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TROUBLE IN THE FDNY
LETS HEAR IT FOR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
New York Post
FDNY TEST MESS
December 2, 2007 -- Mayor Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nick Scoppetta
announced triumphantly last week that 38 percent of those passing the latest FDNY written recruiting exam were minorities, nearly three times the rate of those who passed the 2002 test. Thus, over the next four years, some 700 of the 2,000 newbies coming on the job could be minorities.
All things being equal, that would be fine; the department, after all, is now 91 percent white male. The question is: Are all things equal? Last May, the US Justice Department sued the city, charging the FDNY with discrimination because an insufficiently large percentage of minorities managed to pass past exams. The suit alleged no racist practices in the FDNY - just an implicitly racist test. The city rightly protested the action - partly claiming that it was irrelevant because the exam had already “changed."
No kidding. The latest test-takers were given questions such as: “As a rookie firefighter, you are responsible for cleaning the kitchen. At the beginning of your shift, you find the kitchen area is a mess. And there is a bowl of chili spilled on the floor from the firefighters from the previous shift. The reason the kitchen was left in such a mess is due to the previous crew having gone out on a call to a fire during their dinner, and they are still actively fighting the fire. “Do you: “1) Clean the mess up. “2) Clean the mess up, but complain to anyone who will listen. “3) Refuse to clean the mess up. “4) Clean everything except the spilled chili. “5) Wait for everyone from the previous shift to return, yell at them that they should have cleaned up the mess." Candidates who took the exam were asked this question, and after each possible answer, instructed to put an “a" through “e" desirability rating - where “a" is “highly desirable" and “e" is “highly undesirable." Eighty-eight of the exam's 195 questions accepted multiple answers as correct. Five questions accepted three answers. Another accepted every answer.
And this is the test that produced the extraordinary leaps in minority success. How any of it relates to fighting fires is a bewilderment - but it's perfectly obvious that New Yorkers won't be any safer if the department is full of folks who excel only at navigating such nonsense. To the contrary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a good-faith effort designed to diversify the FDNY's ranks. But if it means compromising standards, it's not worth it.
Where should I start with this one???? This is a glowing example of political correctness / diversity madness run amok. We are watching the beginning of the end of the once proud FDNY. This is EXACTLY the kind of liberal feel-good insanity that pervades our culture. I guess it's lost on these people that the "Applicants" will be expected to perform in some of the most extreme conditions that any workplace on earth can provide - in life or death situations! Questions about housework are inappropriate to say the least. Clearly, the idiots in the Personnel Department think that the ends justifies the means. My head is going to explode. That's all folks.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Dennis on December 10, 2007 at 8:37pm
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Too bad more people don't think like you. Too many people are involved in social engineering the Fire Service so it "Looks Right" irrespective if it can fulfill it's mission.
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Comment by Lawrence W on December 10, 2007 at 11:11am
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I still question this push for minorities in a high hazard job such as the fire service. What does it matter the color of my skin, my gender or religious or ethnic background when it comes to job performance? Shouldn't we be more concerned with having qualified, capable people doing this job more than just meeting a quota? If you can't pass the testing, then you don't belong there. Period. The testing is in place to make sure you can do the job, why change the test to encourage lower performing folks to pass the test, just because of their minority status? Doesn't this put the majority folks at a disadvantage?
I don't care what the person next to me on the apparatus looks like, who they worship or which restroom they use as long as they can do the job and keep both their butt and mine out of a bad situation. It's about doing the job, not political correctness!
Everyone Goes Home!
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Comment by Rich on December 9, 2007 at 2:58pm
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Lets not forget the extra 5 point City resident point (I'm fine with) and the extra 5 point Minority credit given.....Yeah Swell.
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Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on December 9, 2007 at 7:38am
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Thank the ACLU.
They will sue a city for not lowering the standard enough to allow the disadvantaged a free pass and will turn right around and sue this same city when this rube dies in a fire because they didn't do enough to protect him from himself.
If it all sounds confusing, thank the ACLU.
It's not about going forward in the fire service with fresh ideas. It's about fresh meat. Garbage in/garbage out. It's not about working hard and paying dues. It's about finding the easy way to make money. Quality of work doesn't matter anymore.
It's a sorry state of affairs.
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