Shoe Money Tonight

Occasional ramblings by an anesthesiologist/mother (and sometimes her husband).

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

God Bless Texas

The State Senate of Texas just passed a law banning school districts from giving minimum grades to failing students.

In the district in which I teach, the minimum grade allowable is 50, while the passing grade is 65. What is the result?

1) The student who does 49% of the work is given the same grade as the student who does 0.03% (yes, I have had that happen).

2) A student who manages to get an 80 for the first two quarters can stop working for the rest of the year and still pass the year.

This is just one of many policies designed by gutless administrators to artificially reduce retention rates. It's also one of the first steps in our students long road to learning that life has no consequences.

Don't do any work? We'll pass you along anyway.

Get into fights at school? We'll just tell you not to do it again and send you right back to class?

Can't keep a job because you have no skills or work ethic? We'll just take care of you and every generation that comes after you for the rest of your lives, without you ever having to worry about taking care of yourselves.

Can't afford a house? We'll force banks, under threat of lawsuit, to lend you the money anyway, then call them greedy.

Don't have any money? We'll just steal it from those chumps who sacrifice and work to produce everything you depend on. That's okay! They'll still work just as hard even if they can't keep their money, right?

This is not a recipe for success. This is a recipe for eternal helplessness.

And people wonder why New York State has been hemorrhaging businesses and people for years.

Hat tip: Core Knowledge Blog.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess we can all thank the "No Child Left Behind" act for the passing of students that don't deserve it. Schools won't get funding without meeting quotas and this results in the pushing through of students who are not ready for the next level of thought. Or, sometimes, any thought at all. Sad state of affairs we have ended up moving into the new decade with.

9:59 AM  

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