Progress reports are bogus. Everyone, even our education mayor must know that and still they continue. Schools sit on pins and needles waiting for these useless documents to come out, knowing all that matters is that A. We wonder why our students only care about what is on the test but they only need to look at us and follow the example we are setting, putting such a high value on a meaningless score.
Last year, my "A" school, Packemin, got a B rating. Supposedly, a couple of ISS students didn't do as well as they were supposed to do and that is what brought us down. The school then school found a way to get the numbers up and this year, Packemin got the A.
Packemin has and will always be an A school. The kids are good and so is the staff (except for a few admins and I won't go into that here.) At any time teachers, guidance counselors, paras, school aides, security guards and cafeteria workers can be found talking to students, helping them work through anything that might be bothering them or just lending an ear. The school is full of teachers like the one who spend an inordinate amount of hours working without compensation with the Robotics team, making our team one of the top in the country and giving kids an extraordinary education. The same can be said about our JROTC instructors and countless other unnamed heroes who work above and beyond without any sort of recognition.
It is time to end these progress reports. They show nothing and should mean nothing. It's not the wrapping of the package, but what is inside that counts.
