IS THIS BULLSHIT OR APPROPRIATE?

[Blindgreed1]

My Daughter had missed a bunch of days when she graduated high school. She was on the honor roll and they would not graduate her because she was missing the required days so they put her in summer school to make up the days. Each ¹⁄₂ day equaled a full day and after 10 days she got her diploma. She pretty much went and goofed off. I was kinda pissed at the entire thing.

They tried to pull that shit on me. So I just took my transcript to another school where they were more than happy to graduate an honors student.

[Cutz]

My Daughter had missed a bunch of days when she graduated high school. She was on the honor roll and they would not graduate her because she was missing the required days so they put her in summer school to make up the days. Each ¹⁄₂ day equaled a full day and after 10 days she got her diploma. She pretty much went and goofed off. I was kinda pissed at the entire thing.

They tried to pull that shit on me. So I just took my transcript to another school where they were more than happy to graduate an honors student.

Puppy school?

[Blindgreed1]

My Daughter had missed a bunch of days when she graduated high school. She was on the honor roll and they would not graduate her because she was missing the required days so they put her in summer school to make up the days. Each ¹⁄₂ day equaled a full day and after 10 days she got her diploma. She pretty much went and goofed off. I was kinda pissed at the entire thing.

They tried to pull that shit on me. So I just took my transcript to another school where they were more than happy to graduate an honors student.

Puppy school?

Finishing school.

[Duchess]

With all that I've seen in the news I shouldn't be appalled at what the police did this time but I am. How could the they shackle her, take a mugshot and then post it in the local paper like she's a degenerate? Her kid is an honors student and she volunteers at the school! How can common sense be too much to ask for? Meh. Rhetorical question.

[Maggot]

My Daughter had missed a bunch of days when she graduated high school. She was on the honor roll and they would not graduate her because she was missing the required days so they put her in summer school to make up the days. Each ¹⁄₂ day equaled a full day and after 10 days she got her diploma. She pretty much went and goofed off. I was kinda pissed at the entire thing.

They tried to pull that shit on me. So I just took my transcript to another school where they were more than happy to graduate an honors student.

Puppy school?

Finishing school.

Beauty school dropout.

[username]

I get that they're trying to keep the kids in school but I also understand, if the kid is missing a day here/a day there, it's unreasonable to expect her to go get a Drs. note every freaking time. Twelve absences (depending on the time period) is pretty high. Why is the kid getting sick so often that he needs to miss school? If he's prone to ear infections, horrible allergies or something, the mother ought to try to get a "blanket" note from the Dr. that just says he's genetically fucked up and ergo, he's subject to missing school a lot.

I dunno.

[sally]

Maybe he wasn't even sick. Maybe the mother wanted to go on a vacation sometime other than when the kids get out for summer break, maybe they went to visit a sick relative, maybe they went to Disney World, who knows. As long as the kid is doing well and making up the work he missed I don't think you owe the school an explanation.

[Duchess]

As long as the kid is doing well and making up the work he missed I don't think you owe the school an explanation.

I agree. The schools only job is to teach the kid and he's an honors student so obviously they've done their job, now they can butt the hell out.

Why do so many people think it's their job to get someone else's kids raised. Mind your own friggin' business. People should be more concerned about those in positions of power who have done what that school and cops did to that kid's mom.

[username]

Yeah, when they make rules, they often make them for everyone. Is it fairness or stupidity? I'm going with stupidity. The rule should apply to anyone who has a GPA below...whatever, 3.2 or something. You stay above that and you're fine.

Then again, I'm not a teacher. Sometimes it can be a pain in the ass compiling and grading back work for absent students, I imagine.

Like I said before. I dunno. That's my answer to this one and I'm sticking to it.

[Maggot]

Common core was created by the people that sell computers, now that they were able to convince the government to go along with it the schools are over budget because they have to buy the computers needed from the creators of the standards. Teachers are all over the map as assessments could mean stay or go for many of them. The assessments are seen by the teachers and the results go on the child's record going forward into college. The only ones that don't see the results are the parents and the students, yet they are applicable towards college entry.
Its a racket that puts the teachers on the spot, caught in the middle and etching out a living for survival. Keeping the parents out of the chain is one aspect of socialism.
This coming from a teacher and a trustworthy source, not to mention the legs that go along with it.

Funding by the government is just one form of extortion that is called anything but what it is.

This subject is just another result of the pressures that fall into play and a direct result of overreach.
It was a great idea for standardization for kids that move from one state to another but as in anything undertaken by a bureaucracy was implemented with politics and greed as the great motivator for rules that all have to abide by except for the ones implementing them.

[username]

I've read that more and more parents are opting out of the testing for their kids. I think you were going to do that, correct? I think my son missed it this year just because he was absent. Heh-heh. They wanted to administer some 5 hour test to him while he was at home and I said "is this mandatory?", they said "no" so I said fohgetaboutit.

