I think our school has lost it!...update post #48

[parkers*momma]

I've talked with my son and we have come up with a great alternative. I'm going to the school to discuss it with the teacher in the morning.

Actually, it was my son's idea....he'd like to help sort and hand out packages to the families. Since Thanksgiving is over, I'm going to also contact the local food pantry and see if he can help for during Christmas.

I'll post tomorrow what I find out and if this will be a suitable alternative. One thing I'm going to address (after we talk) is that maybe bonus points would be an acceptable soultion or give options-a report, volunteering at the pantry, helping her after school with the delivery of the items, etc.

Wish me luck!

 

[mom2princessj]

I wish you luck!

I want to say that although your son didn't tell you anymore than the class is having a food drive wouldn't it have been appropriate for that TEACHER to send a note home about that particular assignment since the parents need to be involved with BUYING THE FOOD? I mean come on...when money is involved it is the parents who ultimately make that decision. I think she had great intentions to teach the lesson but to make it a 'graded' assignment based on a monetary gift is just RIDICULOUS and ABSOLUTELY WRONG! I would have been in the classroom immediately after I saw the grade...like the next day.

I hope you are able to resolve this. Don't back down either. If she doesn't give the results you want then keep going until you get them!

 

[LisaMommy]

I have to say you're a much better person than I am.

After this I would not offer to help the school in this at all. I'd make it a point to either go find another charity or go straight to the charity (not through the school) and offer help. I think this behavior is unacceptable, trying to get people to buy grades for their children.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[melancholywings]

I wouldn't have approached it with such charity. It equates to buying a grade, and allowing the 'haves' to get grades while leaving out the 'have nots'. It's also improper for the school to demand charity, suggest yes but not hold back grades because of it.
Did the teacher send home a note with alternatives?

 

[Aliceacc]

Another teacher checking in.

If you don't get satisfaction from the teacher, go right to the office of the principal. From there, to the superintendent if necessary. From there threaten the local newspaper.

There is NO WAY a child should receive an academic penalty for being unable to contribute to a teacher's pet cause. What she's doing is penalizing your son because of the layoffs in your family.

Does that mean that the rich kids who can contribute a lot get an automatic A in the assignment??? If they bring in even more, or contribute to lots of pet causes, can they get lots of A's???

There's NO WAY you let this one slide. It's wonderful to make kids aware of the less fortunate. It's NOT OK to force them to adopt your pet cause. For all the teacher knows, maybe your son is a big advocate for cancer research, or for Toys for Tots, or contributes all his allowance to CF research. How dare she assign an ACADEMIC PENALTY for not having the money to contribute to a cause that's important to HER.

 

[DawnM]

Tell them you think this is "buying grades." Seriously, that is a buzz word that will get them moving and change this. This is illegal. You should not have to purchase anything to get a grade, period!

Dawn

 

[mjkacmom]

In all fairness there is fault here on both sides. If your son had explained that this was for a grade you would have had an opportunity to speak to the teacher about the assignment before it was due and come up with alternatives and possibly persuade the teacher to change the assignment. Teachers aren't perfect and they make mistakes- this may not have been the most well thought out assignment. However, with nothing turned in and no conversation with you the teacher didn't have anything else to go on. I think if you now talk to the teacher and explain that you are in fact participating in your own food drive and that your son gets the concept of helping others and the importance of providing for others I think you can come to a resolution. If you don't get satisfaction then you have cause to go to the administration. People often forget that one of the things children have to learn in school is how to follow directions and comprehend the whole concept. The child didn't give all the information. You at least owe the teacher a chance to explain and the opportunity to make it right.

ITA!

 

[TommyTutone]

Charity is not mandatory. Why you choose not to give is none of the school's business, and they have no right to know the situation you are in.

Contact the principal again and tell him this is not acceptable. If he does not budge, contact the superintendent and school board. If that still does not work, try the local press (they love this stuff), and if it still doesn't work, then go to a lawyer.

 

[mjkacmom]

I wish you luck!

