Budget and Graduation Pressures Squeeze the Education right out of the School

Offer kids an easier way to get you off their backs...and they'll probably take it. Who cares, if it's not a high quality education. Prince William County Virginia has provided an incentive to slackers through a free school program.

This from the Washington Post:

School Program Puts Focus On Graduation, Not Grades

Bria Heard, 14, a rising sophomore in Prince William County, had a couple of options after she failed world history last year. She could retake the course over six weeks in summer school or during the next school year and try to improve her grade.

Or, she could choose a fairly novel program available in the school system. She could do the course work using a new computer-based program that would not improve her grade, but would allow her to earn the credits needed to stay on track to graduate in four years. To her, the benefits outweighed the cost of not getting a better grade. The program is free and can be completed in days.

"You can go at your own pace and it's quicker," Bria said recently while stumbling through questions on Russian history. "I didn't know if I should do it, but then I realized it was easier than taking the full course."

Faced with increased state and federal pressure to improve graduation rates, and constrained by tight budgets, Prince William educators are using the unconventional strategy to help stragglers get their diplomas in four years without having to spend money to hire more teachers. School officials said the program appeals to students who fare better working independently, and helps students who would otherwise not graduate or attend college....

...Fairfax County schools uses the same computer program, called NovaNET, created by Pearson Education, but only to supplement courses at its alternative high schools, not for students seeking to recover lost credit, said Teresa Zutter, the school system's director of alternative programs...