| rdfs:comment | - By Nafari Vanaski , PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, September 1, 2011 If you worry about our education system, this would be a good time to break out the antacids. Why? The Pittsburgh Public Schools board of education decided this summer to temporarily lower the minimum grade point average for participation in extracurricular activities, to 1.5 from 2.0 for high school students. Still, this means that students have been allowed to take part in extracurricular activities making grades as low as a "D." As in, "Don't care if you're Dumb as a box of Doorknobs."
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| abstract | - By Nafari Vanaski , PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, September 1, 2011 If you worry about our education system, this would be a good time to break out the antacids. Why? The Pittsburgh Public Schools board of education decided this summer to temporarily lower the minimum grade point average for participation in extracurricular activities, to 1.5 from 2.0 for high school students. Apparently the 2.0 minimum was not communicated to all district staff. Superintendent Linda Lane , who started the job in December, said some faculty confused the district policy with that of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association , which requires only that students pass four full-credit classes, according to Mark Byers, assistant executive director of the PIAA . So a student could earn four Ds -- a 1.0 average -- and clear the PIAA minimum. So the district voted to lower the GPA for this school year only. The policy says students who are at a 1.5-1.99 GPA must take part in a probationary program aimed at getting them to a 2.0. If they haven't achieved this in two semesters, they would be ineligible for activities including sports, band and club activities. Still, this means that students have been allowed to take part in extracurricular activities making grades as low as a "D." As in, "Don't care if you're Dumb as a box of Doorknobs." Not all students do as little as possible to play or participate. But consider this: How often do you go to the dentist? As little as you have to, right? If you tell a student who hates school that she just needs a 1.5, that is what she will do. Bet she can nail those jump shots, though. Ninety-nine times out of 100. That's an A-plus. Parents bear most of the blame. Who allows his kid to get by on a 1.0 anything? (If you are a parent of one of the approximately 459 students involved, I'd love to hear your take.) Still, the policy doesn't exactly offer reinforcement, says board member Mark Brentley Sr., the father of five, one of whom is in the city schools. He said parents should be cracking the whip at home. "There's nothing wrong with having a little extra support," he said. Lane defended the move as a "bridge" for students to boost their grades. It was a compromise, she said, because students were being held to different standards. Did the board consider removing these students from extracurricular activities until they got their grades up to a 2.0? You know, to give them more time to study? Lane said she had, but that realistically, many of these students are only in school to play sports. "My concern is, we have some students (and) athletics is the reason they're there," Lane said. "Can we use the athletics to keep them in school as a motivational tool?" Yes! That sounds like a plan. Perhaps a good motivational tool would be asking them to do more than write their names. Brentley spoke out against the policy at the board's Aug. 24 legislative meeting. He sought an increase in the minimum, to 2.5, in line with requirements for the Pittsburgh Promise, a program that offers public school students financial help for college. There were no takers. "The last thing you need is to have anyone lowering the bar," he said. "Students are crying out for structure. They're saying, 'Please don't give up on us.' " Even more distressing to Brentley is that no one else has expressed disappointment with the new policy -- not Pittsburgh Promise officials, not other educators, not even local colleges and universities. "Not one of them have responded," he said.
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