Education - the American Way

From The Progress Report:

EDUCATION – FORGET KNOWLEDGE, CALIFORNIA CREDITS KLEENEX: Who needs to earn grades through hard work when a box of Puffs will do? That's the case in California, where education budgets have been slashed so severely that teachers are now offering inflated grades for students who bring in school supplies, like tissues, lab supplies and markers. The San Jose Mercury News reports, "With school budgets shriveling across the state, teachers are enticing students to help stock the supply shelves in exchange for extra credit." It sends the message that "grades are not a reflection of the quality of your schoolwork,'' said Buzz Bartlett, president of the Council for Basic Education. And what about the kids who can't afford to inflate their grades by stocking their schools with supplies? The "arrangement can put poorer students at a disadvantage -- especially when teachers award more extra credit for expensive items, like markers for overhead projectors and dry-erase boards."

Hey, it's the American way. Pay to play.

In one of the elementary schools my son attended (either California or Missouri - please don't ask me to remember which), they were simply putting two large boxes of tissues on the list of required items to bring on the first day of school. Then they would take the boxes from each child and stash them for classroom use.

That got my goat. Second only to the fact that on the list were some rather expensive items that to me were not necessary for learning, and I know that people with low incomes and people with several children in school at the same time would not be able to provide their children with the "required" items without undue hardship, if at all.

For pete's sake. Let's fund our schools properly. My aunt, whom I love dearly, gets so perturbed at paying school taxes in the community because she doesn't have any kids that she's sending to school. Maybe not an uncommon view, but definitely a short-sighted one.

On the other hand, one of my son's teachers, Mr. Osaka, in Davis, California - 6th grade, bought used computers out of his own pocket to stock his classroom when the school budget could not fund them. But then, Mr. Osaka was an amazing person, as well as a dedicated teacher. A rare find.