Naval Academy Prep School under fire

To add more fuel to the NAPS fire on the taxpayer support issue - not sure how accurate it is, but I heard that NAPSters also get paid a salary while attending, and that the pay is substantially more than what any mid is paid per month. I would be OK with that if NAPS was focused on getting prior enlisted up to speed on academics, but I have a real problem with red-shirting athletes and putting them on salary at the same time.
 
Hurricane12 said:
What's tough about the prep schools is that some really great people go there, including some who are recruited athletes. I doubled the SAT score of one of the NAPSters in my plebe summer squad, but he (deservedly) ended up as the top ranked plebe by the end of the summer.
One of the firsties in my company, a four-striper who's Supe's list in an honors major and a really great guy who goes out of his way to help out the underclass, is a NAPSter (and not a recruited athlete or prior). But then again, so is the kid who failed the PRT, got a 1.1 GPA last semester, and has two conduct offenses on his plate. I could go on with more anecdotal evidence that could prove either side.
It does seem kind of odd to reject hundreds of (qualified) applicants only to backdoor-accept for the next class a couple hundred who are admittedly deficient in one way or another. What I'm trying to get at is that it's a mixed bag. I don't think wholesale eliminating the prep schools is the best call, but some more scrutiny is healthy and probably necessary/
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This is an excellent post by someone who is living the reality today. I've listened to my mid make comments over the past 4 years and overall they match these same sentiments.

Normally I stay away from these topics as it ends up being the same 5 or 6 people going in circles and beating the topic to death. My 2 cents: The "diversity" bandwagon has been around for the past 40 years under various names, get over it. USNA has mandate to increase diversity from the CNO level.and above Lot of recruted athletes are minorities so it's a double win under the scoring system. Overall Academy has long term solution in outreach programs to increase numbers of minority applicants. My opinion is nothing will change significantly at NAPS or the Academy over this article.
 
The real issues facing NAPS and the Prep schools should be a national discussion. Unfortunately, our politicians and president seem unable or unwilling to discuss this topic. It is not a very pleasant issue but until we debate as a country its merits are discounted in my mind.
 
LOVEARMY said:
Has anyone seen the new prep school at West Point?
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It is not "new". It just moved from Ft Monmouth as a result of BRAC.

@sprog - :wink: Forgive me, the irony of the whole thing just struck me. :smile:


The real issues facing NAPS and the Prep schools should be a national discussion.
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*National* discussion? Are you serious? 98% of Americans could care less. People want to discuss jobs and health care and mortgage foreclosures. Not many really care about a couple of hundred kids getting in through the "back door". Especially when it's gone on and on for decades.
Anyone who thinks this Prep school *issue* is new and is an alumni has not been paying attention for the past few decades.
 
I will spell it out, Race issues ... Affirmative Action. Granted while these topics are not new, the Navy in 2010 has been given directives by the CNO and most probably others, to diversify the academy candidates. By the way... congress (Congressional Black Caucus) is currently pressuring the Coast Guard Academy to diversify its student body population. There is much literature on both of these topics. And yes there is a NEW more radicalized motion in place. If you have any problems finding information on both the new Navy effort and the new Coast Guard effort I will be happy to assist you. Hopefully, this more detailed explanation on my comment concerning a national discussion on race and affirmative action is now clarified.
 
@Scoutpilot - true that - depending on how you define "new". :wink: I guess I was just trying to wrap my head around how it fit in the conversation.
Anyway the point is the Prep schools are not "new". They have been around for decades and been admitting a mix of prior enlisted, female, blacks and athletes for decades.

@RobMD -
Ohhhhhhhh, I get it now. This really isn't about recruited athletes - as long as they are white. It's about race. Thanks for clarifying.
 
JAM, you did the congressional response to a posters letter, right. The tone of that response had nothing to do with athletes.
 
MADE the Washington Post today, Interesting Quote

Another interesting note from the statistics supplied to me by Naval Academy officials was the recent trend in graduation rates at NAPS. In 2007, the graduation rate at NAPS was 83%. However in 2008, that number fell to 74% - the lowest since 2002. Academy officials pointed out that 2008 was the last year in which NAPS students were required to attain a 2.0 GPA in order to graduate. Now, according to Academy officials, administrators have more leeway in who they allow to graduate NAPS, including students who fail to attain a 2.0 GPA but have shown “progress” in the classroom while in Newport. Whether that change was in response to the low graduation rate was unclear as I posted this story, but the change in policy definitely helped increase the graduation rates in 2009 (87%) and 2010 (89%). The 2010 graduation rate at NAPS is the highest in the past decade.
 
