Essay Sixty-Five

Stating the obvious with MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• A Chicago Tribune analysis revealed a relationship between student test scores and poverty. According to the analysis, middle-class Black students show great improvement when removed from high-poverty schools. It’s nice to see major city newspapers showcasing this kind of information. But geez, the dumbest kid from the highest poverty-stricken school could have presented the same conclusions.

• A New York Times story revealed federal spending for schools is increasing, but more low-income schools will actually receive less money than last year. Population shifts and increasing numbers of poor children means over two-thirds of the nation’s low-income schools won’t get as much financing as before. Somebody needs to review the Chicago Tribune analysis above — then redo the math on this budget plan.

• Mexican citizens lined up for hours at a time to purchase the infamous Memin Pinguin stamps, ultimately buying all 750,000 in two days. It’s unlikely most of these folks are diehard Memin Pinguin fans. Rather, they’re probably aware that sheets of the stamps are selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. Maybe Mexican President Vicente Fox knew what he was doing all along when fueling the controversy by refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing. Sparking a country’s economy via eBay seems to fit his style.

• Showtime is producing a new action-drama series called Sleeper Cell. The storyline features a bunch of Islamic terrorists, and the hero FBI agent is a Muslim. Should be interesting to see the public response. Then again, a show starring a Muslim character is actually less bizarre than a show with Bobby Brown.

• Despite all the debates and arguments surrounding replacement candidates for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, one name never seems to appear: Judge Joe Brown. What’s up with that?