An extra credit incentive has a Georgetown parent crying foul. At issue, tissue for grades.
Tracy Ellington's daughter attends school at Georgetown Middle School. When her daughter brought home her progress report, it showed she still needed to bring in Kleenex tissue as part of an extra credit incentive. Ellington says, "I called and asked, I said can you really get credit for that? I was told yes. I think that's absurd. She shouldn't be able to buy something to get extra credit. She should have to do something academic such as a book report or an essay or something like that, because this is a language art class." She calls the practice unfair, and says it puts some students at a disadvantage. Ellington says, "I think when it comes down to two kids that's borderline failing, a poor child and a rich child, it puts the poor child at a disadvantage, has nothing to do with the child. I send everything I can afford to, but I have two girls and we actually struggle just to buy groceries. So I don't have extra money to buy tissue for the school. I don't mind donating and I actually make sure my kids have everything they need, but for it to actually earn my child credit is ridiculous." She also questions the grading system. Ellington says, "It might seem trivial to some people, but for parents who are at a disadvantage, it's not trivial, It's really not, and I think it's important that we pay attention to what are kids are being graded on, because they should be graded on academics, not a parent's ability to buy items for the school."
Tracy Ellington says she called the superintendents office several times to voice her concerns over this tissue issue. She says she did receive a call from the teacher at the school who said the principal said the extra credit incentive was not approved, and they will no longer use it. Ray White, spokesman for the Georgetown County School District says one teacher acted independently, and when the principal found out about it, the extra credit incentive was stopped.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement