Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy

On Mon, 4 Nov 2024 21:41:30 +0100, D wrote:

Today... many are not capable today. But give it a 100 years or two, and
with the progress of psychology and the school system, I'm sure that
focus will be to equip people to live meaningful lives, instead of just
being compliant cogs.

I had a very brief career as a math and science teacher. The school system
used homogeneous grouping meaning the classes were broken up according to
the perceived potential of the students. A was the college bound, B
possibly would make it to college or a skilled trade, C most likely would
be unskilled labor, and D was for dummies.

Being the new hire I saw a lot of the D section. They were ineducable. To
put it plainly they didn't give a shit and their parents didn't give a
shit. They were marking time until they turned 16 and could get working
papers. To further clarify, there was one black kid. The rest were run of
the mill white trash. I did have to relieve the black kid of his straight
razor. The white kids knew better than to play with their toys in class.

The tranches were roughly equal, so that was 25% of the student body. The
C kids might have fared better but this was a mill town and the mills were
leaving.