Sometimes really smart people say stupid things. Last night, the NY Times had an article about the NYC school system that was a rather scathing indictment of some of the school policies:
Growing numbers of students
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the talking dog
Well, wait a minute there.
Once we decide, in the interest of “accountability”, to create what amounts to a Soviet style quota incentive system, we whould not be surprised that the players in that system, eager as they are to keep their own jobs, will play along, and fudge numbers.
It seems pretty clear that local administrators have determined that their livelihoods are based on playing these games– illegal and disastrous to the future as they might be.
Its exactly the same kind of game played by the Giuliani Administration to bring welfare roles down: “discourage people from applying”– even though this is expressly against federal law. But the Giuliani Administration got tremendous CREDIT for bringing down welfare
roles! The school administrators are likely thinking the same way now.
I note you list this as “democratic stupidity”, but
the relevant New York City officials right now are under the direct control of Mayor Bloomberg, who is (nominally if nothing else) a Republican.
Bureaucratic stupidity is not limited by party affiliation.
Ricky
NYC schools being the bastion of conservative thought….
Noel
He’s right in saying the schools will cheat to meet the goals. The ‘other resources’ needed are vouchers, not more money to prop up a system run for the benefit of unions.