Credit Recovery--Failure Is NOT An Option

Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's self-proclaimed *Edumacation premier*, has vowed to raise the high-school graduation rate to 85 per cent from the 75% it's at now, by 2010-11. In order to do this, McGuinty has said he will invest hundreds of millions more into the public school system, and in order to reach the 85% rate, has agreed to a new system of edumacation called *Credit Recovery*. What is credit recovery? I'm glad you asked:

"Credit recovery" was devised as a strategy to help "at-risk students" (as they are now known) to stay in school. As one expert explained it, "Too many students are short credits and lose interest and hope." Instead of having to repeat the whole course, students are now allowed to make up only the parts they've failed. They can do this in different ways, including something called "experiential learning." The usual way is to attend a credit recovery class once a day for a few weeks. He doesn't have to pass a test. All he has to do is persuade his credit recovery supervisor (not the teacher who failed him) to give him a 51.

Here are a few of the other ways "at risk students" will benefit from "experiential learning"

In Ontario's secondary schools, teachers are told not to penalize students for late work. The Ottawa public school board has decreed that students who plagiarize will be allowed to do the assignment again. In some schools, students are allowed to stroll into class whenever they want. And a provincially mandated system of "credit recovery" means it's so easy for them to make up failed courses that they don't have to do much more than show up.

One controversial part of this strategy is to stop penalizing students for late work. The reasoning goes that lateness is a behavioural issue, not a pedagogical one, and that students should have as much time as they need to do the work to the best of their ability.

I suggest trying these measures at work in the next few weeks. When your boss, Mr. Jones, asks you where that report is, simply tell him that it will be six weeks late, for you have a behavioural issue, not a pedagogical one. Also, try strolling in at 10:30 tomorrow morning instead of your regular 8 am. Tell that bastard boss of yours that you're not a morning person, late mornings are much better suited for your taxing schedule. You might just get a raise, you wait and see!

I can see nothing wrong with McGuinty's proposals. Why should children have to show up on time for school, hand in reports when they are due, and not be allowed to plagiarize others' reports? Hey man, get your 1950's ideals out of my face, yo.

As I said, I can see only good things that will arise from this. Actually, it's already proven to be a big hit with teachers'. And, the last word will go to one of them:

"There are no tardiness policies at our school," says the younger teacher. "Kids are late to class more often than not, but you can't do anything about it, and they know it. I've tried giving them a quiz at the beginning of the class, but then parents say you have to give them a chance to make it up. You can't deduct marks. You can ask them to stay for a detention, but they don't come. I'm always asking teachers, 'What do you do?' But there's nothing."

You know, this just came to me: if you let out all the prisoners from jail, there would be no criminals.

Right?

We don't need no edumacation