Skipped gym class costs student diploma

Times Leader/AP Wire ^ | 5/8/2005

[Mercat]

"She is planning a music major in college"

well then for crying in the milk, drop biology AP. I think she's acting like a spoiled baby. I want I want. And there are all sorts of extracurricular ways to learn music. My son was in a private chorus for three years.

[kjam22]

I thought her goal was to receive a diploma. If you read the last line of the article, it seems that was pretty important to them. She didn't meet her goal did she? Maybe the word "fail" is to harsh. Maybe we'd rather say that she was unsuccessful. Eitherway... her goal was not achieved.

She had more than one opportunty and method to achieve her goal that were within the system, but prefered to try to change the system to fit her desires. She failed at that too.

[JoeV1]

Nothing new here. In the 1950's when I was attending HS in NJ, PE was a requirement and unless you were formally excused for medical reasons this same thing happened.

[JoeV1]

gym is a worthless class

Your attitude is why there are so many fat, FAT kids running around today.

[Oztrich Boy]

well then for crying in the milk, drop biology AP.

You still don't get it.

It's biology and music majors

[Fabozz]

"She's in AP everything and is sweating a GED exam?"

When you're a high school student and first hear about the GED, you naturally assume it's a huge, exacting, painful test—the SAT on steroids. One test that obviates an entire four years of high school?! Surely it must be horrendously difficult, or else everybody would take it! Then you actually take the stupid thing, and you discover that it's designed to be easy enough for anyone to pass, no matter how short the bus they rode to school was.

[Oztrich Boy]

Oh dear, she's going to miss out on the realities of drug and alcohol education and human sexuality.

Actually, apart from the "variety of traditional and individual sport activities, adventure based education, and fitness activities" of the Bow Extremely Stupid Title program, what she missed in the Senior BEST year was "Topics range from law as it pertains to the transition from adolescence to adulthood, to financial information on credit cards and purchasing/leasing vehicles".

No doubt handy stuff, but also something a reasonably intelligent adult can pick up as they go.

[Fast Ed97]

gym is a worthless class

What are you talking about man...I learned to square dance in high school gym!

[Mercat]

Well then, the little princess should get everything she wants and to hell with the rules.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Actually, I have a Bachelor's degree in Biology, a Master's in Computer Science, and additional grad work in Medical Laboratory Science.

I've also taught at the middle school and high school levels, so I'm well aware of the bureacratic minds that run public schools.

Grad school curricula tends to be focused and without the PC garbage. I don't have a problem there.

It's the undergrad, liberal arts curricula foisted on every student that irks me. At least half of the coursework I took as an undergrad was a waste of time. If you attended a decent high school, you don't need yet another survey course in Western Civ or English Comp. Get rid of the sociology crud and the pseudo-sciences that clutter core requirements.

I'm with you on language courses. However, those requirements were being phased out when I entered college 40+ years ago.

The way to change the system is to be a vocal consumer. Grad schools are much more attuned to what their students want and really need. Undergrad schools are still stuck on the medieval, we-know-what's best-for-you model (heavy on PC content).

[LibFreeOrDie]

That's "bureaucratic".

[Sally'sConcerns]

The missing credit wasn't caught by the school last spring when Gottlieb's schedule was set.

Who initially messed up? Was it Miss Gottlieb? Nope, the school didn't catch the error when her schedule was set. So the school compounds the problem by prohibiting her from graduating with her high school class. Oh, I know...Gottlieb added the class last year after the school told her she had to take it, but then she dropped it when she found out it was too much on top of classes she was already taking, including two Advanced Placement classes and calculus. Better for her to drop one of her other approved classes like band, chorus, AP biology or calculus.

After all, what benefit does she gain out of any of those 4 classes? Of course, Miss Gottlieb could have continued taking the class (which she added last year) but it's no big deal if the heavy load impacts the rest of her classes. As long as she takes the one semester overlooked and then required in order to get her high school diploma, who cares what impact that heavy load may have on her ability to get into college. Just as long as she follows the rules, she'll be making the 'right' decision and that's always what counts, right?

I wonder what 3 varsity letters she managed to earn if she ended up not looking like Jabba the Hut.

Never had a speeding ticket? Or never went over the limit but didn't get caught? Never, ever spent money that might have been spent better elsewhere? Never bought an item of clothing and then decided you didn't want/like it? Ever bought a plant marked to be planted in full sun and you planted it in partial sun? You've obeyed every rule and every law? Oh and ignorance of the law is no excuse. Never felt envy, jealousy, coveted, hate even if for a moment?

Congratulations, you're the first person I've ever met who was perfect. Funny, I thought there was only one perfect human and he died for our sins quite awhile ago.

What I'm trying to point out to you is you're judging this woman based upon your past experiences. Maybe you did know someone who'd been better off taking gym and not singing in the choir. Maybe you have a fat child you're feeling particularly exasperated about. You don't know Miss Gottlieb except for the information contained in the article and yet you've already determined she needed to take gym in lieu of choir and that her failure to do so made her impudent.

I bet it tears you up that she's already taken the practice test for her GED and once she hears back on that, she'll schedule a time to take the official version.

[Serenissima Venezia]

I agree that graduate schools are better. Unfortunately, one has to go through the undergrad program to get there. My engineering grad program consisted entirely of engineering classes (imagine that!). No PC courses at all.

But, what would we do with the kids that don't know what they want to major in at 18 years old? I imagine that's a lot of them - I wasn't sure myself whether I wanted to go physics or engineering. A lot of the first 2 years' core courses might be aimed at giving the kids a well-rounded intro to what's available. But then - that should be going on in high school after all!

[Baraonda]

**Voucherize the whole system.**

Nay, creditarize it, as in educational tax credit. Vouchers are a socialist scheme for the transfer from the haves to the have-nots. A tax credit returns money paid for public education to their rightful owners.

**No government schools.**

Agre. Agree. Agree, but not with vouchers.

[Kevin OMalley]

Having a GED will not hold her back at all.

My son skipped high school and took community college classes instead, so he'll have enough credits for his AA before the end of his high school years, but no diploma.

Solution, is to take the GED, at that point, and then they'll award him his AA.

I've spoken with the University he's transfering to and they said they couldn't care less whether he has a diploma or GED.
***Good for you. High schools are obsolete, just as Bill Gates says. We have been discussing inexpensive ways to fast track kids through high school to avoid the liberal agenda and other idiocies such as this one:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315730/posts?page=84#84

Unfortunately my thread title was not well thought out, because some parents might instinctively skip over it due to attached stigma, whether real or imagined.