School district cancels spelling bee (Check out the reason why they canceled it)

Woonsocket (RI) Call ^ | January 27, 2005 | Ronald R. Blais

[Moonman62]

What's next? All kids will be given 'A's in school because they can't leave anyone behind?

And then when they get in the job market the feds can raise the minimum wage to $100 an hour so they can all live like royalty.

[aberaussie]

bttt

[Frapster]

passive rebellion - I'd expect that from a 4th grader.

[Verginius Rufus]

The last time I was in a spelling bee I was given the word "separate" and couldn't remember if the second vowel was "a" or "e"...and guessed wrong. I have never had any trouble remembering the correct spelling of "separate" since then.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

ethnic slurs are not allowed on here...

[Conservative Goddess]

I think you've hit the nail on the head.......home schoolers consistently outperform their peers from gobbermint skools.

[KingNo155]

Sadly

[ViLaLuz]

"What's next? All kids will be given 'A's in school because they can't leave anyone behind?"

That is already happening, and on the college level, too.

[Verginius Rufus]

High grades make more sense at the college level: college students pay tuition, so you don't want them to leave. Anyway they must be brilliant, or the admissions department wouldn't have admitted them.

[normy]

When I was growing up in the 80's in Texas we had competition called UIL. I don''t remember if it was nation wide but it was a lot of fun. There were many different categories to compete in at every grade level. I remember one of my catagories was called "picture memory". We were given 8x10 prints of some 20+ famous paintings from painters such as Rembrandt, Homer, Van Gogh and so on. We had to memorize the name of the painting, the Artist and I believe his nationality. It was intense and very competitive. Anything less than 100% right and you would probably lose. It was amazing how these type of things caused us to actually think and maybe be interested in something besides our basic everyday teachings. Too bad for these kids.

Competition can help those who don't win too. I competed in many of these competitions as a child. I rarely was the best, but I always seem to finish in the top. If it were not for these things I would have only played sports. It is encouraging for a kid who finishes 4th or fifth one year to finish 3rd the next. Heck, improvement from last to middle of the pack builds confidence.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Anyway they must be brilliant, or the admissions department wouldn't have admitted them.

Ummmmm..... yeah. :-)

You forgot the </sarcasm> tag.

[Verginius Rufus]

I figured that freepers are smart enough to realize it was sarcasm without the </sarcasm> tag.

[cookcounty]

I was a loser in the sixth grade. I thought the word was "mere" when it was really "mirror." It ruined my life.

[DocRock]

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

I figured that freepers are smart enough to realize it was sarcasm without the tag.

The vast majority are, but sometimes you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you make it painfully obvious that you're joking. :-)

[an amused spectator]

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Newman said the decision to scuttle the event was reached shortly after the January 2004 bee in a unanimous decision by herself and the district’s elementary school principals...

The administrators agreed, Newman said, that a spelling bee doesn’t meet the criteria of all children reaching high standards -- because there can only be one winner, leaving all other students behind.

Eff off, Linda Newman, you effing looooser.

[Fred Hayek]

but with accomplished folks who want to get back in the saddle and serve humanity.

The best teachers of math and science may well be retired scientists and engineers. But NOOOOO! Despite having working knowledge of the subject matter, they don't have the required 60+ credit hours of political indoctrination. Thank you teachers' unions!

[nutmeg]

ping!

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