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KHSAA Dumbs Down Competition via Affirmative Action

By Jeff "Mario" Smith, Guerilla Reporter

Just when you think you have heard it all, and school administrators couldn’t possibly do any more damage to our children in public education than they already have, the Delegate Assembly of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, (KHSAA), voted 195-78 to split public and private school post season tournament play in athletics. The reason given is that old liberal line of "leveling the playing field". In other areas of our society it is known as affirmative action, which only serves to call into question the true quality of those who advance under such a system, where competition and merit are discouraged.

Have we, as a people, not learned that the socialist concept of making things easier for those who cannot compete at the highest level, and holding those back who can, only produces mediocrity? The many failures of public education speak volumes to this truth. Who are these delegates who cannot see this simple and proven concept? What ever happened to overcoming all odds to be the very best regardless of where you come from, who you are, or whether you are a private or public school student?

Proposal 20, as it is called, will require the KHSAA to divide post season tournaments into two, one public, and one private. There are 236 public schools and 46 private schools involved. Proposal 20 has most of us shaking our heads in disbelief as the KHSAA has chosen to make things easier for the public schools instead of encouraging them to excel, as many have and do. It isn’t about the facilities either, as the championships won by those small town Cinderella teams we all love have proven. It is about quality coaching combined with a school-wide team spirit that can drive young athletes to rise up and meet the competition to be victorious. This is obvious to the most casual and disinterested observers.

State Senator Tim Shaughnessy, calling into question the capability of the KHSAA, said, "Their response to strong competition is not harder work, it’s changing the rules." Senator, you are right and thank you for saying it. He went on to say, "If the superintendents who pushed this issue would bring the same commitment to education, Kentucky wouldn’t be 50^th in just about everything." Amen brother! Unfortunately, the mental disease of liberalism has reared its ugly head once again and, repeating the dumbing down that has occurred from this disease in the classrooms, the KHSAA has extended this policy of mediocrity to the gymnasiums and playing fields.

The lie perpetrated upon the people of Fayette County by their Superintendent is that "It’s about the kids". Well, if it were about the kids, this would not be happening. This is about egos and laziness. Board member Paul Dotson echoed this sentiment saying, "I don’t think we made the right decision for the kids across the Commonwealth."

Showing his propensity to promote socialism, Scott County Coach Jim McKee said, "Let’s let people compete against people they’re similar to." Oh sure Jim, that makes sense. Let’s kill the idea of true competition in favor of making it easier. Where would we be today if that were applied to skin color, as it once was? This guy has to be the epitome of what is wrong with our administrators and coaches. He comes from a county that had the famed Toyota plant bring over 8000 people into the community. That doesn’t seem fair. What about Lincoln County; they don’t have that opportunity to increase their pool of players. Let’s level that playing field Jimmy boy.

Another part of the argument coming from the public education whiners is that it is all about the players that are allegedly "recruited", yet has never been proven. If it’s all about the players who show up to play, then why do they need a coach? When people buy a home, they ask first and foremost, what school district is the home in. Do we now need to outlaw this behavior in people who have young athletes that are in public schools? Where does this stupidity end?

The celebrated "crown jewel" of high school athletics, the Kentucky High School Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament, is but one of the tournaments that will never be the same again. All future champions will have an asterisk next to their school’s name indicating that these wins came after the KHSAA rule change, bringing affirmative action to the athletic arena. We can call it the AA rule, not because all these knuckleheads are alcoholics, but to designate Affirmative Action in sports.

The alleged private school recruiting that public school administrators are whining about, which incidentally is merely unproven innuendo, isn’t where the recruiting occurs. The real recruiting is on the academic side. Schools like Lexington Catholic can brag about 99% of their students going on to college and 86% of those getting their first choice school. That is the proof that state controlled public education cannot, and I will add - never will, compete with private education, the last bastion not controlled by the federal monster. Most, who can afford it, will send their children to a school that promotes that kind of success, not the mediocrity promoted in public schools.

You want to level the playing field, Kentucky public school superintendents? The answer is obvious. Tell the federal monster that is pushing all this mediocrity and political correctness to take a hike and then take back your schools. Tell your teachers that the ridiculous concept of tenure is no longer allowed and they will have to perform well to keep their jobs, just like those of us out here who fund all this madness have to do. While you are at it, remove all politically correct textbooks and allow God back into the schools. You do these things and watch the private schools trim down as people flock back to public schools that they have already paid for through coercive taxation, thus saving them thousands of dollars a year.

Watching all of this drivel is mind numbing. I cannot believe all the jealousy and ridiculous ideas being implemented because of it. As liberalism creeps into the athletic arena, watch out Kentucky, you are about to lose your coveted position as the basketball capital of the world. All those Ph.D’s, and no common sense!

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