would notice the dwindling class sizes in the latter case.

> I think any town not named Sunnydale would notice the dwindling class sizes in the latter case. Sunnydale noticed it, too.

Well, they noticed dwindling class sizes. If their discipline problems included murders during recess, that would likely be lost in the noise from vampires and other supernatural hazards.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#342

Post by mohamedmansour » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:28 PM UTC

That’s amazing work Lebron did, he didn’t shut up and dribble.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#343

Post by freehunter » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

dsnuh wrote: post #323

pixelcloud wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all parents should be allowed to raise their children...

Are you sure you're not actually saying "poor parents shouldn't be allowed to raise their children"?

Ideas like this are always presented as a "common sense" solution like "let's reduce welfare fraud" and no one would disagree with that, and then in actual implementation it ends up being "let's target poor people, people of color, and immigrant families" even if that's not what was intended from the start.

I fail to see how fixing broken homes (which we don't have a ready-made solution for) is an easier solution than making school more helpful to kids (one solution to which is what this article is about), so I don't think the parent's argument is made in good faith.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#344

Post by freehunter » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:31 PM UTC

soperj wrote: post #227

house9-2 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...and focus on building a better foster / adoption system and encouraging people to use it who is going to fund that? wouldn't it be better to support the families as they are? help improve peoples lives instead of ripping families apart

Same people funding these insane school programs?

Who are you to say what charitable cause a private citizen spends their money on? Do you want to complain that Bill Gates spends money trying to cure malaria rather than remove trash from the ocean too?

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#345

Post by rory096 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:36 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #142

rory096 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No doubt! I definitely don't mean to denigrate the project at all, it's an incredibly philanthropic move by LeBron and he deserves every ounce of the praise he's been getting. I just see a lot of people using the "public school" line as a cudgel to bash charter schools, but charter schools are exactly the mechanism to accomplish something like this for people who aren't revered/rich enough to exercise the kind of inf…

What prevents non-charter/magnet schools from doing such things?

Regular public schools are limited to the curriculum prescribed by their school boards and generally can't deviate or experiment much. They're also, by definition, limited to students in a specific geographical area rather than any selection criteria. As others have noted, this goes both ways - charter/magnet schools can choose to serve the highest aptitude students (as most do), but they can also choose to serve at-risk or academically challenged students as this one does.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#346

Post by yardie » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:37 PM UTC

stuckinarut wrote: post #306

yardie wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I come from one of those large, poor inner city schools. The money and after school programs absolutely help. I am a product of those after school programs. That additional money paid for musical instruments, sports, computers, and transportation. I feel personally insulted when people say we shouldn't fund these afterschool programs because they don't feel they are working.

Pumping money in doesn't work. Having a good plan and the resources to execute is what works. I know it sounds like I'm talking about a minor difference, but I think it's a lot bigger than that. You can add more money to a lot of the broken systems in the US. It helps, but it doesn't fix core problems and the systems are still incredibly inefficient.

All great plans start with money as a major factor. The money isn't the only thing necessary but you can't do any of it without it.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#347

Post by soperj » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:39 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #344

soperj wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same people funding these insane school programs?

Who are you to say what charitable cause a private citizen spends their money on? Do you want to complain that Bill Gates spends money trying to cure malaria rather than remove trash from the ocean too?

no but i'll absolutely complain about the way the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has changed the school system in the US.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#348

Post by rory096 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:40 PM UTC

stuckinarut wrote: post #320

rory096 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No doubt! I definitely don't mean to denigrate the project at all, it's an incredibly philanthropic move by LeBron and he deserves every ounce of the praise he's been getting. I just see a lot of people using the "public school" line as a cudgel to bash charter schools, but charter schools are exactly the mechanism to accomplish something like this for people who aren't revered/rich enough to exercise the kind of inf…

No, charter schools are a way to fuck over the 99% and ignore it while praising the 1%.

Unless you're using an unorthodox definition of 1% (e.g. 1% of demonstrated academic ability), you're mistaken. Rich people can afford to send their kids to private schools or live in economically segregated areas with high-performing schools. Charter schools do not charge tuition, making them available to the masses.

However, they often do exclude those who don't have parents actively demanding more for their children, those who perform poorly on standardized tests due to adverse home factors rather than innate ability, or those with special needs such schools aren't equipped to support.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#349

Post by soperj » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

redisman wrote: post #239

soperj wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same people funding these insane school programs?

Lebron James has to fix all the ills in American society? Hmm I wonder why this country can't get anything productive done...

You have people pouring money into the school system, and the OP says it's in the wrong spot, and then the next poster asks, but who will fund that? clearly take money from one, put it in the other if that's the solution.

Re: How LeBron James' new public school is the first of its kind

#350

Post by drb91 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 6:54 PM UTC

neuland wrote: post #194

naravara wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The middle one is absolutely true, the other two I really doubt e.g. in Finland or Germany, schoolday starts around 9AM and ends around 2PM, yielding 3h30 to 4h studies a day accounting for breaks, 5 days/week, with little homework (maybe 5h/week total). Afternoon is usually dedicated to clubs. In the context of at-risk kids, I think the idea is to maximize the amount of time the kids get to spend away from their to…

If the problem is toxic home environments though, why aren't people suggesting that we cut out the middle man and focus on building a better foster / adoption system and encouraging people to use it? It seems that everyone is recognizing this is the problem, but the solutions all revolve around school, when it really doesn't have anything to do with schools. Edit: Or boarding schools.

Because society is really bad at determining what is acceptable parenting. Look how popular the tiger mom bullshit is. Our foster system is also incredibly bad. It's easier to trust society in aggregate than it is to trust an individual.