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Thanks so much for responding. I need to know how to edit my posts. I often go back to read my submissions a few hours later only to find some sort of error. I have a fond relationship with edit buttons. I am a former Special Education Teacher for children who were categorized under Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), what used to be Mental Retardation (MR), now Intellectual Disabilities, and Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). When I wrote an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for a particular student, I made certain to do all the background work on that student from their home life to all of their academic achievements and deficits. I did this in order to write an educational plan to service the "whole" child. I could blow a Present Level of Academic Performance (PLOP) out of the water because of my due diligence in getting to know the child and his or her parents. Now here lies the kicker: After doing all of this work, as a teacher, oftentimes I was not able to implement the plan because of an overcrowded classroom, budget cuts, and the overwhelming volume of work that was required from me. If I didn't work at home and stay late after school hours, my IEPs would have been, for the most part, worthless documents. As far as their graduation options, I always explained to students and their parents that there were 3 options following their primary and secondary education. I had to place my students on one of these 3 tracks. I made certain that the parents and the students were well aware of their graduation destinations. Often, because of their state test scores, it was usually the vocational track with the GED. Some did graduate with a standard diploma where they could attend a community college. However, only a few went on to high school with a diploma that allowed them to attend a 4-year college or university. They simply weren't academically prepared to compete. Special Education was never intended to be a permanent placement for children. Administrators and teachers were supposed to deliver instructions that resulted in positive educational progression for these children--a progression that was intended to get them into a regular classroom setting. But the teachers and parents benefited from having these children remain under this umbrella. My kids called their benefit checks "crazy checks." They had better act "crazy" in the classroom so that their parent(s) could continue to reap their meager monthly checks from the state. Learning cannot take place in the presence of distractions and disruptions. I leave you with this. Far too many of our black male children are labeled under SLD and placed in SPED because of their history of inappropriate/disruptive behaviors. This is wrong on so many levels. So many of our children are misdiagnosed and over-categorized for Specific Learning Disabilities--especially in reading and math. Again, I can hardly wait to see what the states do with their implementation of the new Education Reform Bill. Many substandard schools are, for the most part, right back in the segregated conditions of the South.

Cynique it is Etheridge, lol. I don't often go back and edit on any social media site. I actually barely edit myself on my own blog. I look at it as informal writing and treat it as such. I will say this in regard to grammar... I still think grammar should be taught by linguistics majors instead of English majors. Interpretation and analysis should be the realm of English majors. This isn't on topic, but I've been missing lately and not doing my equal amount of time here and on social. I The holidays are always like that. All I'm doing on social is sharing different stuff so I'm not interacting there either. Move forward everyone!

Thanks Cynique, it is so nice to have these intellectual exchanges beyond the confines of my home. I look forward to many more. I know that I can learn so much from you. Are you on Linkedin, if so I would love to connect with you on that platform as well.

