High School Administration Cops an Attitude

Parents of high school students received a letter from the school in the last couple of days regarding math instruction being offered this summer (image at right, click -- or double-click -- to enlarge). You can read it for yourself. It's a small document, but it reveals a great deal about your schools, about how they're run, and about the people who run them.

"The Staff ... is proud to announce..."?? Actually, they're announcing a remedial program that exists because parents and community members pushed hard to do something about a math program that was failing our students. Gerry Rudmin of the Board deserves credit for playing a key role, but without parent attendance at multiple meetings, the math program would likely not have changed and this summer program to try to catch students up would not have been offered.

So why the attitude? Putting it more bluntly, school personnel screwed up and now are "“proud"? Isn'’t this a peculiar stance? "...student enhancement in mathematics"?? No. This is euphemism, a cover-up, for a failure to teach the necessary material the first time through.

"Classes will be filled on a first come first served basis with all others put on a waiting list."” Wasn't there an understanding that these classes were to be available to all students? The school created the need for this summer session by doing such a poor job. Isn'’t there an obligation (ethical and educational) to help all students get back to where they should be?

The school is required to fix the problem they created. (Wouldn'’t it be considerate of those who failed our students the first time through to forgo compensation? What do you suppose are the chances of that?)

"I,___________________, want to be considered…" Just more condescension, just a hint that maybe your child won"’t be found acceptable for participation.

This letter is an exercise in newspeak, where words mean the opposite of what they ordinarily do. So the staff is "proud" of failure. Remediation is "enhancement." Why do they speak and act this way? Because they resent having to offer this program; most of all, they don"’t want to be responsive to the community. We should instead be humble, and grateful for the opportunities they deign to offer!

Your comments are welcome.