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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2004)
Opinion The Battalion Page 9B • Thursday, April 15, 2004 iplj": A school district in peril issing students who fail core classes to next grade does little to help them learn on fter last year’s dropout rate scandal and subsequent retalia tion against a whis tle-blowing assistant principal, it would seem almost impossi- iiATTHEW ble for the Houston /iaddox Independent School District to shock the lie more with its self-serving disre- for student interests. Almost. Just week, the HISD school board imously approved a policy change would promote students to the grade level even though they have d core high school courses such as English or math. This policy does Nothing to help students and only ben- ;fit> administrators too lazy to lirove the quality of children’s edu- Jw?. The HISD school board needs j|sson in hard work. lie new HISD policy is simply a n of “social promotion,” or a pro- (i based on making students feel d rather than based on merit. In the e of “self-esteem,” these educators willing to put unprepared students lasses above their ability or must nb-down upper-level courses so ; socially-promoted students can eed. ISO trustee Diane Johnson ribed this pie-in-the-sky mentality way: “1 view this policy ahead of compassionate high standards.” truth is, there is nothing compas- ate about giving students a false se of accomplishment by promot- them instead of educating the stu- 1 correctly the first time. 1HISD officials said the reason for MAIL CALL the policy change is to prevent stu dents from dropping out. As stated by Kaye Stripling, HISD superintendent, “A student sitting in the ninth grade at age 17 is a kid who is going to say, 'Forget this; I’m dropping out.' And Houston can't afford to lose its chil dren that way.” Stripling must have missed the part of the policy that requires students to pass the class before graduating, for a student who fails basic English at age 17 cannot graduate anymore ranked as a senior than as a freshman. Rather than keeping hard-working students from dropping out, the policy lets stu dents know they don’t have to try the first time around, because they can always try taking the class later, at no penalty. Besides, a 17-year-old student who has yet to get serious about his education should not be a ward of the state and should be treated as the irre sponsible adult that he is. Another problem caused by this social promotion is how it puts stu dents who do not learn or who do not want to learn in the same classroom as students trying to get the most out of their education. This punishes success ful students by taking the classroom focus off new course material, and instead placing it on the remedial or disciplinary needs of socially-promot ed students. As long as this policy is in place, administrators, and even par ents, can pass the buck of failing kids off on the teachers and students of the next grade level. Numerous school districts have actually done the opposite of HISD and have raised their standards and efforts to educate students. “We've got all sorts of interventions for kids who are struggling, and have been able to significantly lower our dropout rate, improve our four-year completion rate, without changing the policy on grade promotions,” said Austin schools spokesman Andy Welch. It is this hard work and commitment to academic integrity that is not only possible, but necessary for school districts to cor rectly educate students and use tax payer dollars efficiently. Rather than promoting uneducated students to make them feel good, administrators must ensure that they are educated the first time. That kind of earned success leads to real self esteem.Teachers must also be paid based on their performance, rather than by tenure. Hard-working teachers need to be rewarded for their effort. Social promotion hurts the very people its proponents claim to want to help: the students. HISD should raise the bar and lead by example. Hard work and merit are the answers for both wayward students and lazy bureaucrats. Matthew Maddox is a smior management major. Graphic by Grade Arenas :Adams campaign ‘pulling an Al Gore’ lij response to Kyle Ross' April 13 news article: dHsWtebvand 'won \he SBP election. He 'won because of who he And what he stands for. He won because more people voted for He did not win because of the stickers and wristbands sitting in ix somewhere, unused. The unused campaign materials have no jet on his campaign budget, because they were not used in his paign. Furthermore, did Will McAdams include the gas required to go buy the candy that was attached to the flyer that I was handed at the bus ■) in his campaign budget? Did he pay the people helping him attach that candy to the flyer? Isn't that "shipping and handling?” this is beginning to look like another presidential election held afewyears ago, and we all know how that turned out. Jack won, so quit pulling an Al Gore and get over it! Charly Boyd Stagg Class of 2006 Leaving Iraq gives terrorists the victory In response to Nicholas Davis’ April 14 column: fhat part of "time of war" and "war-time president" do you not under stand, Mr. Davis? Why do you and other cowardly liberals insist on criti- ng our courageous and noble commander-in-chief as the forces of ((ness continue to knock at our door? Resident Bush has done a great job handling the war effort, and thus far has made few, if any, mistakes. By withdrawing our troops, as Mr. [is believes we should, we would only be handing the terrorists a vic- fon one of the central fronts in the war on terror. It is crucial for vic- in this most epic, of battles that the Iraqis be liberated from the clutches of terrorists and tyrants, and with Bush as our commander, this will most certainly happen — even if we have to liberate all of Iraq's cities iotothe ground! I ask you, Mr. Davis, would you rather terrorists be blowing up Americans in New