MN teachers laid off, others go to the Sheraton

[rugersol]

... from ... http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/119508364.html?page=1&c=y ...

In Lakeville, for example, the school board recently announced wrenching cuts of almost $7 million. Ninety-four teachers will lose their jobs, arts programs will suffer and a school will be closed.

The Lakeville schools are sending a delegation of teachers to the 12th annual "White Privilege Conference" at the Bloomington Sheraton from Aug. 13-16. The district is shelling out $160 a pop -- plus $125 a day for teacher subs -- for this "white guilt" festival.

I always said, I wish I was black! ... imagine all the "freebies" I could pick up at the Sheraton this week?!

[mrokern]

UGH! I went and looked at their website...can you believe they give college credit and CEUs for this racist crap?

Imagine if an entire conference was called for the purpose of demonizing blacks. Oh wait, the KKK still holds meetings.

I fail to see how the two groups are any different in message.

-Mark

[Steelheart]

The last line of the news article sums it up fairly well.

Steelheart

[Dave Pendleton]

Holy rollerblading Jesus.

Spend a little time checking this out: http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com

I have no words...

[mmcnx2]

I'm not in the lakeville school district, but if I were or my district spent money on something like that program I'd be calling every board member daily, throwing a fit at the meetings and writing letters to every paper.

I fail to understand how anyone could approve of this kind of racist propaganda in one hand and then tout all the bulling stuff they were just weeks ago.

[TC95GT]

UGH! I went and looked at their website...can you believe they give college credit and CEUs for this racist crap?

Sadly I can believe and would fully expect that they give credit for this crap.

Here is a link to the White Privilege Conference Journal if anyone would like to sign up and get their mind right. A couple of the current topics being discussed are teaching critical whiteness theory and common expressions of white privilege and how to counter them.

WPJ

[ree]

Isn't this all part of the continuing education reimbursement benefit that many teachers in both public and private schools get? If so,how would you feel if liberals started calling the district and complaining because some of the teachers used their reimbursement dollars to attend a conference titled "Fighting Liberalism in Public School Curricula?"

It seems there are two issue being conflated?
1) should the district's teachers continue to get the continuing education benefit during tight economic times and
2) should the district administration or even the public get the opportunity to veto which conferences a teacher is allowed to attend?

Now perhaps the issue is really that the district went out of its way to offer attendance to this particular conference and not ones on other topics. If that's the case, I guess I see a reason to bitch.

[tman]

from the website:WHITEPRIVILEGE.COM...

What is White Privilege?

What is Privilege?


“White Privilege is the other side of racism. Unless we name it, we are in danger of wallowing in guilt or moral outrage with no idea of how to move beyond them. It is often easier to deplore racism and its effects than to take responsibility for the privileges some of us receive as a result of it… once we understand how white privilege operates, we can begin addressing it on an individual and institutional basis.” ~Paula Rothenberg


“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is defiantly as asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.” ~Peggy McIntosh



Examples of Privilege

Being able to…
•assume that most of the people you or your children study in history classes and textbooks will be of the same race, gender, or sexual orientation as you are
•assume that your failures will not be attributed to your race, or your gender
•assume that if you work hard and follow the rules, you will get what you deserve
•success without other people being surprised; and without being held to a higher standard
•go out in public without fear of being harassed or constantly worried about physical safety
•not have to think about your race, or your gender, or your sexual orientation, or disabilities, on a daily basis...

[DeanC]

I think those people just need to adopt a positive mental attitude and think a little bigger. Hard work goes a long way. You gotta get out of bed in the morning and say: "Good Morning Mr. Sun! I am gonna show you something today!" They need to get out there and grab that tiger by the tail and hold on for the ride.

[tman]

I think those people just need to adopt a positive mental attitude and think a little bigger. Hard work goes a long way. You gotta get out of bed in the morning and say: "Good Morning Mr. Sun! I am gonna show you something today!" They need to get out there and grab that tiger by the tail and hold on for the ride.

It's hard to keep a positive mental attitude when your cultural leaders tell you there's no hope. Racism is BIG business....

[DeanC]

That was sarcasm

[rugersol]

I think those people just need to adopt a positive mental attitude and think a little bigger. Hard work goes a long way. You gotta get out of bed in the morning and say: "Good Morning Mr. Sun! I am gonna show you something today!" They need to get out there and grab that tiger by the tail and hold on for the ride.

It's hard to keep a positive mental attitude when your cultural leaders tell you there's no hope. Racism is BIG business....

Oh! ... I thought he was talkin' 'bout the white women that felt so guilty they started their own organization so they could pat theyselves on the back.

[hornswaggle]

[quote="ahrens"]... from ... http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/119508364.html?page=1&c=y ...



Unbelievable......

[ijosef]

"...wrenching cuts..." I'm sure the next article will refer to budget cuts as "draconian."

[TC95GT]

That was sarcasm

We need a sarcasm smilie.