TEACHING KIDS HOW TO CHEAT

New York Post ^ | April 27, 2004 | New York Post Editorial

[The Mayor]

Kids in New York's public schools might not learn very much, but here's one lesson they're sure to grasp: When the going gets tough - cheat.

That's the message officials have been sending with growing frequency, as pressure builds for the schools to turn out kids who actually know something - or hold them back until they do.

[The Mayor]

I have two Boys in High School and it has become very clear to me that all the teachers are doing is showing them how to pass the regents test.

Home work is printed up from the internet/computer program.

I wish I could home school..

[The Mayor]

Ping

[Izzy Dunne]

Let's face it: With real standards in place, some kids are going to fall short.

This is the part that some folks cannot stand:
A test that everyone passes is worthless unless there's a chance that someone could fail.

[CatoRenasci]

I have one daughter who graduated from our local public high school last year, one who is a junior this year. In a well-known suburban NYC metropolitan area high school in lower Fairfield County, Connecticut.

They report to us that cheating is endemic, with large numbers of very bright kids -- who could do well without cheating -- cheating regularly.

The pressure on the students to take the most difficult courses (my daughters and their friends take 2-3 AP courses a year from sophomore year on, and the rest honors coures), achieve all A or A+ grades, be active as an athlete, musician and/or drama student, and be involved in signficant community service, is intense. Pressure is both parental and peer. Most of these kids want to go to a short list of about 20 colleges and universities here in the Northeast and the ones who will need financial aid to do so are under the most intense pressure.

I am glad my older daughter opted to to to college in the mid-West and that her sister has an entirely different agenda, looking primarily at conservatories and music schools in universities.

[Jim Noble]

The Regents system is (or was) superb.

If all your children's teachers do is teach them to pass the Regents exam, they're doing more (much more) that 95% of the teachers in the other 49 states.

[nmh]

"But the saddest part is that it is the kids themselves who are cheated most."

They'll know nothing and become Demoncrats.

[Born Conservative]

[Alberta's Child]

This is what happens when our system of education is based on the absurd, delusional notion (and mathematical impossibility, BTW) that every student can be "above average."

[Amelia]

This is what happens when our system of education is based on the absurd, delusional notion (and mathematical impossibility, BTW) that every student can be "above average."

Actually, not really...most of these graduation tests assess really minimal competencies. It's what happens when parents and elementary school teachers believe that children who fail will have their fragile self esteems irreparably damaged, so they promote children who can't read, write, or do math.

The graduation tests were implemented as a result of businesses complaining about students graduating without being able to read, write or do math (those ex-students make poor employees) -- but now the school boards are caught between parental taxpayers complaining and business-owning taxpayers complaining.