formerhscoach:
With all due respect, making a statement about stats meaning whatever one wants them to mean is also an implication by you that someone is being DISHONEST. An unfair game to play with stats. That some people are dishonest with stats does not mean that all people are. If I ever am dishonest with stats, call me on the dishonesty. If that is proven true, I would apologize and change publicly my stance. Otherwise, we should all address the issues and use the value in the stats.
CC and BE are outstanding schools and programs. Absolutely nothing I have stated is intended to discount anything by the students, parents, or athletes of these schools. And per Hurst66's comment, which I already noted, BE won the state championship the last two years ON THE PITCH, fairly—absolutely nothing to complain about.
I believe people tend to be too emotional, and jump to conclusions, feeling somehow that people or schools are being attacked.
In my field, my research often focuses on the impact of poverty/affluence on ACHIEVEMENT. I am highly sensitive to both the advantages and disadvantages faced in classrooms and on soccer pitches. I feel it is our obligation to address inequities so that CHILDREN and YOUNG ADULTS can receive the credit they deserve (and avoid unfair criticism for things beyond their control).
If Woodruff had defeated BE, that would not have changed my stance one millimeter. I also feel that inequities among our public schools should be addressed. If you notice I have for a while now emphasized the poverty index for the PUBLIC schools here to make a point about disparity within that context.
Anyone reading this web site associated with any private school, whether it competes in SCHSL or not, please accept my apologies if you have ever thought my comments and stances were disparaging of your or any private school. My discussion is not about the schools; it is about policies that fail to address equitably issues we can address (not my earlier post about how other states do this).
Thanks all for chiming in on this thread. I think this is important.
