The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Great Moments
“A middle school in North Carolina is selling test scores to students in a bid to raise money,” the Associated Press reports from Goldsboro:
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported [Wednesday] that a parent advisory council at Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro come up with the fund-raising plan after last year’s chocolate sale flopped.
The school will sell 20 test points to students for $20.
Students can add 10 extra points to each of two tests of their choice. The extra points could take a student from a “B” to an “A” on those tests or from a failing grade to a passing grade.
Principal Susie Shepherd says it’s not enough of an impact to change a student’s overall grades.
Officials at the state Department of Public Instruction say exchanging grades for money teaches children the wrong lesson.
We see the state’s point. If, as the principal claims, passing a test or getting a B instead of an A isn’t worth 20 bucks, how could it possibly be worth the effort?
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