scooterbob

Is Wilson Sears a product of social promotion or an example of Murphy's Law?

Rickyp's question is legitimate. The attempts by public school proponents to answer it have been less than convincing. Must we assume that the position of private school advantage is baseless? It appears that that is the case.

Beautiful, Birdsfan, and very appropriate.

Ram95 seems to dislike those with wealth. Do you oppose the philosophy that those who work hard usually have and those who don't have not? Possibly you would be happier in Bangladesh. Personally, I'll stay here where hard work and dedication to task produces wealth as well as better football teams. Of course, we should all remember that wealth does not bring happiness. Family is what really matters.

Possibly JC Alumni 76 and Mr. Bennett are proponents of KERA where it doesn't matter whether your answer is correct or not as long as you feel good about yourself. Fortunately that philosophy does not exist in private schools. The difference between .01 percent and 1.43541 percent can be devastating in many areas of life including, but not limited to, surgery. Fortunately, Bennett is merely a journalist- most likely the product of a public school. His analysis of the public-private debate was about as thoughtful as was his math.

Automatic, you are not likely to get a reply from onetoya to your query. Onetoya, by environment, had to take a shot at my proposal. Onetoya has close ties to Ashland. I, as he knows, have close ties to Rose Hill. Thus, any proposal presented by me or any other Rose Hill poster must be opposed by onetoya and some of the other Ashlander posters. That is how it works up here in northeastern Kentucky. Of course, he may oppose any proposal of mutual accountability for partisan reasons. After all, no school east of Lexington has more out of district athletes and "transfers" than does Ashland. That has been the case for years. Also, Ashland is notorious in this part of the state for making those calls to KHSAA to report its "neighbors". Therefore, to support equal application of the rules and to make the "whistleblowers" stand up and be responsible for their actions would not be in the best interests of Ashland. So, I suppose, onetoya really was only indicating that he was being a partisan who has no interest in truly taking the steps needed to "level" that By-Law 10 playing field.

BGGreen's solution is good. My addendum would be that the rules, while being strictly enforced, should be enforced without prejudice in regard to whether the "offender" is public or private. Further, when accusations are made, the accuser should be publicly identified- no more anonymous telephone calls. Finally, if a particular school is guilty of repeated baseless accusations, that school should be severely punished- possibly the same punishment that it sought to cause for the school it falsely accused. In other words, let's make all schools accountable on both ends of the issue.

Pancho is not politically correct but he is, nonetheless, correct. Letabrotherspeak gives the impression that only private schools "court" pre-ninth graders. That, of course, is far from the truth and Letabrotherspeak loses credibility by not pointing that out. Surely, he knows better. Need some examples? Raceland will start either one or two former Rose Hill students. Fairview will start at least one. Russell will feature two. Ashland will start three. On the out of state scene, Huntington High will start two and, of course we all know about the two at NCHHS. The point is not to complain. The point is to illustrate that those who put the blame on the private schools and paint the public schools as being virtuous are being less than honest. Let's just admit that both "court" openly and accept that this is part of the process because, in reality, actions may be "amended" but they won't materially change.

A sweep by the private schools would be great.

Onetoya, you should tell the whole story- not just what suits Ashland. Rose Hill ran a bus along a route that picked up any and all of its students who lived in nearby Ohio and West Virginia whether they were athletes or not. A bus has also been run to Carter County for the same purpose. Actually, a number of the athletes from these areas were old enough to drive to school and did so as well as bringing along some of their non-driving student-neighbors. Therefore, your accusation is stated without full disclosure. Of course, Ashlanders were never interested in facts- only what furthered their cause with KHSAA. The impression you wish to give of private transportation for Mayo, Dawson, and King is, taken in its "best Ashland light", blatantly "incomplete". Somehow, I'll bet that Ashland has athletes who ride the bus. Of course that may not include the Ashland athletes who actually live outside the Ashland school boundary. Now, we at Rose Hill aren't keeping the telephone lines hot between here and Executive Drive. Maybe Ashland should adopt a similar policy. In case you haven't noticed, the Mayo Era in local athletics is over. Rose Hill has moved on. It would be good for you Ashlanders to heal your wounds and move on, also.

The public schools have "dumbed down" academics. It appears that they want, with Proposition 20, to "dumb down" athletics. Somehow, I don't think this country was built of "dumbing down" but, then, this country wasn't built on social promotion, political correctness, and KERA.

Were these really the best advocates that the publics could offer? If McKee, Sears, and Sexton are typical representatives of the publics, it is no wonder that they seek their version of a "level" playing field. They are looking for major concessions- not a reasonable compromise. Maybe they should try working a little harder.

Sexton is a mouthpiece for others. In regard to the issues at hand, it is doubtful that he has ever had an original thought of his own. He can't appear on "Kentucky Tonight" because viewers would see others pulling his strings.

Unsolicited, biased, and unsubstantiated heresay is similar to Charmin.

Lonnie Wheeler doesn't display a particularly firm grasp of what takes place in Kentucky. Does he really believe that only the private schools "recruit"? Surely, he knows better.

