Problems can be solved. But for those lacking the merest clue how to solve a given problem … alternatives exist.
Books can be cooked to pretend the problem no longer exists. And perhaps to fool others.
A series of articles in the Washington Post highlights the effort to reduce the rate by which city schools suspend students for misbehavior. The good news? “D.C. Public Schools has reported a dramatic decline in suspensions at a time when school systems around the country have been under pressure to take a less punitive approach to discipline.”
Results? A whopping 40-percent decline.
The bad news?
A Post investigation found that “at least seven of the city’s 18 high schools have kicked students out of school for misbehaving without calling it a suspension and in some cases even marked them present.” In those schools, “most suspensions were not reported.”*
The Post further uncovered documentation showing that “DCPS officials knew students were being sent home without documentation at least as early as 2010.”
It brings to mind the recent scandal in Prince George’s County (Maryland) Public Schools, where a dramatic announcement that the county increased its student graduation rate faster than any other county … was followed by an investigation into grade tampering by school administration officials, which numerous teachers have alleged.
It is also reminscent of the systematic cheating on standardized tests in Atlanta — and across the nation.
Hiding the truth, cheating on tests, lying about results … not the actions of a system teaching kids a love of truth.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
* Seven schools’ emails show that students spent a total of 406 days in suspension in January 2016. Officially recorded? Only 15 percent.
