Holding school boards more accountable. (editor's letter).By now, most readers probably know the story of Christine Pelton Pelton may refer to: A Village:
tr.v. re·capped, re·cap·ping, re·caps 1. To replace a cap or caplike covering on: recapped the bottle. 2. . Pelton, 26, was a biology teacher who gave her classes a writing assignment on tree leaves. When the assignments were turned in, she noticed that many papers had identical passages. A Web site (www.turnitin.com) that tells if papers have been copied from other sources confirmed what she suspected, that 28 students had plagiarized pla·gia·rize v. pla·gia·rized, pla·gia·riz·ing, pla·gia·riz·es v.tr. 1. To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own. 2. . She gave the students, about one of every five students she had, no credit for the assignment. Because the paper counted for half the students' grades, each of the 28 would flunk. Some parents complained, but the school principal and superintendent backed her up. When the complaints reached the school board, the story takes a twist. Behind closed doors, without explanation, the school board agreed to change the grades. The board ordered Pelton to give the students partial credit and to reduce the percentage the assignment would count toward the final grade. After the decision, Pelton was reported as saying, "I went to my class and tried to teach the kids, but they were whooping whoop n. 1. a. A loud cry of exultation or excitement. b. A shout uttered by a hunter or warrior. 2. A hooting cry, as of a bird. 3. The paroxysmal gasp characteristic of whooping cough. and hollering and saying, `We don't have to listen to you anymore.'" She resigned a few days later. As I write this, she has recently appeared on CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. and has scheduled interviews with many other news organizations, including The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times. While some of the lessons in this story are obvious--the decline of integrity and the failure of parents to understand the message they were sending to their children--one lesson is harder to untangle. Where is the school board's accountability? This country was wisely set up with three branches of government--offering a system of checks and balances. As tenuous tenuous Intensive care adjective Referring to a 'touch-and-go,' uncertain, or otherwise 'iffy' clinical situation as this system sometimes seems, it has held up for more than 200 years. School boards and superintendents are two parts that oversee the running of a school district. But maybe it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to introduce a third party, even on a limited basis. In this month's Notebook section (p. 16), Associate Features Editor Angela Pascopella quotes an AASA AASA American Association of School Administrators AASA Asian American Student Association AASA Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia AASA Aging and Adult Services Administration AASA Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army official who is calling for each school board to be audited for effectiveness. While each school board's ultimate accountability has always been on Election Day, I think there's room for a more immediate check on school boards. While a national review of each board seems unmanageable and probably unnecessary, a superintendent should be able to review board decisions by appealing to the state board of education. This group could be the needed third leg in the process, and could offer a fairly unbiased opinion that would be faster than waiting for four-year terms to come up for re-election. It's just my opinion, but at least it's an original thought. Wayne D'Orio, Editorial Director 
I am in shock that those parents didn't stand behind the teacher. They are sending the wrong message to their kids. I think the kids would be 23 by now...and the teacher was 26 when this happened. I wonder what those cheating students have done with their lives. <br>I just saw the story on t.v. I was just saddened by the fact the teacher was trying to teach a lesson. I used to read books to find information. Take what I read and interpret it in my own way for home work. It's about using your own mind and being creative. If the parents allowed the kids to just get through an assignment by copying word for word. what message does it send to the kids?<br>Wow. I am totally on Christine Peltons' side. |
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