I am very aware of how Rose Hill voted. Mr. Dotson's vote certainly was not a vote for Rose Hill. It was a wise vote for what is best for the KHSAA. I cannot fault his vote. If the publics weren't so self-serving and myopic, Mr. Dotson wouldn't have been forced to correct the problem. By the way, I always like it when you guys refer to Rose Hill as "your beloved Rose Hill". In debating, it indicates more than you think. It indicates more of that "emotion" and, in debating, emotion is a weakness.

As expected, Cubster, you begged the question as to why Proposal 20 was important to Russell. I have to assume that Rickyp hit the target. Of course, you may also have a candidate that you are prepping to oppose Mr. Dotson. Is that the case?

Other than the "matters" pointed out by Rickyp, Cubster, why would Russell be so emotional about this proposal one way or the other? After all, it is not likely that Russell will have a relationship with any private school other than Rose Hill. Should this overreaction be interpreted as affirmation of what Rickyp has posted? If the emotion has nothing to do with Rose Hill, then what? Now don't come back with a post that you feel betrayed by Mr. Dotson. That is disingenuous and really begs the question as to why Russell is so "concerned".

Rickyp is, as usual, blunt but factually correct. You may not appreciate the tone of his posts but you cannot, if honest, dispute that he speaks the truth. However, I do need to "amend" one of his statements. The at large B of C member who so completely represents Ashland's personal interests is, in fact, still a member of the Ashland school board. Apparently, that member missed the Friday meeting. Otherwise, the vote would obviously have been 9-8. For those 15th and 16th Region people who are so upsent with Mr. Dotson, why do you suppose he voted against the proposal? Obviously, he was not doing so for the benefit of Rose Hill. Could it be that, unlike all the self-serving membership voters, he was wise enough to understand the damage and cost to the KHSAA that such a proposal would cause?

Actually, the nine members of the board of control weighed the short term and long term ramifications of passing such a proposal and acted responsibly. It is interesting to read all of these publics as they complain and whine when, in reality, the board of control merely exercised one of its most important duties- it protected the general membership from its own ignorance and self-serving. Now, I realize that the publics want to win more championships. I realize that, as is the trend in modern day America, the publics want to make the path to those championships easier (if you can't beat them, get rid of them). I also realize that actual recruiting of athletes is , if for no other reason than mere numbers, more prevalent in public schools than in private schools (thus a red herring when used by the publics). The membership was reactionary and selfish. The board of control showed a little maturity.

I have long been an advocate for Rose Hill. For the last couple of years, I have continually advocated Rose Hill discontinuing its membership in KHSAA. The developments of today underline the fact that Rose Hill, and other private schools, would benefit from this disassociation. Within a 100 mile radius of Ashland, to the east and to the north, there are many high schools in West Virginia and Ohio that would offer superior competition when compared to what is presently offered in the 16th Region and eastern Kentucky. The absence of contests with Kentucky schools would not be detrimental in the least. I know some would argue that athletes would not be exposed sufficiently to attract the attention of recruiters and college coaches. This is a false argument. If an athlete is deserving, he or she will be seen. Many at Rose Hill play AAU. Obviously, college recruiters and coaches frequent AAU events. However, the best example of the fact that athletes will be seen is Saihou Jassey. Saihou, for (I believe) other than legitimate reasons, was declared ineligible last year. He played nowhere. Nonetheless, his talents became known and he received a full scholarship at Bradley University. The number of KHSAA member school seniors who received scholarships of this stature are very few. Certainly, Jassey's scholarship was enormously more impressive than any other received by anyone in eastern Kentucky. Independence opens many doors and, also, gets rid of the whiners who seek to "level" that imaginary "playing field" through harming their opposition with self-centered proposals rather than working to produce a better product. So I repeat to my associates at Rose Hill, as well as others in a similar situation- it's time to move on to bigger and better venues where you are not handcuffed by those who seek to harm you.

I hope the changes in the SAT are actually made. They are much needed. If some students are not prepared in the basics of a good and proper education, hold the individual school districts responsible. Wouldn't it be interesting to see parents sue school districts and school boards for breach of contract for not providing students with the proper preparation for college and life?

I completely agree with PurpleHaze and westsider. A marvelous and Christlike nun, who also happened to be an elementary school teacher, once told me that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Although she is no longer here, I'm sure she is disappointed to see how our standards, as mentioned by PurpleHaze above, have slipped and continue slip with each passing year.

Sorry, bellalumni40. But I think TBF and I are about finished. Best wishes to Bell County in the playoffs.

After reading your rambling reply, I suppose it is best that we just agree to disagree as to the importance of teaching our youth proper communication skills. However, I would hope that you would agree that we are "dumbing down" more each school year and the result is damaging the country. Need proof? Check Ashland Community and Technical College and see how many students (almost all of whom are local high school graduates) take remedial classes to cover what they didn't get in secondary school. I support our teachers as much as you. Nonetheless, the tendency to move from the basics to feel good fluff and to teaching the awards test is harmful. This isn't necessarily the fault of teachers because they are merely doing what they are told to do by local administrators and the nomads of Frankfort. Now, rather than getting mad at me, ask a few of our real, honest to goodness, longtime teachers (don't waste your time asking teachers who only recently graduated from college because, they don't know any better). You may be surprised.