Some of the teachers (and parents) complain about it being a waste of class time and they're just teaching to the test, teaching to the test.

Stoopid.

[Maggot]

The professor is a teacher and she see's nothing good coming from it. She said the idea was good but got polluted. As more people opt out I predict mandatory testing or at least an attempt to make it mandatory. It may come down to who has the most money (The creators) and how much senators have to lose politically. If there are more people bitching about it, it may get fixed, if not the people that stand to lose the most monetarily will win because the legislators are more concerned about their livelihood than they are about teachers and parental concern. Its the votes that matter to them and the backdoor benefits they get through lobbyists.
Some of the crap that gets sent home as homework is just babble I don't care what egghead or politician says otherwise. Teachers themselves back it up (although without naming names) they have to think of their livelihood and the notes left in their resumes. Its becoming a bad job to be a teacher or a doctor in todays world.
I think plumbers and electricians and trades people will be the hot commodity in the future not some college grad that has learned more from social gatherings than their major in ocean physiology or astronomy.

[cannongal]

Standardized testing is utter bullshit. I made pretty pictures with black dots. I tell my kids to do the same.

[Cutz]

Well, the schools that receive funding based on test scores thank your children for not getting their school more dough.

[HairOfTheDog]

OP UPDATE -- DAVID OLIO'S READING OF HOMOEROTIC GINSBERG POEM LEADS TO RESIGNATION AND COMMUNITY DEBATE

Nearly a half-century after publication, an Allen Ginsberg poem about a homosexual encounter has divided a small Connecticut town and led to the resignation of an award-winning English teacher.


^ David Olio, an award-winning high school Advanced Placement English teacher, has resigned in the wake of controversy over the poem he shared in class with his students, according to local school district officials.

Olio's resignation is effective at the end of the 2015-16 school year in order "to resolve the recent dispute that has divided the community," according to a statement from the South Windsor Public Schools. He will be on paid administrative leave until then, the statement said.

"Mr. Olio and the other parties have reached this agreement because they do not want to further distract parents, students or staff from their important work of teaching and learning," according to the statement.

Some in the community now wonder whether the decision doesn't set a bad precedent for education and freedom of expression in the Connecticut town of 25,000.

"This is a teacher who encourages students to push the envelope by allowing them to explore difficult themes so I'm certain that was his intent by allowing this particular reading," wrote one resident, who in a public blog post claimed to have a daughter in the 12^th-grade AP class where the poem was read.

"I also feel sorry for the remaining teachers who will undoubtedly feel like they need to censor themselves, even at the collegiate class level, in light of the one-strike-and you're-out policy we appear to have adopted."

Cary Nelson, an internationally acclaimed English professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign specializing in modern American poetry and an outspoken advocate of academic freedom, also questioned the dismissal.

"If you can't handle Ginsberg how are you going to teach Walt Whitman?" Nelson asked. "Either education is a place where you can talk about bigger issues and challenge students or it isn't, and certainly students on their way to college -- in an advanced college prep class -- need to know that sometimes, sure, things can be uncomfortable. That's what education is about." (HOTD: I agree with this sentiment).

In a letter dated March 20 notifying Olio that his termination was under consideration, South Windsor Public Schools Superintendent Kate Carter said the content of the poem was inappropriate for a high school classroom.

"It was irresponsible for you to present this poem to children under your charge," she wrote. "Some of your students are minors, and you gave neither the students nor their parents any choice whether they wished to be subjected to the sexual and violent content of this poem. Moreover, some students reported being emotionally upset by having to hear this poem."

"I don't understand how that actually got into a high school class," one parent told CNN affiliate WTNH. "My son is not in that class. If he was, I think I would be mortified. It was extremely inappropriate."

Olio didn't choose the poem, one of his students did when Olio asked whether they wanted to share any poems. One student presented a copy of "Please Master." The letter said Olio reviewed the poem twice and, despite objections from some students, decided to share the poem with the class.

"After the fact, you have demonstrated that you still do not fully understand the highly inappropriate nature of your decision and its impact," the school system's letter said.

But Nelson said it would have been "dreadful, humiliating and disrespectful" for Olio to deny students an opportunity to discuss the poem.

"So why are some people so upset?" he asked. "I think maybe it is not just because the graphic descriptions in the poem -- and they are graphic -- but because if you really listen to the poem you'll see yourself in half the lines. ... Some people don't want to hear themselves in a gay poem. They want to think homosexuality and heterosexuality are worlds apart."

Nelson said "Please Master" is an "image of devotion that applies to all human beings, a description of desire to have contact with another and such devotion as to be mastered by another. That's part of human sexuality -- human experience. I'm sorry, it just is... For students about to go to college it is a great poem to be confronted by."

Olio has taught at South Windsor High School since 1996, according to his personal website. He served in various leadership roles, including the redesign of the sophomore curriculum, implementation of an online creative writing course and school diversity programs. He won the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Connecticut Education Association.

