Posted on 08/09/2009 12:58:05 PM PDT by george76
Florida is changing its policy on youths who opt for a GED to finish high school in less than four years.
Until now, those looking for a shortcut could earn the same diploma as others. But Education Commissioner Eric Smith says that's not fair...
So Smith has notified school districts that all who take the General Educational Development test must now receive a high school equivalency diploma, just like dropouts who later go through the GED process.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbc-2.com ...
oh boy
the Good Enough Degree
Gee that is just great. My friend dropped out of high school and went back to school, studied HARD, and got her GED. Two of my AUNTS were in her class! They had dropped out as kids because they were NEEDED on the farm to pick cotton, etc. They didn’t quit because they WANTED to.
This is a disgrace!
Trying to stop declining enrollment, apparently. Or make that declining attendance.
If you don’t take the years of classes at a public school everyone else is required to take, why should you get their degree? You, as a student who wants to skip out of high school ASAP, even take the GED to end your high school days. Why shouldn’t you get a GED degree?
I’d like to know what happens to home schooled children who never attend a high school at all.
Well, I still think it was great that my aunts were able to go to night school and receive their GEDs. Their kids were all college grads, and my aunts didn’t want the kids to know they never got diplomas. So they got the GED and then they never had to tell their kids they didn’t have diploma.
What fools!
Who cares how long it takes if they pass the same test?
My High School Equivalency Diploma is the same as a High School Diploma.
Got it after I dropped out in 10th grade at 16 and went back to night school for 2 years.
A couple of companies that I worked for, over the years, required a H.S. Diploma and didn’t accept GED’s.
To get a high school diploma, you should have to complete the required number of high school credits. Students who are ‘in a hurry’ might be better served by taking a few college courses (on campus or on-line) during their senior year in high school. Most community colleges offer opportunities for high school students to get a jump on collecting college credits, and some school districts even pay for (or subsidize) the tuition.
I got my GED in the Army in 1969. My High School District didn’t issue diplomas to GED folks. I wennt on to college without a HS diploma.
Some of the brightest people I know have GED’s. They opted out of the public school ed-je-ma-cation system due to its ever so slow paced curriculum that’s designed to teach at the slowest student’s pace.
All were enrolled into college at 17, and one is a doctor.
I’d tread lightly on people with GED’s.
Not to mention all the business people in the US that have NO formal education, yet they are millionaires.
My uncle being one of them.
Mine took the GED.
Did anyone ever consider that you actually have to pass a test to get a GED? Can the same be said for HS?
Many home schooled kids get the GEDs and go onto college. It seems the GEDs are not looked down on as much as they used to be.
No one gives a damn about High school once you hit college.
A lot of colleges are “punishing” homeschoolers by not accepting them because they do not have “accredited” diplomas. An option what many homeschoolers do is, although they homeschool their kids they go for the GED to have the stupid piece of paper to show colleges, etc that yes, they are indeed educated. The GED makes it easier to get college acceptance, scholarships, grants, etc. In our state, you can get the HOPE grant/scholarship if you have a diploma, and don’t have to jump through as many hoops.
Truthfully, I feel this is an attempt to take an option away from homeschooling parents.
If you are 16 or 17 years of age, you must meet the [basic credentials] criteria and also provide written verification from your school superintendent or principal stating that you are withdrawn from school. In addition, you must provide a letter from one of the following:
* A letter from an employer stating that you must pass the GED tests in order to gain or maintain employment
* A letter from a college or postsecondary training institution stating that passing GED test scores are required for enrollment
* A letter from a branch of the Armed Services stating that passing GED test scores are necessary for induction
* A letter requesting GED scores from the director of a state institution in which you are a resident, patient or inmate
These letters must be written on company/school letterhead and signed by the appropriate staff. Persons 16 years old and older who are under the direction of correctional facilities or parole/probation offices are eligible to take the GED tests while enrolled in school, if so ordered by a court. No persons under the age of 16 are eligible to take the GED tests in Pennsylvania.
In other words, to take the GED in PA, you need to have a position lined up, or a court order. Just wanting to advance in life because you're gifted is not a good reason.
