Our local paper had an article today about the number of suspensions in our school system being down compared to last year. Oh, really?
After a few year of being at this teaching gig, I've come to the realization that schools and school systems are evaluated on three numbers:
- EOC scores
- Graduation rate
- Discipline incidences
If you're a principal or school administrator, you can manipulate two of those three numbers. EOC scores are hard to change, unless you work in Atlanta. But the graduation rate and discipline stats? C'mon!
There are too many kids every year who undeservedly walk across the stage in June with a diploma in hand. There are administrators, counselors and teachers that do backflilps and contortions to get students across that stage every year. I'd venture to say that oftentimes, the adults are more concerned than the students with getting the kids "graduated."
As for discipline stats, the same numbers-fudging occurs. It's easy to say that our discipline numbers are going down...if no one is written up for things they should be written up for. For the last two years, I've electronically documented the discipline referrals I've written, because I don't trust our administrators to follow through on the suspensions. And I've been right--I've written up one girl for tardies/skipping at least four times this year, and she has yet to be punished for it.
The worst thing about all of this? We're calling these kids "career-ready." I'm sorry, it's either one or the other--either we coddle these kids and socially promote them all the way out of high school, or we start treating them like adults and make them responsible for their actions. The best-case scenario in my mind? Ten strikes and you're out. If you are written up ten times in your school career, it's time for you to go to private school or get home-schooled.
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