WHO's Not Listening, Jimbo?

Hey Jim...did you have
YOUR listening cap on? 

Leave it to good old SeaBass Jim McCourt to pounce from his podium on a resident who refuses to drink from the district Kool-Aid tap.  After questioning the value added by introducing Mandarin Chinese to the district language program, McCourt could barely contain himself and immediately shouted, "That last presenter obviously wasn't listening.  We're adding Chinese because that's what the students have requested."

 "That last presenter obviously wasn't listening.  We're adding Chinese because that's what the students have requested."
--Sun Prairie School Board Treasurer Jim "SeaBass" McCourt

So...we do what the students want...is that right, Jim?
Does that mean we should just give 'em Pepsi and Skittles, Jim?  The students wanted an open campus...and they didn't get that.  So...Jim...it's clearly not "whatever the students want."  The question is:  what exactly is the driving force here?

The rest of the story
The presenter WAS listening, Mr. McCourt...and so were we.  The question is:  were you?  High School Principal Heipp clearly stated that "in a survey" students listed Mandarin Chinese as something they had interest in.  But they also listed Arabic...and we don't see that being offered.  What we see is Mandarin Chinese...which seems to dovetail so nicely with our Chinese visitors last spring and Dr. Culver's and Ms. Heipps' trips to China this year.  And, as Dr. Culver was so kind to point out, 80% of his trip was financed by the Chinese government.  So, it would seem to be that we offer what the students want as long as administrators get a nice kickback.

We also heard (did you?) Ms. Heipp's response to Board member Tom Weber's question regarding how student educational needs factor into the equation of deciding new curriculum. Ms. Heipp's response was that if something is deemed critical for students to have, then they make it a mandatory part of the graduation requirements.

AHHHH!  There it is!   The old, "we'll let the students select the course they want unless we decide it's really important and then we'll make them take it" play.  We heard that, loud and clear.

And now, Mr. McCourt, we ask again whether YOU were listening.  Because the presenter listed clear FACTS that Mandarin Chinese is not going to help our students succeed.  If that is our goal, then we should be adding Latin to our curriculum, not Chinese.  Latin would reap immediate benefits in improving Language Arts scores, as well as reading for comprehension.  Count how many students that MIGHT someday be in a career in which they do business in China and need to know Mandarin Chinese.  Then count how many students will be in a field where they need to write clearly and professionally, or be involved with science, medicine, or law.  Now tell us which group you think would be larger.

That is the group on which we need to be focused.  Now.

Oh...and did we mention how poor a form it is to rebut facts offered by a resident just because you support the opposite position?  We hope you don't operate like that in your business dealings.  Or could that have something to do with not having a paycheck?  Points to ponder.