<$BlogRSDUrl$>

My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2008-05-11

More Wit and Wisdom From Our Legislature 

I continue to work through the CAP4Kids Law. Of couse, one thing I noticed was that the legislature is not actually doing anything--it is directing the State School Board to do something.

But further down the line in this heap of mumbo-jumbo comes this line:


IT IS THE INTENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY THAT, ON OR
BEFORE DECEMBER 15, 2012, EACH STUDENT WHO ENROLLS IN A PUBLIC
HIGH SCHOOL OPERATED BY A LOCAL EDUCATION PROVIDER SHALL ENROLL
IN AND SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE A POSTSECONDARY AND WORKFORCE
READINESS PROGRAM.

Too. Many. Jokes. So little . . .time.

So, until 2012, are we to assume that only some of the students enrolled in high school are there to complete something?

And, is it just me, or is "each student who enrolls . . .shall enroll?" Which is, of course, a useful piece of instruction from the legislature.

Allright. That's enough.

I guess the point is that the more I read of this "reform," the less it seems like anything useful. It effectively ends the CSAP, and replaces it with something vague and still-undefined.

The whole thing just reeks of "doing something," with little actual purpose or accomplishment. Were I the cynical type, I would think that the whole purpose of this was to put in law something completely ephemeral, as long as it took out the accountability piece. It does, almost hilariously, include a few little caveats to do this "as soon and to the extent practicable." Which leaves an awful lot of room for fudging.

And I don't know why I would think that, given this:


A LOCAL EDUCATION PROVIDER SHALL NOT APPLY A STUDENT'S LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE IN THE POSTSECONDARY AND WORKFORCE READINESS PROGRAM OR ON THE POSTSECONDARY AND WORKFORCE PLANNING, PREPARATION, AND READINESS ASSESSMENTS TO PROHIBIT THE STUDENT FROM PARTICIPATING IN ANY PROGRAM OPERATED BY THE LOCAL EDUCATION PROVIDER THROUGH WHICH THE STUDENT MAY EARN POSTSECONDARY OR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION COURSE CREDITS WHILE ENROLLED IN HIGH SCHOOL.

Just chew on that for a moment.

In other words: no matter how bad a student is performing, if he or she wants to start in on college coursework the school may prevent it.

Brilliant.

Kinda blows that accountability piece out of the water.

Oy.

Sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Posted by: Michael / 5/11/2008 02:04:00 AM

Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?