CAT Tracks for April 3, 2013 MIRACLE IN MEMPHIS

Excuse me all to hell...

...for not buying into the hype.

Pour a lot of attention, new faculty, and M-O-N-E-Y into any school system in the country and you will most likely see a bump in test scores. Add a dose of cheating and you might even get a miracle. Every "reform miracle" that's ever been has not held up to scrutiny. Where there is a will (and money involved) there is a way. Just like officials in states throughout the nation, who have legally "cooked the books"...changing the rules to achieve the desired results.

The novelty will wear off, the fresh teachers will burn out, and the children will be abandoned to a new set of teachers who are new to the school system and don't have a clue of how to teach disadvantaged children and who don't have miraculous powers. In short, The school system will be left "Waiting for Superman".

Trust me on this...

Elvis will return to Graceland before anything more than a fleeting statistical bump graces Memphis city schools.

Bottom line...

At the end of the day, the school day, the children go back home...to their impoverished homes and neighborhoods which have no books, no study areas, insufficient food, and a multitude of distractions calling their names...

...and just possibly,where a bullet with their name on it awaits them...