I want to say that although your son didn't tell you anymore than the class is having a food drive wouldn't it have been appropriate for that TEACHER to send a note home about that particular assignment since the parents need to be involved with BUYING THE FOOD? I mean come on...when money is involved it is the parents who ultimately make that decision. I think she had great intentions to teach the lesson but to make it a 'graded' assignment based on a monetary gift is just RIDICULOUS and ABSOLUTELY WRONG! I would have been in the classroom immediately after I saw the grade...like the next day.

I hope you are able to resolve this. Don't back down either. If she doesn't give the results you want then keep going until you get them!

I see your kids are young - starting in about 3rd or 4th grade, notes rarely get sent home. If my ds10 needs a protractor for math, or more pencils, or posterboard for a project, it is up to him to let me know - the teacher is not sending notes home anymore. I think the assignment wasn't a good one, but I also see how the OP's ds dropped the ball. For all we know, this could've been prevented with a $1 bag of lentils, or having him do something else to contribute (sorting the food, etc.), if the teacher was made aware that he could not bring in a food item.

 

[koolaidmoms]

TAKE A DEEP BREATH and talk to the teacher. Explain exactly as you have here, if that gets you no satisfaction, THEN go to the principal. Be willing to escalate, but givethe teacher the chance to fix it. Our system prefers to let teachers handle things, then the principal, then you go to the district....

I'd be willing to bet the teacher will try to come up with some solution

I totally agree. Most often teacher's will help fix the problems when a reasonable explanation is offered. If not go right up the food chain as needed.

I agree with you that a food drive should not be a graded item. There are people who truly can not afford the extra so why are you penalizing them. Make it a fun challenge of class against class or something but not graded. Just my opinion.

 

[Allison]

This should not be allowed. I would pursue it further.

We had an incident with our school this year which essentially was costing families a lot of money to get their grade. The band was planning a required competition which would include an overnight stay. The cost to each student was $75 plus meals. Each competition is worth 100 points so essentially if a family couldn't afford to spend around $100 for this, the student would lose a lot of points towards their grade.

My husband and I both didn't think this was even allowed in our state and it turns out it isn't. The trip was cancelled when the superintendant found out what was happening. They found another competition to attend which didn't cost the students money for an overnight stay.

 

[mjkacmom]

This should not be allowed. I would pursue it further.

We had an incident with our school this year which essentially was costing families a lot of money to get their grade. The band was planning a required competition which would include an overnight stay. The cost to each student was $75 plus meals. Each competition is worth 100 points so essentially if a family couldn't afford to spend around $100 for this, the student would lose a lot of points towards their grade.

My husband and I both didn't think this was even allowed in our state and it turns out it isn't. The trip was cancelled when the superintendant found out what was happening. They found another competition to attend which didn't cost the students money for an overnight stay.

Interesting - my dd's MS concert choir is going to Hershey for a competition, and I think it's about $250 per child, and it is mandatory. Last year they went to Williamsburg. The high school choirs go to Europe every year, and they have to pay, but are given fundraising options, just like the MS choirs. However, before you even audition, you are told of this in advance.

 

[Allison]

Interesting - my dd's MS concert choir is going to Hershey for a competition, and I think it's about $250 per child, and it is mandatory. Last year they went to Williamsburg. The high school choirs go to Europe every year, and they have to pay, but are given fundraising options, just like the MS choirs. However, before you even audition, you are told of this in advance.

Our band goes to Disney to compete every 4 years and of course everyone pays for that but it's not mandatory and not graded.

It wouldn't have been a big deal for us to pay the $75 but our city recently lost a large factory that was the main employer in town and I know a lot of families are on a tight budget because of this.

Luckily, there are a lot of great competitions the kids can attend that don't involve such a long distance to travel.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

That is essentially buying a grade. Talk to the teacher, I'm sure she just didn't realize that there might be some students who just can't afford to participate.

Bingo! No work involved. Just pay for your grade. I would be very mad. I get to chose what charities we participate in. Not the teacher. Bullying for donations by using the grade as collateral is wrong.

