Valuetainment - October 19, 2021


Reaction to NYC Mayor Removing Gifted & Talented Program


Episode Stats


Length

9 minutes

Words per minute

205.76837

Word count

2,000

Sentence count

122

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to phase out New York City's highly selective gifted and talented program, a move that has been widely criticized for causing racial segregation in the nation's largest public school system. I discuss why this is a bad idea and what it means for the students in the program.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 So just out of curiosity, have you ever taken any honors classes, any higher learning, maybe you were in high school, elementary, AP, magnet, did you ever take anything like that?
00:00:09.300 Because the mayor of New York City thinks all of those people that take classes like that is not fair and he wants to get rid of it.
00:00:17.320 And I'm going to read a New York Times story that just came out about him wanting to do this with his last three months left in New York as the mayor, and I'm going to react to that and I'm going to get your thoughts as well.
00:00:30.000 Here's a New York Times story.
00:00:32.980 De Blasio to phase out New York City Gifted and Talented Program.
00:00:36.880 Mayor De Blasio on Friday unveiled a plan to overhaul gifted and talented education in New York City Elementary School,
00:00:43.140 calling for sweeping changes to a highly selective program that has been widely criticized for exasperating segregation in the nation's largest school system.
00:00:53.600 Under Mr. De Blasio's plan, released when he has just three months left in office,
00:00:58.000 elementary schools who are currently enrolling gifted classes would become the final cohort in the existing program,
00:01:04.980 which means the tests given to kindergarten students to screen for the gifted programs already suspended in part because the city's advisory school board refused to renew it last year would become permanently done,
00:01:17.220 would be permanently ended, right?
00:01:19.180 And here's what he says.
00:01:20.600 Here's what his thoughts are and a couple other thoughts from parents from both sides.
00:01:25.100 Here's his thoughts.
00:01:25.760 I bet you a lot of parents are going to look at this plan and say, this is the reason we're going to stay, says De Blasio.
00:01:33.280 In an interview on the radio, adding that for far more children would have the opportunity to receive more accelerated learning than under the existing system.
00:01:42.040 But some families and elected officials who support keeping aspects of the current gifted system sharply disagree with them.
00:01:47.580 Now, this obviously is happening when he wants to run for governor next year because that's his plan.
00:01:53.100 So the last three months, he's just getting the last stuff done before next year running for governor.
00:01:57.060 So let me continue with some of the other stuff in this article.
00:01:59.580 It's gifted and talented programs that have contributed to racially segregated classrooms and schools for thousands of students citywide.
00:02:07.440 Right? Interesting. Let me read this one more time.
00:02:09.080 It's the gifted and talented program has contributed to racially segregated classrooms and schools for thousands of students citywide.
00:02:19.400 Right?
00:02:19.600 Though about 70% of the roughly 1 million public school students in New York are black and Latino.
00:02:26.240 So again, out of the 1 million students, 700,000 are black and Latino.
00:02:31.900 About 75% of the roughly 16,000 in the gifted elementary school classes are white or Asian American.
00:02:40.720 Okay? So out of the 1 million, only 1.6% are in the gifted class.
00:02:46.960 75% of that 1.6% are white or Asian American. Fine. 0.96
00:02:52.280 The question I pose is the following.
00:02:54.540 Why?
00:02:55.560 Why is it that maybe 70% of the 1 million that are African American, Latino,
00:03:03.480 and then the people that are in it are white and Asian American?
00:03:07.740 Is it because maybe they value education a little bit more?
00:03:12.880 Maybe.
00:03:13.500 Is it because they're spending money into tutoring?
00:03:16.620 Maybe.
00:03:17.020 Is it because parents are spending time doing homework with their kids?
00:03:19.980 Maybe.
00:03:20.500 Is it because standards are a little bit higher?
00:03:22.740 Maybe.