In the "About Me" section of his website, Olio writes, "I enjoy working, and I have a great respect for education -- for engaging one's brain with the world."

Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/30/us/connect...index.html

[Duchess]

That's too bad. It's the school's/students loss.

[HairOfTheDog]

Although I don't think it should be the police's responsibility to set the kid straight, I can understand why the mother did it.

Say Mom just hauled off and smacked her kid for being mouthy. Kid goes into school and says "mom smacked me" By law, the school is obligated to report that to the authorities. Mom gets in trouble.

From what I have seen these days, most anything a parent does for discipline, can be considered child abuse. Hell, even grounding a kid can be considered false imprisonment.

I understand why she did it too, but I think parents need to find an effective way to discipline their kids without burdening police resources.

I saw this in the news this morning.

A New Jersey police department is asking parents to stop threatening their kids that they'll be arrested if they are bad, reports CBS New York.

Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto said officers do not want children to be scared of police when they need help.

"Over the course of a season, we hear hundreds of parents tell their children, 'Don't do anything bad or he (the officer) is going to arrest you,'" Regalbuto said. "We don't want children to be fearful of police officers. We want them to know that police officers are their friends and are there to help them."

Setting up police as the bad guys in kids' minds is shortsighted. We already have enough problems with police/community relations without ingraining that message. I hope parents stop using police officers in that capacity.

That's too bad. It's the school's/students loss.

I watched a couple of his teaching videos and read about his accomplishments in the field of education. He seems to be an A+ educator; someone I'd feel lucky to have teaching my senior nieces and nephews in high school.

Olio didn't choose the Ginsberg poem for class reading, one of the students did. I understand why he didn't want to deny that student's request in a college prep course. But, he should have denied it anyway if he didn't want to get into hot water with admin and the parents. That shitstorm was predictable, IMO.

Maybe Olio failed to consider the possible consequences. Or, maybe he decided to take the risk, on principle. Either way, I agree with you that it's a loss to the school and students. Too bad they couldn't have just suspended him for a week without pay or something instead.

[username]

Some of the crap that gets sent home as homework is just babble I don't care what egghead or politician says otherwise.

It didn't take me long to figure out that is was no coincidence that all the diorama, creating a mobile of a cell or the planets and building a mission projects were all timed to coincide with a school's open house. They make nice decorations for the classroom when the parents come to visit.

I freaking hated when my kids were assigned those projects and after letting my son create his first diorama on his own (in kindergarten) and seeing those that the other kids supposedly made, I joined the herd of parents actively involved in helping my kids make some pretty spectacular projects. They STILL paled in comparison to what a lot of the kids turned in. It was a stupid competition among the parents.

I toyed with buying somebody else's mission online for one of my kids...I didn't do it but I was sure tempted.

[HairOfTheDog]

Minneapolis Teacher Takes Class on Sex Shop Field Trip

This story is being covered by a few news outlets this morning. It doesn't appear that the teacher is suspended or has faced any disciplinary action.


Gaia Democratic School director and sex education teacher ^ Starri Hedges took about a dozen students to the Smitten Kitten last week. Hedges says that she wanted to provide a safe environment for students to learn about human sexual behavior. Besides offering adult books, videos, toys and other products, the store also has educational workshops, which the students attended.

The small K-12 school has a motto that promises academic freedom, youth empowerment and democratic education. Parents say it has about 25 students. Tax records show the school, housed in a Unitarian church, has an annual budget of about $100,000.

"What I saw happening on our trip, I thought it was beautiful because kids could talk to these sex educators without any shame, without any fear," Hedges said. Some of her students bought condoms, she said.

Parent Lynn Floyd's 11- and 13-year-old daughters were on the field trip. Floyd says the trip was "a major breach of trust" and has withdrawn his children from the school. Floyd said he is most troubled that parents were never notified before the trip. "I just struggled to think that I wasn't involved in that," he said.

Hedges said that she "unfortunately didn't communicate well enough with parents ahead of time" about the trip. Pornographic items were off limits to the children, Hedges said, but sex toys and other products were visible.

Hedges said she probably would not take another class to the store.

"It was certainly the first time we have taken that kind of field trip and it will probably be our last, which I feel bad (about) because the kids had so much fun," Hedges said.

Ref: http://heavy.com/news/2015/06/starri-hed...ield-trip/
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The school is focused on "alternative" education, so the parents know that they've enrolled their kids in a program with very liberal practices and a focus on freedom of spirit. Still, 11 and 13 years old is pretty young to be traipsing around the Smitten Kitten, in my opinion.

What do you think? Was this an inappropriate move by Hedges, or an acceptable means by which to promote sex education to pre-teens and teens? Would you be pissed if your kids were taken on such a field trip?

[Midwest Spy]

Yep, a mistake.

How can you not inform the parents beforehand? See what kind of feedback you get.

Pretty moronic.