Thanks all of you for responding to this. First to Cynique, I absolutely meant parole. Once I typed patrol, I could not see it. I had my son stand over me and read silently while I read aloud and he did not catch it. I had my hubby to read it also and he did not catch it. This is crazy. Troy, please fix this for me or tell me how without me having to re-do posting. For my part, I really want our platform to be "tight" as they say. I am going to try to slow down a little more so that I can be a bit more careful in my typing and proofreading. But meanwhile, Cynique, please stay on us. CDBurns, thanks so much for your thoughts on this. It is painful and truthful. I had a beautiful young lady come up to me one day crying. I wanted her to join our Beautiful Young Lady (BYL) Mentoring Club. Her sister had already joined and was proudly wearing her t-shirt. This 15 year old told me that she could not read--really could not read--I'm talking first grade level kind of reading. She displayed deficiencies in all five areas of reading starting with Phonemic Awareness. This girl had no real conceptualization of Phonics, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Fluency. I found this to be outrageous. How did this child get this far without a conceptual understanding of phonics? Of course, she was put in Special Education where her IEP should have taken care of this situation. IEPs, what a joke they are when they are not properly written for the child and implemented to serve. I cried with her because there are so many "throw-away" older children out there that it is almost impossible for any teacher to do one-to-one instructions with them. Earl is the tip of the iceberg and something must be done to teach our children how to read, write, and think. I see this as a major contributor to their inappropriate behaviors and their life choices. Additionally, I asked for critiques on this piece because I have plans for it. I see that education reform passed that finally gets rid of NCLB. How ironic. I know that hundreds, maybe thousands of over aged, challenged, youths were not only left behind, but they were literally forgotten. Now, when I taught reading to my kids with special needs, my babies outperformed the regular education students on their state tests. Also, I had one young man to skip a grade when he entered high school. I say this because illiteracy is not a disease. Poverty is not a disease either. They both are rampant for sure, but there is a cure. Both can be eradicated over time. I know that the system promotes poverty and illiteracy and capitalizes on it. Poor school administrators, and non performing teachers, who could care less, are paid to service this population of youths and they are not getting the job done. Of course, we all know that the prison system is a huge money maker. The problem is this: there are too many in the black community that tends to embrace this madness via blind ignorance--I have seen it. It is our responsibility to initiate change for ourselves, our children and their proper education, and our communities. Last, but not least, Troy, thanks so much. I did want to get on you about the typos, but I did not know how. It is hard to point a finger when the thumb points right back at the pointer. Anyway, we can always see mistakes made by others better than we can see our own. Hey, I like this. But I always get the message from your comments, suggestions, etc. I reiterate, we certainly need Cynique's eagle eyes on us. In response to you, I want so much to spread the word about these kids and what is happening to them. Even with education reform, you best believe there will be very little implemented by the states for our over-aged, challenged youths. Sure, vocational skills will be taught, but I want our kids to learn how to think critically, to have reason in their thoughts, to be prepared for careers over just jobs. When they read, I want them to conceptualize via visualization and other deep thought processing techniques. I watched my students light up every single day that I walked into my classroom because they knew that I was going to require them them think--to reach deep into the hidden compartments of their brains. I watched many lights brighten, but I also had a few, like Earl's, to go dim. I live in the real world; I know that we can't save them all. However, it is our responsibility and duty to save as many as we can before the prison system is over run with our beautiful black babies. Know that I am speaking of the boys and girls. Girls being incarcerated are on the rise for much of the same reasons that boys are. Now that's another story for another day. Troy, we are all aware that the initiation of innate or learned responses, or lack thereof, for children, starts at home. It is at birth that language acquisition (innate) which is imperative for reading (learned response) begins in the home with the parent(s). As a baby, if all you heard were my four letter word along with other non-motherly remarks toward and around you, your brain would acclimate so much differently than one who receives warm nurturing with great books (read to on a regular basis) in a home that advocates educational excellence. I say to you that it all starts with the proper acquisition of the English language, which we, for the most part have not fully conquered (slavery, a major contributor). I still struggle with the proper use of language--syntax, semantics that include, mechanics, grammar, structure, etc. Believe me, this impacts reading and writing tremendously!!!! Remember, this is an innate skill that the brain is prepared to accommodate, literally at birth. For real, If we don't use it, we lose it. No, I certainly agree that it is not just deficits in reading and writing that drives inappropriate decision-making for these youths. It is everything done to them not to promote their intellectual genius that starts at home and causes them to enter the educational system unprepared. It is indeed a generational deficit in the brain's capacity and capabilities that for the most part are proliferating. Despite the views of some researchers, the brain is dynamic, learning can take place for anyone, at any time, and anywhere. Well, I could go on about this for hours. However, I will end by saying thanks to you all for receiving my words. I hope there are no typos or grammatical errors

Shirley you may edit the poem by clicking the "edit" link directly underneath it. I also teach a GED class I often have students who "graduated" from high school with an IEP, which apparently is worthless. They are all very disappointed in that they did not understand that they effectively did not get a high school diploma.

I am also a great promoter of reading being fundamental. Some educators have theorized that readers are born, not made and certain children, if not taught how to read by a teacher, would eventually teach themselves how to read. Then, of course, there is the hurdle of comprehending what you read. Knowing how to understand what you're reading is your window to the world, and good readers are usually good writers. One thing I've noticed on FaceBook is how the average black person does not have a very good command of standard English and grammar, not to mention the proper use of homonyms, routinely using "to" when it should be "too", "there" when it should be "their", "affect" when it should be "effect", "past" when it should be "passed", "your" when it should be "you're", etc. They write the way they speak, their nouns not agreeing with their verbs, and the verb they have a very special kinship with is "be". They be messin with that word when it comes to expressing themselves. I've often wondered if this dates back to slavery when our dehumanized ancestors felt empowered by a word that reassured them that they were, indeed, a being who did exist! Nevertheless, black folks are very creative and clever when it comes to the slang words and phrases that they coin, many of these being adopted by white people, and some even absorbed into the idiom of the dominate culture. Most educated blacks are bilingual, fluent in Ebonics but able to speak the king's English when the occasion calls for it. Bottom line, using improper grammar does not reflect on a person's intelligence but it is a tool that aids in maneuvering through the greater society.

Shirley, did you mean "parole" instead of "patrol" in the next to the last line of your poem? Troy, how carefully did you proof read your last post? It might help if you type slower and not skim when you re-read something. Chris, did you mean Ethridge or does Mr. Knight spell his name the way you wrote it? LOL. Couldn't resist. I, myself, always make good use of the Edit feature on this site. Often when I post something with a long text, it's almost like a draft and a revised, edited, and corrected copy replaces the original one which is why folks might benefit from re-reading what I post over a period of a week. Now, I will gracefully(?) exit from this thread because poetry is not my forte. I do, however, have a great deal of admiration for spoken word poems recited in a rapid cadence. And for some reason, I like Rapper couplets. They are often very clever, and I love it when they use 2 words to rhyme with one. OK. I'm done. Carry on.