Subject: School Telephone Answering Machine...

[Amaron]

A fellow teacher sent this to me:

This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School (California) Staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone
answering machine. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children's absences and missing homework.


The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children's failing grades changed to passing grades even though those children were
absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes.

This is the actual answering machine message for the school:


"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting the right staff member, please listen to all your options before making a selection:

"To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

"To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2

"To complain about what we do - Press 3

"To swear at staff members - Press 4

"To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

"If you want us to raise your child - Press 6

"If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone - Press 7

"To request another teacher for the third time this year- Press 8

"To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

"To complain about school lunches - Press 0

"If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework, and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!"




J

[Edited on 11-14-2005 by Amaron]

It would be funny if our public education system wasn't a fucking disaster :(

- Arkans

[Brattt8525]

As funny as that is it is also just asking for trouble regardless of how true the options are.

[Jorddyn]

Originally posted by Brattt8525
As funny as that is it is also just asking for trouble regardless of how true the options are.

I :heart: snopes.

Funny, but untrue. (http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/palisades.htm)

Jorddyn

[Skeeter]

I didn't need Snopes to tell me that was bullshit.

[Drezzt]

this is ancient, and it wasn't an actual message. But it's still funny as heck :)

edited to add:
Bah, Ya beat me to it.

[Edited on 11-14-2005 by Drezzt]

[Caiylania]

Wish it was true...

[Jolena]

I suppose I'm in the minority on this, but I don't personally feel that a child should be flunked if they miss 15-30 days of school AS LONG as they make up the work missed.

There are four 9 week periods in school, meaning 36 weeks of school. Now, take that 36 weeks and subtract 3 weeks- 2 for Christmas break and 1 for Spring break. You are left with 33 weeks. Now subtract another week for miscellaneous holidays. You are left with 32 weeks of school.

Now generally a school week is 5 days, but for the sake of being conservative, I'll adjust that to 4 days in a school week to accomodate for unforseen days that school is not in session for one reason or another (ie. bad weather, teacher conferences, etc.). That is 128 days of school.

Yes, 15-30 days out of a 128 day school year seems a bit much. But it *does* happen. My daughter, who is 6, has already missed two weeks in this school year. The first 6 missed days were due to 1) coming home from school from an injury and 2) getting head lice from a child in her class THREE times because the school system for some reason did not check her class thoroughly after the first break out-- she missed 2 days the 1st time, 2 days the second time and 1 the third time. The second week of missing school was for four days, and it was due to a horrendous chest cold which lead to her being on several medications including breathing treatments at home.

Now considering that she has missed 10 days of school already, and that was not due to laziness on my part or something that I had control of at all, I can safely say that if she were to get sick again sometime this year, have an injury and be sent home, or something of that nature, and they failed her despite the fact that I make sure to get all of her homework and help her complete it on time for her grades, I would be one pissed off mom.

[Jorddyn]

Originally posted by Jolena
I suppose I'm in the minority on this, but I don't personally feel that a child should be flunked if they miss 15-30 days of school AS LONG as they make up the work missed.


Three things.

#1 -
even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes.

#2 - This isn't a true story.

#3 - You can thank our one-size-fits-all, everyone-is-the-same, zero-tolerance society for those schools where it is a rule.

Couldn't pay me enough to be a teacher. Alright, that's a lie. But it'd have to be enough that I could retire after 2 years.

Jorddyn

[Skeeter]

pretty sure there are 180 days in a school year. missing 30 is over 15% of days missed. that's *almost* one day a week for the entire year.

If you're skipping school that much, there's something else going on.

[B2]

My senior year of high school, I was on the every-other-day plan. I couldn't bring myself to go 5 days a week. Our attendence system was automated.

I still got straight A's and passed all six AP tests. And you all know I'm not a smart person.

If I were failing, maybe it would have been different. IMO, I wish the teachers would have been teaching. I felt my time was better spent other places than in "Psych class" playing Asshole and gossiping.

[Jorddyn]

Originally posted by Skeeter
pretty sure there are 180 days in a school year. missing 30 is over 15% of days missed. that's *almost* one day a week for the entire year.

If you're skipping school that much, there's something else going on.

If you're skipping.

If you're missing school, there may be a very valid reason.

I had a friend in high school with cancer. Yes, something else was going on. Yes, she still managed to do enough work to pass. Yes, she missed a hell of a lot more than 30 days.

That's why one-size rules are usually stupid.

Jorddyn

[Skeeter]

I wonder if your friend struggled with schoolwork in subsequent years for missing most of that year of school.

If not, great. sounds like an exceptional person.

If she did, maybe it would've been prudent to have her repeat that grade, and get the full benefit from learning from the teachers.

[Jorddyn]

Originally posted by Skeeter
I wonder if your friend struggled with schoolwork in subsequent years for missing most of that year of school.

If not, great. sounds like an exceptional person.

If she did, maybe it would've been prudent to have her repeat that grade, and get the full benefit from learning from the teachers.

Along the same lines, perhaps it would be beneficial to anyone who does not get straight 'A's to repeat the grade, as they've obviously not gotten the full benefit.

Or, perhaps if she does well enough to pass even with missing 30 days, she has earned the right to move on, just as anyone else who has passed?

Jorddyn

[Sean of the Thread]

Education system is a joke... my younger brother is a teacher and I'm talking him into other careers FTW.



We were allowed 10 days a semester here or you instant flunk everything the moment you hit 11.

[Drezzt]

remember, they said "Missing school without a valid excuse" are the only days they counted.

[Jolena]

What 'a valid excuse' consists of is varied greatly from school to school however. Some schools (including my children's previous one before we moved to Florida) do not accept being sick, even with a doctors notice, as an absence that doesn't count towards their total. They are approved but the total count still reflects those days. If they had missed more then 5 a semester then they were failed.

[SpunGirl]

LOL, my husband is a teacher and he's got it made. He teaches PE at a good school with decent kids. He spends the majority of his time planning things for his (championship!) basketball team.

He has to teach for 30 years in this school system (so, until he's 54). At that time he can retire with a yearly salary of 85% of the average of his three highest paid years, plus FULL BENEFITS FOR LIFE. He also has the day off like every other day, and makes only slightly less than I do for working half the time.

The only "retirement" my work offers is a .50/1.00 401k, unless I become an executive at some point. The salary would be nice yes, but my boss is constantly on call and coming in to work at all hours... she works 2x as much as I do.

-K

[Amaron]

Well.. I am a teacher of music and chorus and drama..

I teach 6 sections of general music class.

chorus

small vocal ensemble

Adaptive music (special ed)/Alternative ed (the very very bad kids)

I also direct the middle school musical.. we are doing Music Man this year.

I am assistant band director and I coach the band front ( flags and rifles)


I have been working 8 weeks a summer to finish my masters..

So I haven't had a summer off yet really. ( been a full time teacher for 6 years

I practice after school with the various groups for 2 hours each day approximately. Some are paid and some aren't.
I do it because I love the kids and I love music.
I started later in life... will I be rich or retire early? No but I like what I do.

I work at a great small school where we have admin. backing and the kids aren't all that bad.

I love what I do just thought this letter from a collegue was a joke and kinda funny.