It might help explain why otherwise smart, well meaning people find themselves at the end of the day executing a discriminatory policy in pursuit of anti-discrimination.
This was going to be a post about education with some title such as "The NEA - national security threat ..." or sump'n.
Let's touch on a bit of that before wandering into the Diversity swamp. Since the Federal Guv'munt went ear deep in the education system with the gift President Carter gave to the teacher's unions in the creation of the Department of Education - has education in this nation improved or declined?
As the teacher's unions gain more and more control - are things better or worse?
Can we call the education system they have created in the last two generations a national security issue? Sure, if the latest results from the ASVAB are any reading.
Now to get back to the Diversity angle. As we have been told over and over from the CNO on down - senior leadership wants the Navy officer corps to "look like America." Yes, a simple minded, retrograde, and racist view of things - but these people are not really racist even though they promote racist programs - right?
Why then do we find a system wormed-through with different race-based programs, standards, and performance expectations? Simple - it is all numbers. The tyranny of math. You think an organization of engineers would accept that - but somethings are harder than numbers.
If all groups performed close to each other on objective criteria, then a fair and honest effort to recruit equally among our nation's people should get your numbers close to whatever bean counting program you use. If it didn't, then you may have a problem. Same raw material gives you the chance to create the same result.
That isn't the reality though. The fact is that different groups are performing at different levels. As a result, you cannot get the same result at the end - you are working with different raw materials. To get a constant % at the end of the process when you have widely different % raw material at the start, for lower performing groups you have a very smaller percentage of equally qualified people to recruit from at the top-level. Some do - but not enough.
If you have a fair system based on opportunity and meritocracy founded on objective criteria - today you cannot achieve a face that looks like the USA.
This was going to be a post about education with some title such as "The NEA - national security threat ..." or sump'n.
Let's touch on a bit of that before wandering into the Diversity swamp. Since the Federal Guv'munt went ear deep in the education system with the gift President Carter gave to the teacher's unions in the creation of the Department of Education - has education in this nation improved or declined?
As the teacher's unions gain more and more control - are things better or worse?
Can we call the education system they have created in the last two generations a national security issue? Sure, if the latest results from the ASVAB are any reading.
Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the U.S. Army fail its entrance exam, painting a grim picture of an education system that produces graduates who can't answer basic math, science and reading questions, according to a new study released Tuesday.All my kids are in private schools for a reason. This is no shock.
The report by The Education Trust bolsters a growing worry among military and education leaders that the pool of young people qualified for military service will grow too small.
"Too many of our high school students are not graduating ready to begin college or a career - and many are not eligible to serve in our armed forces," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the AP. "I am deeply troubled by the national security burden created by America's underperforming education system."
Now to get back to the Diversity angle. As we have been told over and over from the CNO on down - senior leadership wants the Navy officer corps to "look like America." Yes, a simple minded, retrograde, and racist view of things - but these people are not really racist even though they promote racist programs - right?
Why then do we find a system wormed-through with different race-based programs, standards, and performance expectations? Simple - it is all numbers. The tyranny of math. You think an organization of engineers would accept that - but somethings are harder than numbers.
If all groups performed close to each other on objective criteria, then a fair and honest effort to recruit equally among our nation's people should get your numbers close to whatever bean counting program you use. If it didn't, then you may have a problem. Same raw material gives you the chance to create the same result.
That isn't the reality though. The fact is that different groups are performing at different levels. As a result, you cannot get the same result at the end - you are working with different raw materials. To get a constant % at the end of the process when you have widely different % raw material at the start, for lower performing groups you have a very smaller percentage of equally qualified people to recruit from at the top-level. Some do - but not enough.
The study shows wide disparities in scores among white and minority students, similar to racial gaps on other standardized tests. Nearly 40 percent of black students and 30 percent of Hispanics don't pass, compared with 16 percent of whites. The average score for blacks is 38 and for Hispanics is 44, compared to whites' average score of 55.There you go. You can't get there from here without doing one of two things - or both of them; you can lower standards, or discriminate against whites (and some asian groups (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), as other standard testing systems have those asians scoring higher than whites). That is just math.
Even those passing muster on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, usually aren't getting scores high enough to snag the best jobs.
If you have a fair system based on opportunity and meritocracy founded on objective criteria - today you cannot achieve a face that looks like the USA.
If you want to do that - you need to fix our public education system first. That is hard to do. It is easier to discriminate because it is easier to tear down than to build up.
People are people, but for a variety of cultural, economic, and educational reasons - they are not performing at the same % breakout. That isn't the fault of the Navy - and the Navy should not besmirch its honor by lying, cheating, and stealing opportunity from others simply to make the end result "look right."
The Navy is not full of racists - just the opposite. We should stop acting like one in order to prove to a select group of rabble-rousers that we are not. Bad logic, bad policy - and a habit that creates a culture of deception and conflict.
Ask why our education system cannot educate its children equally - then you will be on the right path.
