Comments on: It’s all about time served.

By: tracy

tracy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:43:30 +0000

Reading backwards again this early morning….this is all so sad to me. My anti-spam word is “shithead”….an appropriate term for the higher ups who control the lives of kids who simply need an education….oh, and of course to just be themselves with their own personal achievements. I so agree with your dad there…what a power play on the principal’s part regarding issue in Maine.

By: jagosaurus

jagosaurus — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:57:21 +0000

Dad: Yeah, I read about that and was not impressed with the principal.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:02:09 +0000

On a separate issue (but about education) , what’s with the high school in Maine denying a student a diploma because he was exuberant and blew a kiss to his mom as well as display his track award? This is one of the biggest moments in a kid’s life and the principal has to play hardball with the family. I know that they signed a behavior pledge, but come on, administrators, let students celebrate their accomplishments.

By: DeeJay

DeeJay — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:32:59 +0000

And really, Chino is not a place where you want to spend July by force or otherwise.

By: Ogre

Ogre — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:03:29 +0000

American schools (and some others) receive funding based on “Average Daily Attendance.” While there is clearly no dumber way to fund education, it apparently cannot be changed without ripping the fabric of the space-time continuum.

The practice creates circumstances such as this. It really IS all about time served. You will not move along to the next grade if you have not served your required total number of minutes; not even if you are 5 years above grade level in all subjects and invented a death ray as your science project.

(Note to Superintendents: Might be a good idea to let the child with the death ray go on to the next grade… Just sayin’.)

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:48:13 +0000

As I understand it, they set up a schedule for 175 minutes vs. the 180 minute minimum and it was in effect for the entire year.(None of the days counted even though everyone was there- can you say waiver?) My wife worked in a system that had a partial workday each Wednesday, but the system was careful to make sure that the schedule met and exceeded the requirements for a school day.

By: David

David — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:48:16 +0000

As a student I would watch the clock each day; counting out the seconds as each long minute dragged by. The giant old clock on the wall would actually click backwards just a tad to tease me before banging forward to remove one more minute from my interminable sentence of drudgery.
I feel for the kids and teachers and all the vast plans for endless summer days being derailed.