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| -Great Cultural Revolution |
| Jason Whitlock on the I Promise School |
| 2023-08-05 |
| [Fox Sports] Jason Whitlock: "To no one's surprise, LeBron James' solution for the academic woes of at-risk Akron students is failing. Five years into the well-financed ’I Promise School’, according to news reports not a single 8th grader can pass Ohio's math test, and just 8% of the entire student body can read at an appropriate level. LeBron James, it appears, is not the second-coming of Joe Clark, the baseball bat carrying school principal immortalized in the movie ’Lean on Me.’ As an educator the NBA superstar has far more in common with Elizabeth Halsey, the gold-digging, pot-smoking, corner-cutting harlot from ’Bad Teacher.’ ’I Promise’ is what happens when public relations managers convince a well-intentioned dumb jock to chase Muhammad Ali's legacy by using fame and influence to concoct a utopian vision of middle school for poor kids. ’I Promise’ is a secular liberal fantasy. Taxpayers foot the overwhelming majority of the bill, a celebrity finances the luxuries, and corporate media writes glowing features at the school's launch, and return years later to explain away the failure by reminding everyone the decision makers meant well. ’I Promise’ uses James' money to buy school uniforms, food for families, job placement services for parents, bikes and helmets for each student, Nike-themed decorations inside the building, and very soon-- affordable housing near the school. In LeBron's mind and the minds of his progressive handlers, a lack of uniforms, food, bikes, affordable housing, and a mother with a high paying job are all that stood in the way of LeBron being an honor roll student in junior high. Five years of ’I Promise’ blows up that myth. America has been throwing money at schools for decades without any discernible progress... Affordable housing is a poor substitute for dear old dads. How many government and celebrity finance step-daddies, welfare affirmative action social justice initiatives, criminal justice reform, etc. have to fail before we accept God's family design as the solution? ’I Promise’ is the definition of insanity. Only God's promise will work. Only the nuclear family can fix what's wrong in America. There are countless studies proving that intact families with involved dads produce high-achieving kids regardless of economic status or race. LeBron knows this but it's much easier to finance a small percentage of a school than to stand against the liberal matriarchy. It sounds like I'm picking on LeBron James, I'm not. I used to think the same foolish stuff in my 20s, 30s, and 40s. I did not place a high enough priority on family. I thought money could fix and/or improve everything. I thought responsibility FOR and accountability TO children and a spouse impeded happiness and fulfillment. I thought zip codes and economic status explained achievement gaps. I was a fool. I was not alone, LeBron James isn't alone either. Most of America, including the American citizens claiming religious faith do not really comprehend the importance of fathers. we give it lip service but we don't really believe it." Related: I Promise School: 2023-07-30 Not one student at LeBron's 'I Promise' school has passed the state's basic math test in over 3 years I Promise School: 2023-07-29 Not ONE incoming 8th grader at LeBron James' 'I Promise' school in Akron has passed state's basic math test in over three years I Promise School: 2022-06-13 Corporate Media Silent on Arrest of Three Black Men Who Allegedly Beat a White Teen to Death |
| Posted by:M. Murcek |
| #9 My apologies to the Weinstein families (with one exception). To associate this filthy Weingarten with them was totally unintentional. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-08-05 22:30 |
| #8 Randi Weingarten |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-08-05 18:41 |
| #7 I'd like to think that LBJ's heart is in the right place. I'm not so sure I can say that for the AFT and the Randi Weinsteins of the world. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-08-05 18:12 |
| #6 Lost in the shuffle is the fact that in an honest system, celebrity intervention would not be needed to make the school system, you know, do the job it's paid to do. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-08-05 17:39 |
| #5 With all of the digits in his salary and bank account, he probably doesn't give it much thought. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-08-05 17:23 |
| #4 You think LeBron could pass a simple grade school math exam? I'm pretty sure he knows the difference between a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer so there's that. |
| Posted by: jpal 2023-08-05 17:21 |
| #3 Whitlock has come a long ways from working for a Disney newspaper and blaming Black Crime on John Wayne. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-08-05 15:24 |
| #2 I think the point is James sizzle was used to sell the gristly gummint school steak. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-08-05 12:11 |
| #1 Yes, I am not a fan of James, but the underlying ideas of this program are the issue not his sponsorship. If the same money was spent to enroll all those kids in Kumon, the outcome would be much better. Phonics and arithmetic are more effective cures than bike helmets and uniforms. The fatherless is on the Dems not on some NBA bozo. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2023-08-05 11:54 |