Perfect Attendance Rewarded With Car
Harford Public Schools student will be rewarded for perfect attendance with a new car.
Tony March Automotive struck the deal to supply a new car for a student with perfect attendance six years ago, and the program continues, with a Hartford student set to be rewarded Thursday night.
The car isn't the only reward for attendance. Jeffrey Dressler's Mega Education Program will give a $5,000 savings bond to another student who had perfect attendance for at least one month during the past school year.
Travel vouchers valued at $250 will also be rewarded to parents who have been involved in PTO activities during the year.
There is something seriously wrong when students have to be bribed and coerced to go to school. It is indicative of many problems.
First, students have a exaggerated sense of entitlement. Education is its own reward. An education provided at someone else's expense is a privilege to be appreciated and should come with obligations to reimburse the cost incurred.
Second, if schools provided a service that the public valued, students would be waiting in line to get in and parents would eagerly get involved. Something is seriously wrong with a school you have to bribed students to attend.
Third, public education disregards true diversity. Compulsory attendance laws treat all children like interchangeable widgets. Some children are pushed into the classroom before they are ready for formal education. These same laws dictate content with no regard to interest, ability, talent, learning style, and developmental readiness. Students who have no interest in academics are forced to literally serve their time and are discouraged from developing other potential talents. These unhappy students also drain resources away from the students who are eager to learn but are held back to accommodate slower learners.
Homeschool is a great option for moderate and high achieving parents. Families with fewer in home resources flock to voucher and scholarship programs which provide subsidized access to private institutions and higher performing schools.
For those who are left to make their way in a badly designed public school system, they can at least now hope for a car.
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Related Tags: Harford Public Schools, homeschool, vouchers, private school, Jeffrey Dressler's Mega Education Program
2 comments:
A year or so ago, I saw something like this and I questioned it ... somewhere. One of the people who replied said that in their state, high school graduates were each given iPods.
Can't remember if this is the same state, but here's a story:
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070611/NEWS/106110025
Whose bright idea was it to give out door prizes? Can you devalue an education more than that?
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