Bringing New Meaning to the Phrase “Failure is not an option”
How things have changed in the many years since the Independent Sources contributors were in school. In those days, most kids would learn enough to pass tests and some would try to cheat. If a cheater was caught, they were sent to the principal’s office where all sorts of bad things happened. They were also shunned, for their shortcuts hurt everyone who wasn’t a cheater. Today, the principals have vertically integrated the process and they are now the ones who are cheating.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – A high school principal asked teachers to reconsider the grades of failing seniors to help the school meet federal requirements under the No Child Left Behind law.
Saddleback High School Principal Esther Jones sent teachers a memo on Thursday asking them to reconsider the grades of 98 students, saying “please review your records for these students and determine if they would merit a grade of ‘D’ instead of a failure.”
The Saddleback High School principal had problem. To comply with No Child Left Behind, they had to graduate a minimum number of students. They could do this by working real hard to teach students enough that sufficient numbers graduated. However, this route involved a lot of ‘fancy book learning’ stuff—things that evidently didn’t belong in the hallowed grounds of Saddleback High. Instead, the principal realized they would make the whole issue go away by just raising the grades of failing students. This is brilliant! What insight! Everyone is happy. No one loses, right? Of course not. Everyone loses.
We’ve already bemoaned lowering of the bar on high school exit exams and more pointedly addressed grade inflation, but Saddleback is breaking new ground in the race to dumb down or educational system with their progressive “No Failing Students Left Behind!”
OC Blog sensibly adds:
What is the penalty for conspiring to alter government records and fraudulently receive government funds based on false reporting of these student grades? What does this say about the quality of the OUSD that this many kids in a seemingly affluent school district are failing?
If you want to read why Independent Sources bemoans the state of our schools, click here (unless of course that’s too hard, in which you can press the make-up link here). Press here if you need a third chance. Don’t worry, if you couldn’t do any of those we’ll redirect you if you click here, here, or here.
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