Recently, the Bulls organization committed $3.5 million to the Chicago Public Schools for support of students in the 40th, 50th and 60th percentiles (Sports, Nov. 11). A few questions come to the minds of concerned people:
– Is the Bulls leadership, under the tutelage of Chicago Public Schools leaders, adopting a mentality that it’s more worthwhile to support the interests of students who have the best chance of making the system and the city look good? This sounds very close to the mantra of many of the board’s probation managers, who suggest to teachers that the best way for their school to reach that magical 15 or 20 percent at national norm (their ticket off the probation list) is to identify those 15 or 20 percent of their students who are the closest to scoring at the national norm on the standardized test and hyperinvest time and energy to help put them over the top.
– Does this gift suggest that those in the lower percentiles have so little hope that they are not worthy of the investment?
– From where do these percentages emanate? Are they selected on the basis of standardized test performance only? I bet they are. Everyone connected to education (except CPS leadership) knows that as the single tool of measurement, no instrument, and least of all the standardized test, by itself, tells us anything conclusive about learner status or progress. Test publishers themselves say that their products should not be used to make any high-stakes educational decisions for individual students or groups of students.
– Is the Bulls organization making a similar gift for special programs for students in other groups?
Our organization hopes that when the Bulls settle their dispute with players, there will be some left to share for education programs that benefit all children.
