Posted on 11/07/2006 12:15:26 AM PST by Antioch
Nine year-old Tyler Stoken, a student in the Aberdeen Public School District, didn't know how to answer an essay question on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test. As punishment for leaving the question blank his principal suspended him for five days.
Tyler paraphrases the question saying, "You look out one day at school and see your principal flying by a window. In several paragraphs write what happens next." He's asked, "So why didn't you answer that question?" He says, "I couldn't think of what to write the essay without making fun of the principal."
He refused to answer the question even after his mother was called to the school. Tyler's mother Amy Wolfe says, "And he said he didn't know the answer. He just didn't know what to write. And they were telling me to make him answer the question."
He still didn't, so Tyler was given a 5-day suspension. In the letter that went home to mother, the principal writes, "The fact that Tyler chose to simply refuse to work on the WASL after many reasonable requests is none other than blatant defiance and insubordination." Shortly after receiving the suspension letter they received a phone call from Superintendent Marty Kay apologizing for the suspension.
"Because I think a mistake was made and over reacting to Tyler's refusal to complete the test," said Aberdeen school superintendent Marty Kay. ... The superintendent wants Tyler immediately re-instated at school. But Tyler’s mother says the damage has been done. Mom tells son, "Well, nobody will scream at you again. I promise you that." Tyler doesn't want to go to that school any more and you can't blame him. He was manipulated and then punished because he couldn't answer a test question.
WASL opponents also believe the principal and teachers broke the law by interfering with the WASL test. It had better have been a violation of the testing rules. If a teacher and principal browbeating a test taker into answering a question in any particular manner is not against the rules then the test is worse than useless.
Disagreement . . that's good, and will insure that the majority of kids will never be homeschooled, thus avoiding the assumed anarchy you predict. . but, disagreement is never allowed by liberals who have already long ago staged their very successful grassroots effort to set up an education system that brainwashes school children to the liberal, socialist mindset. Your phrase "if we continue to let the vast majority of the students spend the majority of their time in such an environment, we will end up with a nation of brainwashed, violent masses . ." seems to assume the worst of parents and assert the iron-fisted power of the state. - With the almost total control of the teachers' union (read automatic Democrat endorsements and votes), good luck changing the system, but for goodness sake, keep trying if you've the strength for it.
Anymore pictures of his mom?!
ROTFLOL! Perceptive kid. She proved his point.
right!...more ass kicking; that is what is required, go down to that school and kick the ass of that mother #### principal, a few kicks in the groin, will smarten up that turkey....a few smacks on the head for that punt as well...
"You look out one day at school and see your principal flying by a window.
Did the date happen to be Nov. 8, 2006?
And the only place that kids have to write stupid essays is IN public schools. This is not a real-life skill. Nobody is going to write drivel like that once they escape the educational system. Why are the schools wasting time with this stuff when grammar, vocabulary and spelling are so lacking?
But just what are they assessing? How does one grade or whatever, an answer to a nonsense question like that? You can't assess something so subjective. Besides, kids this age haven't yet learned to give PC cr@p answers to idiot questions like that. The kids should not be forced into a position where the reveal something about themselves that can be used against them.
Where is the dad in this picture? Why no mention of him in the article?
You're as bad as the hand-holding, moronic principal.
Horizontally, or vertically?
Dingdingding - we have a winner!
This could have been written by a Soviet mother encouraging her child to do well on the Marxism final.
I mean, otherwise, no good government job or pension, eh?
It's not enough for him to take a grade penalty, which is the time-honored response for such behavior. He must be made to respect the principal's authoriteh one way or another.
Well, I tell you one thing...from here on out, he may respect the power, but he won't respect the person. I think a year or two of homeschooling would be just the thing for both mother and son.
Where would this world be is there weren't people who stood up for what they believed in. Whould you have every kid in school be taught to unquestioningly submit to everything they're told? What a set up for Brave New World or 1984.
If the children are in a school that is not suitable; it is up to the parents to change it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What drivel! Just exactly how is this to be done in time to save their particular child?
So...should the parent try to run for president of the PTA which has far more teacher power than parent power?
Should the parent talk to the principal and superintendent who are products of the education schools.
Should the parent run for the school board? Just exactly how does he expect to get the NEA backing that is needed to win this post?
Oh! I get it! You think that the parent should lobby the NEA dominated schools of education in our nation's colleges and politely ask them to change.
You have two problems. One: you keep making up what you THINK happened. Two: you can't stay on topic, which is a 5 day suspension for not answering ONE so-called question.
Part of the goal of the educationists is to get bright kids caught up in trouble so that they are stigmatized, blacklisted or demoralized. Bright kids must be punished for being bright. "Zero tolerance" is useful in that it establishes many subjective and contradictory rules that are arbitrarily applied. Children soon learn to behave like minimally functional robots in such an environment. It is a goal of the school system to make intelligent children give up on thinking because thinking is dangerous. A non-thinking robot is an ideal subject in the socialist utopia most educationists want.
part 2: you see your principal in the unemployment line. what do you do? point and laugh.
I don't know why the shame should only be dealt by the school. In my household, an NP isn't acceptable, and we crack open the books and STUDY. I don't wait for the teacher to start remedial instruction. I don't wait for her to call me. If my child cannot learn in the classroom what he must be taught, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the parent... me. I won't let the school district just ignore his progress and hope for the best.
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