Opinion: School should be where students learn, not earn

The news that some schools have begun rewarding students with cash for excellent FCAT scores was startling. I guess some kids will be bringing home big bucks with their good grades.

The defense for this moronic idea was even more surprising: The principal of a middle school, where "cutting checks" now is probably heard as often as "cutting classes," said, "This is America, free enterprise. Generally, we are a materialistic society. Money is very good to motivate students." Here's a heads-up for the principal: They are in school, not on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for Pete's sake. There is something terribly wrong with a school that needs to hold money in front of students to get them to excel, the way we hold biscuits in front of dogs to get them to jump. The motivation should be learning, the bedrock, fundamental purpose of education.

Florida Education Commissioner Charlie Crist said: "I don't have a problem with it. There's a part of me that's a little anxious about it, I must confess. But I'm going through the checklist: It's legal; it's not unethical; it's not taxpayer dollars; it's a local decision. They're being rewarded for doing well."

I wonder what part of him is "a little anxious"? Could it be his basic understanding that school is where you learn, not where you earn? As commissioner of education, he should know that attaching money to marks is a profaning of the almost sacred profession of educating our children.

I shouldn't be so surprised. Good grades "at any cost" was bound to happen when the state created a monster with the power of financial life and death over schools. What a shame. Talk about the tail wagging the dog! Make that the FCAT.
Jack Bray, Dunedin

A useful reward

A hearty round of applause for the two middle schools in Hernando County that reward those who do well on their state tests.

It was a delight to read some refreshing news for a change on the Times' front page May 16. This is a great idea. Others schools should join this concept as well. Everyone enjoys a pat on the back and a tribute for something well done

These moderate rewards offer the kids an incentive to aim for and at the same time improve their knowledge and proficiency. The smiles of achievement on those rewarded are a pleasing reward for most of us.
Bill Dunihue, St. Petersburg

Raising false expectations

It is a sad commentary on our society when we resort to cash payments for high test scores from students. Whatever happened to achievement as reward enough for doing a good job? Do today's kids just not feel good enough about themselves unless they are given a tangible reward for performance? And what kind of workplace expectations are being set up by administrators who offer immediate rewards for these students who, to be honest, are just doing their jobs? Will they expect these kinds of immediate and monetary rewards in the workplace too? If so, they are likely in for a rude awakening.

Scarcely a week goes by that we are without a news story about children who are depressed or suicidal because life isn't providing them everything they think they are due. Paying them for test scores only increases the expectation that life is one big reward when the real prize should be self-satisfaction
Gloria Palmer, Largo

Money goes well with "me-first' attitude

Re: Students get paid for FCAT success, May 16.

What is the big deal about paying kids to do well on the FCAT? Having administered several FCATs, I have seen kids complete a section of the test in 15 minutes when it should have taken them an hour and a half. How? By simply marking "C" as the correct answer for all questions.

Why? They don't care and ask, "What's in it for me?" These are our kids whom we have raised and whom we have imbued with the "me first" attitude. Should we be surprised when offering money as in incentive really works? I'm not!
Raymond A. Wing, Spring Hill

Educational priorities are topsy-turvy

As a retired teacher who spent four decades in the classroom, I find the recent bribery of students' achievement on test scores to be quite dispiriting. It is, however, only the latest and almost inevitable outrage of a system that has demonstrated nothing but topsy-turvy priorities.

Standardized testing can be useful in schools. Measuring student progress in reading and writing, as well as in the ability to compute mathematically, can give teachers, parents and administrators important clues in counseling individual pupils. It can help a school's faculty in curriculum planning as well. If the school is doing an excellent job, the test results could very well reflect that fact; however, when raising test scores becomes the be-all and end-all, the focus is shifted, not on the educational process itself, but only on a superficial adjunct to what ought to be happening in the classroom.

Testing cannot measure critical thinking skills, nor can it measure the joy of learning. Testing cannot measure the light in students' eyes when they are moved profoundly by a great work of literature. Testing cannot measure the thrill of "getting it" when solving a challenging math problem, nor can it measure the insight that comes from an in-depth analysis in history. The learning process is complicated; teachers and learners should be partners in that process. When students are "rewarded" solely by the gratification of learning for its own sake, and when they are lovingly guided by expert teachers who care deeply about the art and the science of teaching, the results can be magical.

