T**********e 发帖数: 29576 | 1 Detroit school board chief Otis Mathis admits his grammar problem.
# Laura Berman
The president of the Detroit school board, Otis Mathis, is waging a legal
battle to steer the academic future of 90,000 children, in the nation's
lowest-achieving big city district.
He also acknowledges he has difficulty composing a coherent English sentence
. Here's a sample from an e-mail he sent to friends and supporters on Sunday
night, uncorrected for errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage.
It begins:
If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency
financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton
which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the
reason's he gave for closing school to many empty seats.
The rest of the e-mail, and others that Mathis has written, demonstrate what
one of his school board colleagues describes, carefully, as "his
communication issues." But if these deficits have limited Mathis, as he
admits they have, they have not stopped him from graduating from high school
and college. In January, his peers elected him president by a 10-1 vote
over Tyrone Winfrey, a University of Michigan academic officer.
"I'm a horrible writer. I know that," says Mathis, 56, a lifelong resident
of southwest Detroit. His difficulties with language were spotted as early
as fourth grade, when he was placed in special education classes. His
college degree was held up for more than a decade because he repeatedly
failed an English proficiency exam then required for graduation at Wayne
State University.
In another city, these revelations might be grounds for disqualification.
But Mathis is liked and defended by many of his peers, who cite his
collegiality, lack of defensiveness and leadership as more important than
his writing skills. Even Winfrey, his defeated rival for the presidency,
declined to criticize his qualifications.
But the story of Mathis speaks directly to Detroit's educational conundrum,
as officials try to raise standards and the proficiency of its students.
Is Mathis a success story? A man who beat the odds to win political success
and career opportunities on the strength of his personality and judgment? Or
is he an example of the system's worst failings -- a disinterested student
who always found ways to graduate, even when he didn't meet the requirements
-- likely to perpetuate lax academic standards if the board wins its court
battle with Bobb over control?
"It's kind of scary to even talk about," says Patrick Martin, 49, a Detroit
contractor whose 12-year-old son is a student at Noble Middle School.
"If this is the leader, what does it say about the followers? It explains a
lot about why there's so much confusion and infighting with the board and
Robert Bobb."
Another e-mail
Here's another mass e-mail from Mathis, from Aug. 11, 2009:
Do DPS control the Foundation or outside group? If an outside group control
the foundation, then what is DPS Board row with selection of is director?
Our we mixing DPS and None DPS row's, and who is the watch dog?
"I told him just last week that he should have his e-mails read by somebody
before he sends them out," said fellow school board member LaMar Lemmons Jr.
, who praises Mathis as a leader he can trust.
"I said, 'If somebody gets ahold of this, it will become an issue that you
can't read or write. It will go around the world.' "
Can Mathis read?
"Yes, I can read. I'm capable of reading a lot of information and
regurgitation," says Mathis, who told me he sometimes needs to read
documents two or three times to fully comprehend their contents but then
masters -- and memorizes -- them.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100304/OPINION03/3040437/1 | m********s 发帖数: 55301 | 2 这不正体现了读书无用论吗。
不会读写一样可以任高职拿高薪,会读写的就去当生物博后好了。好好研究,为我们这
些任高职拿高薪的保命而去剁小白鼠的脑袋。
sentence
Sunday
.
【在 T**********e 的大作中提到】 : Detroit school board chief Otis Mathis admits his grammar problem. : # Laura Berman : The president of the Detroit school board, Otis Mathis, is waging a legal : battle to steer the academic future of 90,000 children, in the nation's : lowest-achieving big city district. : He also acknowledges he has difficulty composing a coherent English sentence : . Here's a sample from an e-mail he sent to friends and supporters on Sunday : night, uncorrected for errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage. : It begins: : If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency
| T**********e 发帖数: 29576 | 3
"I told him just last week that he should have his e-mails read by somebody
before he sends them out," said fellow school board member LaMar Lemmons Jr.,
美国写不清楚字的人好多隐藏得很好.
我们这里有个白人教授也是有时候发的EMAIL很惨不忍睹, 但多数正常. 有人猜测是有
时老婆没把关.
【在 m********s 的大作中提到】 : 这不正体现了读书无用论吗。 : 不会读写一样可以任高职拿高薪,会读写的就去当生物博后好了。好好研究,为我们这 : 些任高职拿高薪的保命而去剁小白鼠的脑袋。 : : sentence : Sunday : .
| T**********e 发帖数: 29576 | 4 这个没掌握读写的学校委员会主席曾被在女职员面前手淫被告警察.
DPS board chief accused of lewd acts
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100619/SCHOOLS/6190351 |
|