 

[bellebud]

i hope it all goes well talking w/ the teacher.

I personally wouldn't even offer any *excuses* or reasons why we didn't donate - I'd be too pissed off to do that. This is totally inappropriate, and probably illegal. This teacher made WAY more than a bad decision in basing the grade on this.

keep us updated.

 

[JasonDVC]

It's called...indoctrination.

Teachers are in on it and now it seems they will punish students grades for not falling in line with socialist agenda.

America, what happened to you? Calgon, take me away!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Something else you might also mention to the teacher - if a parent is required to be involved in a project, there needs to be an assignment sheet or note that goes home. It sounds like the kids were given the information verbally but there was nothing written explaining that they would be graded on their donations (or lack of). Obviously, a parent would need to be involved in food donations. Therefore, parents should have been informed in writing.

I like how our school does it. The barrels are placed around the school. You put your donations in the barrel, or not. No one is pressured or held accountable for what they did or did not donate. And that's the way it should be, especially in this economy!

 

[Crystal824]

This is ridiculous. Children in schools come from various socioeconomic backgrounds and the teacher should realize that some of the children in the school make actually receive the donations made to the food pantry (unless you are at a private school where everyone pays and no scholarships are offered). It is great to bring notice to particular causes but very wrong to require students to support those causes to receive a good grade.

Your child should not have to do any extra work or extra credit work to make up for not bringing in food. No other child had to do anything except open the pantry. If your child wants to volunteer at the food pantry, great, do it because he wants to volunteer, but he shouldn't be required to do so because of this assignment.

 

[Aliceacc]

I think the difference is that band and chorus are optional activities. Health class is not.

If you choose to have your child participate in band or chorus, you probably expect some expenses. But taking a class in a public school should not come with a price tag!

 

[ilandrazdsw]

But because the son hasn't conveyed the whole story to the parent you don't know if there weren't other components or alternatives given. It seems unfair to the teacher to say any of this when the teacher hasn't given their side. We are assuming that the grade was based solely on bringing food in- I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to it. Not knowing the whole context of the lesson I can't speak to what's appropriate. We expect students to have posterboards and backboards to support a book report or other supplies. Bringing in food depending on the parameters of the unit could actually cost far less than the supplies needed for many reading, science or social studies projects. Just tonight I used about 10.00 worth of supplies for a book report for a 2nd grader. I could send many food items for that. As someone who was a teacher and whose spouse was a teacher for even longer I just want to remind people that there are other sides and there are educational objectives that aren't always apparent from the glimpses you get from your children. It seems when it comes to teachers people are so quick to judge when we don't necesarily have all the facts. I think it's always better to give someone the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to explain. The teacher may well have made a mistake in the assignment, the entire idea may have been ill founded and none of what I have said may apply but we don't know that. It's also possible that this is a young or relatively new teacher who may have thought that he/she was doing a great thing and doesn't have the experience to know they may have handled it wrong. A respectful conversation pointing this out could be a great learning experience for the teacher. I do know that getting angry and going to principals may feel good at the time but it ends up making people defensive. Follow the chain of command and give it a chance to work. If it doesn't work then take the next step.

I too am a teacher and am looking at this through bother educator and parent eyes. Sure, the teacher has his/her side and students do not always convey all the info...I would like to know how administration let this pass. I was in a school that had to have all lesson plans approved and my administrator would not have approved sonations for a grade, but like you said there may have been other components.
As far as doling out $$ for additional supplies...I don't agree with that either. Parents pay out for posterboards, project boards, glitter, glues, etc. for the child to do the assignment, it possibly be put on display, and then what...trashed??? If my mom kept ever large project I ever did I would have a whole walk-in closet worth. I agree that the $$ could be spent for other things like donations...not saying that the arts projects offer are not important...but at my son's school the parents often end up doing the projects to out-do each other and make it look adult pretty, not second-grader pretty.
The best way to prevent any issues in schools is with open communication...unfortunately this seems very limited these days.