Does graduation from NAPS result in an appointment to the Naval Academy?

I was told for USMA Prep School, if your are rejected by the admissions committee, you pack your bag and go home.
 
NO!

Just like graduating from NAPS or any foundation school will not guarantee you will graduate from an Academy.

Every branch has their NAPS.

The fact remains the fed. budget will be slashed to trim our deficit. DOD is not going to skate by. They are going to take a hit. Every service will take a hit. It is up to the Navy to say keep NAPS in their current manner.
 
@Just a mom
Take a deep breath... Ahhhh doesn't that feel better. The idea that someone maybe has a different point of view ..another breath.....Ahhhh. The idea that the most qualified....another breath...Ahhhh. Perhaps football, hockey ,baseball gender,race don't matter...another breath...Ahhh. Perhaps someday a national discussion where we can all voice concerns about inequitities for all.....
 
Graduation from NAPS guarantees one an appointment to USNA. Same as USMAPS.
If, for some reason you are rejected prior to the end of the year there is no point in staying.

LITS - sorry you lost me.

RobMD - I agree!! Let's have a discussion about voicing concerns about inequities. Inequities have been around for ages. The "unfairness" is nothing new. So, yes, it irks me when folks go around talking like this is all new. It is not new.
Moving on - let's discuss. How do we make this 'fair'?
First, someone needs to develop a 'test' by which all high school seniors can be fairly compared. It can't be biased in relation to gender, race or socio-economic status. Let's make sure that all high school students get 'equal' and 'fair' education. They all need to attend good schools that offer challenging classes and the opportunity to succeed in math and science at a high level.
How are we doing so far?
 
First, someone needs to develop a 'test' by which all high school seniors can be fairly compared. It can't be biased in relation to gender, race or socio-economic status. Let's make sure that all high school students get 'equal' and 'fair' education. They all need to attend good schools that offer challenging classes and the opportunity to succeed in math and science at a high level.
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How do we do that?

The education system is based on taxes collected from the RE, and the city/county/state has control over that, not the fed. The fed does not dictate the Mill rate for RE taxes. That mill rate will impact the amount they get for their budget. Additionally, places like Vegas with the highest foreclosure rate are greatly impacted...a foreclosed home doesn't pay RE taxes. On top of that everytime a foreclosed home goes on the block for sale, the price is slashed, appraisals go down, which means tax assessment go down for every neighbor. That equates to less money in the budget.

Like I said, how do we do nationally create an equal system regarding education? Do we tell the affluent county they must hand over money to the non-affluent county to create an equal system? Do we tell states that they all will spend X dollars per child in the educational system?

Next, let's look at a place like Fairfax County, VA. Their education budget is larger than the bottom 8 states in the nation. However, the way the SA system is created, those kids from the 8 states have a higher chance of getting in than the kid from Fairfax, based on MOC, not stats. Thus, diversity does exist already.

I have taught for 5 yrs in he educational system, and in very rural areas. Education is a socio-economic issue when we talk about opportunities for kids. It is hard for a kid who has parents working 2 jobs to keep a roof over their head to get ahead. Many of them are latch key kids starting at age 10, some as young as 7. Their folks are not home to check homework. Their folks can't afford to buy the newest, latest, greatest computer, let alone pay for the internet for these computers.

The schools by law will spend the same amount per child within their system. Yet, due to school districting, it appears that one school is more affluent than another. It actually is more affluent, because of the PTO/PTA, and things like box tops or grocery stores (those fobs we use for savings, also donate to the school you ask them to). Additionally, those schools actually have more parental involvement (volunteering) since the parents don't have to work 2 jobs to keep a roof over their head, they are at the schools. Kids tend to act up less with more adults floating around. Plus, teachers have more time to teach, since the parents can do the trivial things, i.e., run copies off, grade tests, cover lunch rooms and recess.

The true problem in our school system IMPO is based on socio-economical issues. The minute we start to address the impact of poverty, is the minute we can give every student a class A education. Unfortunately statistically race is impacted the most, but poverty does not discern what your race is. It touches every race. Maybe more so with minorities, yet skin color is not a determining factor...go to rural WV or NC and you will see that very quickly.
 
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Basically we need to dumb down standardized testing....


...smart kids are still going to do better than the "not so smart" kids... :rolleyes:
 
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