00:03:23.520 I can tell you from personal experience, as a guy that went to school in the U.S. public school,
00:03:28.320 I've never been to private school.
00:03:30.000 I went to public school from 7th grade to senior in Glendale, California.
00:03:34.100 I went to Wilson Junior High School 7 through 9, and I went to Glendale High School 10 through 12.
00:03:39.640 The following year, they changed it 9 through 12, but when I went there, it was 10 through 12.
00:03:43.200 I've never taken an AP class.
00:03:45.180 I've never taken an honors class.
00:03:46.960 I've never taken a magnet class, and I never deserved to get into any of those classes
00:03:51.140 because I never put the effort because when I came home, nobody expected me to get high grades.
00:03:55.880 There was no level of expectation of me to get any kind of big grades, so I didn't pay attention to it.
00:04:00.020 Nobody sat and did homework with me after school.
00:04:01.780 It wasn't like a thing.
00:04:02.900 Not saying anything to my parents, that wasn't something that they gauged grades on and success on.
00:04:07.760 It never happened.
00:04:08.620 My parents were divorced, and I never went through it, but there were other kids that were part of gifted programs.
00:04:13.920 So should they lower that to make me feel better about myself because maybe my feelings are hurting
00:04:19.380 because I'm not as good as them?
00:04:21.200 Isn't competition a little bit good for the kids?
00:04:23.320 I don't know.
00:04:23.680 Let me continue with the article here, and again, I want to hear your thoughts on this as well.
00:04:27.300 So Robin Keller, an elected parent leader in District 2, said Friday that Mr. de Blasio's announcement felt like a political stunt
00:04:34.780 and that the mayor would be leaving a pile of bloody, broken bone fragments for Mr. Adams to clean up,
00:04:41.280 who is about to become the next potential mayor of New York City.
00:04:44.600 But Carla has a completely different position here. 1.00
00:04:48.320 Here's what she said.
00:04:48.980 Carla Stanius, a parent in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, said she believed that the gifted programs
00:04:56.720 made it more difficult for children and regular classes to thrive.
00:05:00.400 Why?
00:05:01.380 She says if we're just dumping a bunch of resources into the gifted and talented,
00:05:06.640 everybody else suffers because they didn't know somebody or they couldn't afford a tutor.
00:05:11.480 So her argument is, why are we making the gifted and putting additional programs for them to do better?
00:05:18.260 We should use those resources in a different way.
00:05:21.240 So here's kind of what this looks like.
00:05:23.100 What they're saying is, the ones that are thriving, the ones that are not, let's dumben these down to make this equal.
00:05:29.300 This is what we should do.
00:05:30.580 This is kind of what we should do.
00:05:31.800 It's kind of like saying, hey, LeBron James, he may be the best basketball player in the NBA,
00:05:36.440 and then there's the 12th man.
00:05:37.560 The 12th man on the team never gets a minute to play, but LeBron gets 40 minutes.
00:05:41.460 I think we should lower LeBron's minutes and increase this guy's minutes.
00:05:45.260 So it's not fair because they should play the same amount of minutes.
00:05:48.080 Would you watch the NBA if the 12th man that maybe is not as good in basketball gets the same amount of minutes?
00:05:53.520 How about modeling?
00:05:54.640 How about we get the best models, you know, the best-looking models, and let's make it equal. 1.00
00:06:00.080 No matter what we do, there are things that you and I are not good at.
00:06:04.220 But if in a gifted program you don't have a standard for kids to be thriving, what ends up taking place?
00:06:10.380 I think to me this is obviously a political stunt that they were talking about, but I think it's bigger than that.
00:06:15.440 Think about if your parents get a divorce, okay, and your father was a father whose standards were high
00:06:23.700 when your mom and dad were together.
00:06:25.420 He expected you to clean your bed.
00:06:27.180 You didn't like it, but he expected you.
00:06:28.620 He expected you to clean.
00:06:31.320 He expected you to wash the car.
00:06:33.480 Maybe he expected you to read your book, do homework, and then he had fun with him, but dad had high standards and expectation.
00:06:40.380 Your mom and dad get a divorce.
00:06:41.880 Your mom leaves your dad and goes and marries a new guy named Joey.
00:06:45.760 Joey could care less if you do your homework.
00:06:48.480 Joey could care less if you read books.
00:06:49.860 He doesn't read books.
00:06:50.520 He just watches football at night and has beer.
00:06:53.200 So what happens to you?
00:06:55.400 The standards and expectation keeps dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping.
00:06:58.740 Then what happens?
00:06:59.860 Then all of a sudden, like, you can get away with anything, right?
00:07:02.360 But at least in this situation, the standard and expectation was somebody believed you were capable of doing more.
00:07:08.780 Sometimes people and kids need an environment just to have someone that thinks you're capable of more.
00:07:14.980 I think you can do more.
00:07:16.440 I think you can do better.
00:07:17.880 I think you can strive to get into magnet.
00:07:19.740 I think you can get into AP.
00:07:20.980 I think you can get into honors.
00:07:22.820 When that standard and expectation is not there, it is what it is.
00:07:25.660 So do we not put the onus on the parents?
00:07:28.420 Should we take the pressure off the parents?
00:07:30.580 Should we take the pressure off single-family households that the responsibility needs to be on them? 0.97
00:07:34.860 Is it the other kid's fault that the parents are maybe doing the right thing?
00:07:38.540 So the other kid that the parents are doing the right thing should be punished for this?
00:07:41.780 This doesn't make any sense to me at all to do something like this.
00:07:45.580 And I tell you, if I lived in New York City and my kids were in that New York City public program, we would leave in a heartbeat because I would not want to be in a place where my kids don't have something to chase and compete for.
00:07:55.840 You need high expectation for somebody to want to scale and perform to that kind of a level.
00:08:01.500 And the situation, the direction they're going right now, that's not going to be taking place.
00:08:04.520 It's an unfortunate situation.
00:08:05.740 By the way, I'm also a firm believer that there's a group of people that no matter what you ever put in their way, they're still going to find a way to win.
00:08:14.180 You can have a choo-choo train coming their way, they're going to stop the choo-choo train. 1.00
00:08:18.320 There are certain people that are too stubborn that no matter what environment you put them, they're going to find a way to get that information.
00:08:24.520 But I think there's also the percentage that needs to be challenged, needs to be pushed, needs to have something to be going for.
00:08:31.120 I think that group, the small group of that 1.6%, this group's going to take a hit.
00:08:36.340 And I hope this program doesn't last a long time and somebody comes back and turns it over and goes back to having a highly gifted program
00:08:42.200 because America is ran, the greatest innovation.
00:08:45.260 I'm looking at this camera here, this light here, this other camera here.
00:08:48.320 This is being done by people that are better at this stuff than I am.
00:08:51.700 America is ran by those who are willing to pay the price slightly more than others.
00:08:56.460 And America, the greatest organizations in America, are ran by leaders who have high standards and expectations of their people.
00:09:03.880 The moment those two drop, everybody takes a hit.
00:09:07.640 America's historically been the leader of the world because we've had higher standards
00:09:11.980 than others and how others are following our standards.
00:09:14.960 We get rid of that, we're going to be in major trouble.
00:09:18.040 Anyways, you may or may not agree with me.
00:09:19.780 If you agree with me, give me a thumbs up.
00:09:21.060 If you don't, give me a thumbs down.
00:09:22.100 If you fully agree with us, subscribe to the channel.
00:09:23.960 But I've got another video I want you to watch.
00:09:25.580 Matter of fact, I want it to be two videos I want you to watch.
00:09:27.480 One of them is 15 things that school will not teach you.
00:09:30.220 If you've never seen this one, you may want to watch this one.
00:09:32.560 And the other one is every university's worst nightmare.
00:09:36.220 Yes, they're not going to be happy about these types of events taking place.
00:09:40.280 Choose one of them you want to watch.
00:09:41.400 Either way, have a great week.
00:09:42.420 Take care.
00:09:42.920 Bye-bye.