You may recall that I blogged about the Denver Fire Department’s plan to dumb down the firefighters test because no black applicant has been hired in five years. Well, I spoke to Fire Chief Larry Trujillo last month, and he said that’s not what he wants to do. I also spoke to a few people at the consulting firm hired to develop a new test, and according to my lay ears, that’s exactly what they plan to do.
I spent about an hour on a conference call with three people, and after all their talking, jargon-dropping, and obfuscating, I came to this conclusion: they plan to dumb down the test. I requested a copy of the written portion of a sample test, and the request was denied. The same consulting outfit created new tests for fire departments in my area, including Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, after blacks complained. I hope those fire chiefs will agree to an interview.
I don’t know where this story will lead, but I’m compelled to find out why blacks pass these tests but not the others. What is excluded or changed? What skills are no longer being tested, and are these skills vital to the job? Playing investigative journalist can be fun. 
I’ll keep you posted.
Addendum: I’d like to hear from firefighters willing to comment publicly. Or you may contact me via e-mail. If you’re not a firefighter, have you taken the written portion of the employment test? If so, I want to hear from you, too. For everyone else, insightful comments about the tests specifically or this trend in general are welcome.
Update: Quitters never win, and winners never quit. Or something like that. Perhaps he’s quitting to start his own business. 
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*Thank you* for doing this. It will be a great day when we’ve eliminated racial discrimination, even in the form of preferences, from our institutions. And you raise a *very* interesting question regarding what changes in the tests to deliver higher black passing rates. It’s also curious that they won’t let you have a copy of the sample test. Sounds like a possibly legitimate FOIA request…
I humbly suggest that you also look hard at the promotion tests as well. In the past I have tutored individuals who had trouble with police tests. In almost all cases, they were unable to read well enough to keep themselves educated from the current literature. Most of the people I worked with were trying to become officers.
I also encountered sharp, effective black officers who shuddered at the thought of “dumb as a brick” patrolmen joining their ranks by being “alternative tested through.”
I never saw the tests, but I did get to know the individuals and there was a definite problem with reading and reasoning with many of them. (I never worked with firemen, so perhaps my comments are not salient.)
Heliotrope, that’s what I meant by “insightful.” Thanks for the info.
Dub – I requested a test from a private firm, so FOIA wouldn’t apply. But…I don’t think I asked the fire department for a copy. In that case I could file a FOIA request if they refused. Thanks.
I believe the FOIA request only applies to the Federal Government, so it wouldnt be applicable in this situation La Shawn.
However, many states have similar laws which give you the right to demand some information. The rights and the scope of the laws vary from state to state. Whether you have to be a citizen of that particular state, I cannot say. But the FOIA does not apply.
Eventually, I’m sure the tests won’t even be written in standard English. Maybe the applicants will be able to write up their own tests in Ebonics, or whatever their native language, since nobody needs to learn English any more.
There’s an article on Drudge right now:
“In ethnically diverse Los Angeles, many immigrants find that learning Korean, Spanish, or Mandarin is more important than learning English” —-UPI/Drudge
“Martin Paik, a Seoul native who emigrated to Los Angeles by way of Argentina, does not speak English. He writes a column on Conversational Spanish for the Korea Times. “”In California, Spanish is more important than English”", said Paik. “”I haven’t found any inconvenience because I don’t speak English”".—-UPI/Drudge
“â€In California, Spanish is more important than English—, said Paik. “â€I haven’t found any inconvenience because I don’t speak English—.—-UPI/Drudge
As a Californian, all I can say is “AAAAARRRRGH!” But what did we expect when we mandated that government information be printed in Spanish and Chinese as well as English?
All I can say is it is too late. America has been given up for easy labor, dumb & dumber, or just because nobody cares, and now here in South Carolina, I have to select Spanish/English to communicate with my bank’s, my grocer’s, my whatever ATM to do business. I thought English was the language of the world. Not one of our leaders is going to do one thing about it even after we are blasted to hell.
It is essential that all first responders have excellent reading skills. Most of the horrible fires involve HazMats(hazardous materials), and you have to know the codes, and read the manual in seconds to know how to respond. There are a lot of chemicals that will explode when hit with water from a fire hose. Fire-fighting is no place to dumb-down.
That’s a great point, Tom. Every second counts in a blaze, and mistakes can be fatal.
I just saw this today on Blackfive, and I wish everyone could adopt the attitude that these ladies have: http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/09/first_all_femal.html
They want their success recognized for the merits of the mission itself, not for their gender. We can substitute the word ethnicity or color for gender and see the same result. No ‘dumbing down’ there!
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