Blah, blah, blah.....

One thing I am big on is education. I went to a predominately white high school, and I studied. I studied my butt off. Oh yeah, it was all boys as well. So, with no women around, and not having had a ride or a rep, I just studied. As a result, I could get into the college of my choice.

Less fortunate are the poor children who go to these crappy DC school. I could play the simple "blame the white man" role and say that whites don't care about these schools, and they are f-d up as a result, but that is too easy.

There is these "cat clinics" in the school cafeteria at Eaton Elementary School which is disgusting and unnecessary. Then there is the mercury spill at Cardozo High School. Then there is the mysterious "bad air and mold" problem at the Walker Jones Elementary school.

To me, the schools are the backbone of any community. However, too often, crappy schools will churn out crappy students who have not a chance in hell of succeeding in this society. I guess that if the resources are not there and nobody cares, then these schools can churn out what this society needs-the low paid working class janitors, shopping mall retail store workers and McDonalds crew chiefs.

I'll never forget how Biggie rhymed about how in the ghetto kids had three choices to succeed-hip hop, sports, or the drug game. What can be seen is that in schools you're always going to have your brains, but without resources the schools will not be able to really make that brainy kid the type who will succeed. If the brainy kid is not offered classes like Trigonometry, Calculus, and Geometry because the school may not have the teachers or the school doesn't offer that, then when he gets to college he will be far behind.

What Biggie was saying was that the school's aren't doing it, the combination of that mentality of "being smart is uncool" mixed with crappy schools will produce somebody who has nothing to offer society. As a result, he has 2 choices; either he takes the low paying jobs that are waiting for him because he can't the college degree, or he can get the big dollar$ being a pro athelete or an entertainer. Kids in the hood practically worship and respect athletes, and they have equal respect for most entertainers. That's seen as the road to riches, which require talent and using your brain without classes and studying and all the other stuff the rest of us squares had to do.

Where it get's really sticky is the drug game. Most kids see "Scarface" and get wild. I saw the movie "State Property" the other day. It was a more "hood" version of the movie "Goodfellas" with some of the scenes re-enacted from the gangsta classic. What really had me on pause when I was watching it was the glamour that was projected as part of the world of drug dealing. There was also the alarming disregard for human life; when somebody got "popped" they were seen as weak or soft. One woman got shot and it was all seen as a big joke. The main character played by Beanie Siegel was in the end seen as a hero, when all he was in the end to me was just a no good criminal. Such glorification of the drug trade makes it look like it is glamorous and exciting, and makes drug dealers into heros. This movie was a real piece of shyt, if you ask me. The appeal of this drug dealer subculture is a by product of the lousy schools in the urban areas.

I guess it would be the easy way out to get the talented 10%, the brains and the nerds and move them to better schools using vouchers, but what about the other 90%? What about the bigger problem? All in all, the school will remain like a cancer, festering and ignored and when it becomes a bigger problem, it is too late. It has become a bigger problem, but believe me, my kids are not going to these crappy schools.