The Petra Zone

My 17 yr old stepson is a Jr in high school and his school has new adminstration. This past week when each teacher was passing out the school supply list a couple of the teachers said the items on the list that have a * next to them are not required but options if the students choose to bring them; they were items like boxes of tissue, hand lotion, & printer paper; both teachers went on to say that if a student chose to bring at least 2 items each that they would be given 2 points towards their final semister grade. Does anyone here believe this is right and should they be allowed to do this? I believe this to be wrong ethically, especially because this is in reality a student buying his grades. What happens if a low income student can not buy these items will he/she not get the 2 added points as the ones that did buy the items?
Is this happening in anyone's elses schools? I want to know.

It's not unusual for teachers to have extra credit or extra point options, although I don't know of any schools in my area specifically having students bring stuff from home for extra credit. I agree that they would be better off giving them the option of doing an extra paper or project or something if they want to do extra credit. It is likely a way for the school to cut costs, and although there may be ethical issues as you correctly pointed out, I doubt it's actually illegal. They should have another option for kids who might not be able to bring that stuff. However, if the kids are doing their school work and doing well, a few extra points shouldn't make that much difference.

They will have to bring their own stuff from home eventually; it won't be provided for them when they are old enough to have a job and/or start college.

I don't go to public school so idk....

If your kid needs 2 extra points to make a grade, there are other, bigger, issues to address .

Most teachers don't make Money.

Lots of teachers are purchasing their classroom supplies off their own dime. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, or what the root of that "problem" is, if it's local economy, or a stringent local budget. I don't know, but it happens.

I don't see a problem with asking a kid to bring in some stuff if they so choose, or if they can. Teacher's pocketbook gets a break, kid gets extra points. I don't think this is a student is buying his grades. You still have to work hard, regardless of income. In fact, it may be an entitlement mentality that suggests that you can't succeed without handouts.

But there are probably some nuances here that are hidden from me.

My wife doesn't make a whole lot of money. She makes the median income for a single person in our town. She is always buying things for her class room. She gets a gift card loaded with a small budget from the district. The teachers in her building qualified for free iPads through some educational foundation. They use the iPads as teaching aids, running custom apps. Teachers can make good money, but it is capped. There is a point of diminishing returns now. I know teachers with doctorates, and they make some good change, but they are tenured and could not make that much if they had to start over.

I know one thing. The teachers today look nothing like the ugly, sour-faced, old, saggy, crotchety, purple haired "joys" I grew up with.

After discussing this with the school on Tuesday and finding out that over the weekend alot of parents brought up "pay your grade"(my son said this is what the students were calling it) to the adminstration the program has been stopped. In some ways I guess it could be seen as the sign of the times, but in reality does that make it right? Students need to EARN every last point or grade they get and stop thinking their entitled to the grade.

I would also think the discrimination issue would be of great importance here. As someone else said, this is basically preferential treatment to families that have money. Low-income or homeless families just can't do this. I would have been pretty angry if my son had brought home a letter like that.

Our schools send such supply lists, but they also mention that if a family cannot afford the supplies, there are ways they can be helped. In truth, I think the teachers often just buy the supplies themselves.

I do remember one year when the letter encouraged families with means to buy extra and send it to school for the other kids. No mention was made of extra points. Just a request for voluntary help.

No kid, no matter how poor, lacked for supplies that year.