And if I am reading it correctly, a homeschooled student would not be able to take the GED without the approval of the local superintendent of schools, some of whom are very uncooperative with homeschoolers.
(ping to wintertime for homeschool interest)
I think that in most states you only have to take the required courses to finish high school, and then score high enough on the GED, and the schools system that gave the tests is required by law to give you a regular HS diploma.
I'm not positive, but I think that is a Federal law.
The reason the law was passed was because foreign diplomas weren't accepted here, and a college prof from a foreign country wouldn't even have a HS diploma.
Yes. And it’s harder to throw more money at the schools when there are fewer students in the classrooms.
They should get rid of the high school diploma and make it all basically a meaningful competency certification. Most school is a waste of time for most kids so why waste it?
Yeah; we can’t allow kids to opt out or they won’t get the full treatment of Liberal skool teachers’ “diversity, sensitivity”, etc. training, and the Liberal revisionist history enforcement, either.
So a high school diploma is not proof of knowledge, but proof of putting up with four years of crap?
Exactly right. When I taught PSY 101 at a community college, it was not unusual to have high school students taking this college course during their summer “vacation.”
Sometimes high school students would amount to half the class. They were good students, attended regularly, turned in their homework on time and even read the textbook!
Should have signed this as myself. Quint taught chemistry and quantitative analysis. I taught psychology.
— Jane Reinheimer
In Florida, yes. It is called the FCAT.
Not fair to whom? The only not fair about it is that the schools can't keep getting the fed money for the kids that take the GED and drop out of school early. Liberals are so transparent if people would only pay attention.
When I graduated from high school, one of my fellow "students", who was awarded a diploma, could not have completed 3rd grade level course work. When I showed my diploma to my father, I said, "This certifies that I'm not an idiot. I could be a moron, but I'm not an idiot."
It depends on the time and the state. When and where I went to high school, the policy was to award a diploma to any moron (literally) who attended high school for four years.
Mine was homeschooled from 2nd grade through high school, and started college at 15.
What we did, starting when she was 13 or so, was to work with a private school that caters to homeschoolers. We documented, through SAT-II subject tests that she had completed enough HS material to qualify as a senior. We then enrolled her in a program at the local community college where HS seniors can do their senior year there, earning college credits that would be transferable to a regular 4 year college.
Then when it was time to apply to a regular college, and the admissions officer called up to ask if I was sure she could handle college life, I could tell him "Well, she's currently taking a full credit load at the CC, has a 4.0 average, and says she's bored with the workload and wants to work a job too". That was the end of that objection.
If one were "Education Commissioner" why wouldn't one understand that there are many many instances where a teenager does indeed drop out, maybe because they are bored, or have certain social circumstances, but do later have the perseverance and maturity to return to get a high school diploma. And that in such a case, the requirements for the subsequent diploma should be rigorous enough so there is no need for it to be differentiated from any other public high school diploma.
The reason "Education Commissioner" Eric Smith did this was to front for and perpetrate the public high school bureaucracy, its teachers, its administrators, its unions. It seems "Education Commissioner" Eric Smith, might be a shill who doesn't give a damn about the motivated and self-honest individual, but rather defers to the bureaucratic system he represents. Kind of like a leftist politician.
Maybe, maybe not; but by following "Education Commissioner" Eric Smith for a while, one can easily determine his values.
Trying to stop kids from graduating before they have been programmed properly with the full load of New Values.
This is probably aimed at them to try to degrade their accomplishment.
I know lots of families who are home schooling. They do much better than the average student here. Why should everyone have to go to school when there is a much better alternative available? Many go to their first choice of colleges and do extremely well in college.
Yep! Our homeschoolers bumped their noses on a similar requirement in two states. They were forbidden to take the GED!
The consequence is that the student can NOT apply for state or federal loans or scholarships. ( Although one of my children did receive a partial private scholarship for one year from a private college.) Except for that one year in private college my husband and I had to pay full fare for our children.
Every year our legislature proposes allowing any child of any age to take the GED. The teachers unions throw a fit and year after year it fails to pass. If kids were allowed to take the GED there would be a hemorrhage of smart kids leaving high school in the 9th, 10th, or 11th grade to go directly on to college.
