|
As if that is any consolation to the populace, the
still failing school system and the tens of thousands of
people who call Toledo home.
This glaring report was completed by the group called
WalletHub and according to their various indices, Toledo is
ranked 134 in the nation as to head smarts.
In other words, "Dummies are in Toledo and they stay in
Toledo!"
Ouch! And to think that we have several colleges and
universities in this area but yet Toledo is tabulated as a
haven for those whose IQ's are ranked sketchy at best. Ann
Arbor was rated number one.
Now, can you imagine trying to sell Toledo with the
refrain, "Oh, by the way, we are a city of dummies and it
appears that we may continue to be dummies."
That is really encouraging news for a business seeking
to locate to a city whose population is apparently not
comfortable with reading, learning and solving brain teaser
puzzles.
Could that be a reason why Toledo Public Schools are
in dire straits insofar as they are churning out graduating
classes nearly chock full of dummies?
Maybe, just maybe, there is a direct correlation between
academic smarts and social ills and Toledo is home to too
many people opting for video games and 24/7 texting as
opposed to wearing out their library cards or knowing the
difference between hegemony, hedgehog and hedge fund.
As many of you may know, I am an astute social scientist
with the ability to discern "ignut" (short hand word for
ignorant) people whenever they cross my path.
So, I thought that I would call and ask some of my dear
readers about their level of sophistication and their
ability to solve complex problems. In other words, to see if
such a headline about Toledoans is rightly deserved.
The following questions are those that I deem important
for any person to answer correctly and not be pigeon holed
as being a "Toledo Dummy":
(1) If you were a minority mayor and had five minority
members on a city council out of a total of 12 council
members, could you forge a progressive plan to benefit the
minority community? a/ Yes. b/No. c/Only if you had the
vision and courage to do so. d/ Would first need permission
from The Blade editorial board.
(2) If Jack had three brothers and four sisters and each
person had two children, how many nephews or nieces did Jack
have? a/14. b/ 7. c/unable to determine. d/ don't
understand the question.
(3) How many halves are in a whole? a/1. b/2. or c/what
"hole" are we talking about? d/ how did the halves get into
the whole?
(4) Do you drink skim milk? a/ what was skimmed off of it?
b/ that is a good question...I will get back to you on it.
c/ is this a trick question? d/ does drink include using a
straw?
(5) What country is bigger in land mass: a/ Canada. b/
Australia. c/ Africa. d/ Ireland. (Note: yes, this is a
trick question!).
(6) What is the square root of nine times the square root
of 16 minus three? a/ 11. b/ 9. c/ 12. d/ sorry, I don't do
squares!
(7) If you were called "obtuse," would you consider that a
compliment? a/ yes. b/ no. c/ I'm not clear on what you are
asking. d/ is the person bigger than me?
(8) If you opened a savings account and it stated, "interest
compounded daily as opposed to being compounded yearly,”
would you object? a/ no. b/ yes. c/ why is my money being,
"pounded" to begin with anyway? d/ how much are we talking
about?
(9) If I were selling you some candy and you said, "I want
some of dis and some of dat," what should I do? a/ stop
selling candy! b/ pick out pieces of several items c/ tell
the buyer that you do not sell, "dis" and you don't sell,
"dat." d/ see his money first.
(10) How many days does it take earth to circle the sun? a/
one week. b/ about three months. c/ 365 days. d/ the sun
circles the earth, not visa versa.
When I summed up the responses from the 73 volunteers,
only three persons gave acceptable answers to all of the
questions! Just three.
Regrettably, I had to think to myself, that maybe, just
maybe there was something to this report about Toledo.
However, you would hope that the Toledo Federation of
Teachers would be outraged about this report since it was a
direct salvo upon their credibility as teachers. But, to
date, there has been no push back against this report by
WalletHub. None.
It is as if the teachers and the superintendent have, by
their deafening silence, been co-opted by the report and
have accepted its findings as true.
You would think that the corporations and businesses in
Toledo would be up in arms about such a hit on their
employees that they would spend some bucks and air ads
refuting this report. But, to date, nothing has emanated
from corporate Toledo.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are some advantages of
being seen as being a city being reported as filled with
dunces. First of all, there are low expectations for the
dunce city so that when the dunce city achieves anything
noteworthy, there is much jubilation that progress is being
made.
Second, being a dummy can generate the "pity" factor
with various do good charities. They will throw a wad of
money at the problem and if you write a convincing grant,
you could be the recipient of some free money which can be
used to make the problem last longer!
Lastly, being seen as a city which is populated by a lot
of dummies, can be a good thing for national publicity since
everyone would want to know how dumbed down Toledo is faring
after this expose airs across the nation.
What is the best cure for being labeled a dumb city? Get
the mayor, city council, the corporations and teachers union
on the same page and work to get the rating of the public
school system up from their chronic "D" and "F" evaluations
to a "C" or a "B" rating.
Will this happen? Answer: Do snakes have hips? Do
chickens have lips?
Why? For decades, this problem of under-educated Toledoans
has been a silent embarrassment and the dismal ratings of
the public school system attests to it.
Remember, there is money to be made off of "ignut"
folks.
Someone has to flip the burgers and do the hard and
heavy work that people with a two-year or four-year degree
would not stoop to do.
You need an oppressed poor and "ignut" working class to
carry the water, feed the chickens and hoe the fields.
So, if this scathing report causes educational heartburn
and people wise up and demand changes in the educational
system, that means the in control fat cats, like the
proverbial Humpty Dumpty, could fall of the wall and things
would never be the same again.
Anyone for a game of chess?....I mean checkers!
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com
|
