Reflective Moments

I had a moment in class today.

A student raised the question, "Why is the DOE closing the school down when we do all these things for the community? How many other schools do Habitat for Humanity, blood drives, and canned food drives for the homeless? Are they trying to tell us that our efforts aren't enough? What the hell is this 'new school' going to do that we already haven't?"

I had a simple answer to the student's questions, "All that matters to the DOE are your test scores and your graduation rates. You are nothing to them but numbers. To them it doesn't matter how much you contribute to your surrounding community, what matters is the bottom line politics that are misguided and misinformed. They close schools to punish educators and administrators for a school's low numbers regardless of their underlying causes."

I can't even fathom how I would feel if during my time in high school or even during college the Department of Education came in and told the student body that the school or university would be shutting down due to poor graduation rates. There would be riots, there would be hell to pay.

As much as it disappoints me that I had that response, I can't help but think that it's the only honest response. That's the political message of "accountability" that we send to the electorate, but what's the message to our kids? Why should I lie to them?