Cartoon Credit



 



I had a dream that I was at a school function, enjoying a very nice meal and having a nice time.  As I got up to get a drink, I crossed paths with the Principal and the AP in charge of student affairs.  She was telling him about a student who needed credits to graduate.  The Principal gave her the okay for giving the boy 10 credits for watching Dora the Explorer.  When they saw me, they got nervous.  They asked me not to post  anything I heard and I agreed.  But, I was concerned.  I tried to think of a way to do this without breaking a promise.  Of course, there was no way and I let the matter drop.

I clearly remembered the dream when I woke up.  And, because it was only a dream, I can certainly post it here.  I post it because while no school administrators give credits for watching cartoons, they give credit for equally ridiculous things, things which have no educational value.  There are credit recovery assignments on line which kids readily admit to getting or paying others to do for them.  I watched an assistant principal doing one students assignment on a smart board while the whole class  and the teacher told him the answers to submit.  I watched a late afternoon teacher bring her class to do credit recovery while they were supposed to be with her making up other subjects.  I've heard of an AP who told kids to come to Saturday gym, sign in and then go do other assignments with tutors.  The lists go on and on.  It is comic, cartoon like, hence the Dora The Explorer dream.

Last week Newsday ran an article on low graduation rates at certain colleges around Long Island.  It was no surprise.  The schools with this extremely low rates took in the kids who graduated with cartoon diplomas and they are just not up to the work.