Remember! The purpose of government K-12 schooling is **NOT** education. It's primary purpose is as a jobs program for modestly talented white collar workers. It's secondary purpose is to churn out little Marxists who will vote for the Democratic Marxist Party.
I’d like to know what happens to home schooled children who never attend a high school at all.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
They go to college, learn a skilled trade, or start a business. No one ever asks them about high school.
They should get rid of the high school diploma and make it all basically a meaningful competency certification.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree. There should be a privately designed and administered GED. Then bright children could be granted manumission from the government K-12 plantation.
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My own kids started college at 13, 12, and 13. Two were finished their B.S. degrees in mathematics at the age of 18. No one has ever asked any of my children where they went to high school, or if they have a diploma.
I agree. That’s why I have no problem with someone taking the GED and not getting a HS diploma.
In other words, no early release for young people who have the gall to want to grow up and have lives that are their own. They would deny diplomas to anyone who fails to serve the full sentence.
A company doesn’t care if you have a GED, if you have a degree beyond that.
I know many kids who took the GED then went on to get their BA and some of them their Master’s.
My kid does not have a “real” HS diploma, or a GED, he has an affadavit signed by me that said he graduated HS. Since he finished his AA the same time he would have finished HS, they just needed some verification of how he spent his HS years in order to give him his AA (so they had me sign an affadavit saying in my opinion he had fulfilled HS requirements and submit a transcript which consisted of all the dual credit courses he took.)
He had no trouble being accepted into college to finish his bachelor’s and was also accepted into a graduate program, no problem. Has a good job, and no one ever asked why he didn’t have a HS diploma.
The new policy seems to want to keep everyone on an equal footing...wouldn’t want anybody with initiative (getting a GED early so they could start college early) getting ahead of the pack.
A company doesn’t care if you have a GED, if you have a degree beyond that.
I know many kids who took the GED then went on to get their BA and some of them their Master’s.
My kid does not have a “real” HS diploma, or a GED, he has an affadavit signed by me that said he graduated HS. Since he finished his AA the same time he would have finished HS, they just needed some verification of how he spent his HS years in order to give him his AA (so they had me sign an affadavit saying in my opinion he had fulfilled HS requirements and submit a transcript which consisted of all the dual credit courses he took.)
He had no trouble being accepted into college to finish his bachelor’s and was also accepted into a graduate program, no problem. Has a good job, and no one ever asked why he didn’t have a HS diploma.
The new policy seems to want to keep everyone on an equal footing...wouldn’t want anybody with initiative (getting a GED early so they could start college early) getting ahead of the pack.
I’m simply stating what I’ve personally encountered..
It’s also reassuring that I’m not alone in my encounters with those “cursed” by attaining their GEDs.
All The Best!
“To get a high school diploma, you should have to complete the required number of high school credits. “
Kids who accelerate their graduation meet the same number of high school credits as everyone else. They just do it faster leaving less time for indoctrination and school sponsored trips to the abortion clinic.
FCAT is a test for the school, not the student. Students have 6 chances to ‘pass’ the fcat from 10th to their senior year. Any one of those counts but is sufficient by itself to allow graduation.
Students must have adequate credits to graduate as well.
I agree. The GED is far under a high school diploma. I tutored high schoolers one year — their lack of knowledge in passing the GED is minimal.
I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now.
PS. I was teaching these kids fifth grade fraction concepts. It is truly shameful to only have a GED.
Remember Dexter Manley and others who also got a University diplomat while reading at a third grade level ?
After the NFL money ran out, his ( and others ) next skill level was dealing drugs.
One thing they have done in Iowa is make dual offerings mandatory (you get to receive college credit while still in High School). If you are skilled with playing the system, you can finish your Freshman year while still in High School. With the right selection of classes you might even finish most of your Sophomore year (or at least have the critical path credits to allow finishing in 2 1/2 to 3 years) after HS graduation. I am trying to arrange it so my oldest takes AP Chemistry as a Sophomore (thus allowing her to complete Biochemistry at the local University over the next two summers). I don’t know if she will do this, it will be entirely her choice, but I am setting the stage for her to go for it if she wants to. She wants to be a Vet or a Doctor.
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