District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser. The News and Observer of Raleigh, North Carlina.
You read correctly. It has now deteriorated to having this generation of parents and school officials’ approve grade-buying, instead of baked goods and the like, in order to raise extra school funds.
Rosewood Middle School price list
♦A $20 donation buys 10-point credits to be used on two tests of the student’s choice.
♦A $30 donation buys the test points and admission to a 5th-period dance.
♦A $60 donation buys students test points, the dance invitation, and a “special 30-minute lunch period with pizza, drink and the choice to invite one friend to join them.”
♦Photo ops with Rosewood principal Susie Shepherd, the vice principal, and a home room teacher go for $75. The photos will be posted on a school bulletin board and on the school’s Web site.
Wow. What buys! When criticized for peddling grades for cash, the principle responded coyly.
Extra points on two tests won’t make a difference in a student’s final grade.
Thus went the concept completely above the involved parents and school officials, that grades are a reflection of the work performed, and a measure of the knowledge obtained. School and grades is not about how much cash is on hand at the moment.
The lesson instilled of trying to buy your way out of everything in life is not a good one. Youngsters may want to practice it one day when the policeman pulls them over. They will then find out if that grade school lesson was worthwhile.
The county school administrators quickly snuffed out the pay-for-grades fundraiser notion. The voice of reason descended to guide the wayward, who are responsible for cultivating the next generation who will be your doctors, bankers, engineeers, and the like.
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5 responses so far ↓
Nunly // November 12, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Holy cow! And we wonder why our kids are so stupid they can’t even name who the Vice President is or point out South America on a map.
I just heard from my daughter that the school district that my granddaughter goes to has a new policy NOT to grade homework. They get points for handing it in…no matter how crappy or subpar the work is. It’s like saying that all they have to do is show up to class everyday for eight years and then they can get a diploma. Maybe they can learn through osmosis if they sleep on the book on their desk during class.
Ugh….
thetownecrier // November 12, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Hey Nunly, do ya think they’ll give those kids credit just for turning in the SAT? The LSAT????
Nunly // November 12, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I don’t doubt that they will get points for spelling their names correctly. What’s scary is…this is the future of our country.
Heck, I get so angry when I saw my son write on his facebook whining that he had to take a Friday class next semester in college. Well boo frickin’ hoo…he has to get his dead ass out of his dorm bed and do the work that I have to pay thousands of dollars per semester to do. If I could reach through the computer I would have slapped him upside the head. I felt good when his big sister told him to shut up and quit being such a frickin’ (she used a different f-word) baby.
thetownecrier // November 12, 2009 at 9:45 pm
She uses a different f-word?
thetownecrier // November 12, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Down the pike that generation will be having everyone “qualified” to do everything, even though they will be lacking in reading, speaking, comprehension, analytic, and technological skills. Except of course, how to get on the computer/internet for the joy ride.