York, or blowing up Iraqis in Baghdad? I think the answer is obvious. We must stop complaining about the deaths of our soldiers, as soldiers traditionally die in war time, and instead pro vide unwavering support to our great Republican president as he continues to let swing the sword of freedom. Any other option will empower liberals and terrorists as they seek to destroy the American way of life. Kurt Branagan Class of 1993 Kerry must decide between his politics and Catholicism His support of key issues contradicts Catholic dogma W hat does it mean to be Catholic? The simplest answer \s someone who accepts the teachings of the Catholic church and has received the Sacrament of Baptism and eventually Confirmation. When a convert is received into the church, part of the profession of faith is to state belief in all that the Catholic church teaches. So what happens to those who deny the teaching of the church, especially those such as presidential-hopeful John Kerry, who openly oppose and work against the church? Over the past few weeks, this question has become the subject of fierce controversy. Because of Kerry’s views supporting abortion, embryonic stem cell research and homosexuality, pro-life groups and church leaders have confronted Kerry and asked him to not receive Holy Communion. Kerry, for the most part, has avoided the problem by attend ing non-Catholic services or attending mass in locations where he has not explicitly been forbidden Communion. He cannot continue to avoid the situation, though. To do so would bring harm to the American people, his church and his God. According to Catholic.org, Kerry said, “I will not overturn Roe v. Wade; I will not appoint judges hostile to choice; I will allow poor women to have free abortions; I will never outlaw abortion; I will increase American taxpayers’ dollars on population control efforts around the world.” Church law is clear. Kerry’s goal to make abortions available, not only to Americans, but to the whole world has caused him to incur a common excom munication. Canon law 1398 says, “A person who procures a completed abor- tion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.” This applies not only to the woman having the abortion, but to the abortion ists, those who support abortion, and those who willingly make it accessible. Also, Canon 1331 §1 says, “An excommunicated person is for bidden to receive the sacraments.” This includes Communion. The logic is clear: If Kerry has been excommunicated and if an excom municated person should not receive Communion, then Kerry should not receive Communion. In a situation such as this, there is no need for a bishop or priest to make a point of forbidding Kerry to receive Communion; canon law already says that he is not able to. However, only a handful of people are experts on canon law. This is why church leaders should tell Kerry not to receive Communion and why some have done so. In February, Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis warned Kerry that he would not serve him Communion due to his obstinate defiance of church teaching. The bishop was right in doing this; unfortunately, either out of timidity or fear of backlash, other bishops have failed to make similar statements. Kerry, for the most part, has avoided the problem by either attending non-Catholic services or attending mass in locations where he has not explicitly been forbidden Communion. He cannot continue to avoid the situation, though. Referring back to the church’s law, Canon 915 says “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and oth ers obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.” Even if Canon 1398 did not exist, Kerry should not receive or be given Communion because church leaders such as Burke have pointed out Kerry’s grave and public sin and he refuses to repent. Some people might wonder what harm Kerry actually causes by receiving Communion. First, there is the problem of creating scandal in the church. In a March editorial for Catholic.org, Barbara Kralis wrote, “A per fect example of giving scandal to the faithful is what took place after Kerry's Mass. I was told that many parishioners remained outside of Church and asked one another if abortion was still a sin, or did the Church change her teachings on this murder.” Simply put, Kerry is deceiving his fellow Catholics by leading them to believe that the church’s stance on abor tion has changed and that it is no longer considered sinful. Second, Kerry should have respect for the church’s belief and policy even if he does not agree with it. The church teaches that when one receives Communion, he is literally receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, when one receives it unworthily, that is nothing short of blas phemy. If Kerry truly cares about his fel low Catholics in the world, he must respect their most cherished beliefs and not receive communion. Moral issues in the Catholic church are equal to issues of faith. To deny that abor tion is a sin is equal to denying the exis- tence of God. Any known atheist would be denied Communion. Why should Kerry be different if his rejection of morals is equal to an atheist’s rejection of faith? Kerry has stated that he wishes to keep his religion out of his public life. Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, told LifeNews.com that “If referring to his ‘public life,’ Kerry means ‘supporting the dismemberment of babies, then not only is he sep arating his public life from religion, but also from basic human decency.’” Since one’s religious beliefs are essentially one’s phi losophy on life, it does not make sense to separate personal reli gious beliefs from one’s political beliefs. Kerry must now make a decision and make it public: either he renounces his support of abortion, embryonic stem cell research and anything else that contradicts his faith, or he respects his church and the faithful believers and stops receiving communion. Cody Sain is a junior philosophy major.