It seems to me that there is no joy, no magic when the aim is not to learn, but only to learn how to take a test. The apparently high level of anxiety in a school about achieving a letter grade robs the student, the teacher, the parents and the community at large. We will not graduate skilled thinkers, but only accomplished test-takers. The reward will not be the joy of intellectual accomplishment, but a check.

As discouraging as these developments are, there are nonetheless some promising counterbalances. According to your articles, students themselves understand that it just doesn't seem right to be bribed monetarily. More and more voices are being raised against placing test results at the core of education, and in some parts of the country, outstanding school districts already famed for their educational excellence are opting out of the standardized testing trap.

Let's tell the politicians to put the emphasis in schools back where it belongs, on the magical interaction between learners and teachers.
Norman Orenstein, Clearwater

Materialism and sensationalism

Re: With slightest hesitation, students cash in, and To teach, school slaughters steer, May 19.

These two items certainly seem unrelated, but in fact they epitomize the desperate struggle we seem to be having to improve elementary through high school education. They home in on two driving forces in our culture: materialism and sensationalism. Let's take them one at a time

Materialism: There is no doubt that knowledge is power and that the search for that knowledge can and should be a very rewarding experience. How we instill that in those who do not have it -- that's the challenge of any educational system. Do we give money to those who are able to perform and leave behind those who may be struggling at their maximum and are thus made to feel even more inadequate. Good grades should be the target that provides the pride, satisfaction and proof of knowledge gained. To a large degree the marketplace decides our success in life, but do we really need this marketplace mentality to start as early as middle school?

Sensationalism: Television and films have whetted the appetites for more and more excitement to capture our attention. Extreme revulsion certainly wakes us up. Ah, but this killing of an animal is being done in the name of science and the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity. At an age when children should be learning about and experiencing the wonders of life around us, why would we think that the reality of how the meat on their table is acquired should be added to their knowledge?
Jessie Conroy, South Pasadena

A questionable lesson

Re: To teach, school slaughters steer, May 19.

As a school administrator for more than 30 years, I was intrigued by this article. It seems that the school authorities made it possible for the children to watch as a 1,000-pound steer they had raised was slaughtered on the school grounds

A parent who is also a science teacher at the school noted that her 7-year-old "was really fascinated. It was an excellent lesson." In addition the principal commented, "It was an awesome experience. It gave them a chance to see up close what they have been reading about in books all year."

I certainly hope that the parent/science teacher and principal maintain their open-minded educational philosophy when the teacher presents her science unit on human sexuality. I wonder how she will answer her children's question, "Can we watch, Mommy, can we?"
Bob Landis, Palm Harbor

Cuban Club: a cultural gem

I would like to thank you for bringing attention to our efforts to renovate the Cuban Club building and restore it to its former glory. However, I would like to share a persective quite different from the gloomy and pessimistic tone of your May 15 article "Restoring Glory." Some may see it as a money pit, but I choose to see it as a cultural gem, a symbol of a proud and unique heritaage. To others it is just a building, but as I walk through its hallowed halls, I see a vibrant, living institution.

I am part of the Circulo Cubano, the "heart and soul" of the Cuban Club building. Our objective is to preserve the Cuban Heritage of the Tampa Bay area and to assist the foundation in its restoration efforts. We are a club that remembers the past and looks toward the future. Our membership is fast approaching 150, with the majority of its members in their mid-30s. In 1997, the club had only 25 members, all but one of them over 60. Hence, club membership has increased sixfold in a four-year period. I doubt that any other social institution in Tampa has registered such an impressive increase in membership in such a short period of time

The driving force behind the revival of Tampa's venerated Cuban Club has been the Mambi, a parade krewe formed in honor of the Cuban soldiers who fought for Cuban independence in the 1890s. We now have 86 members in the Mambi krewe, and they march in local parades dressed in authentic replicas of uniforms worn by the Tampa volunteers who joined the Cuban army. We also have monthly happy hours and will start Domino nights in June. We recently had our Mother's Day picnic and had 400 people in attendance.

We will restore the lobby bar area in the next few months and in October we will open our doors to the community (at no charge) to see a play based on the war for Cuba's Independence, visit our museum and enjoy our restored lobby area.

We do not talk about restoring glory but we are making it happen. We don't deny the daunting nature of the task that lies before us, but we are facing an uncertain future with dignity and pride, knowing that continued success is simply a matter of hard work and dedication.
Mario Gonzalez, Jr., president, Circulo Cubano de Tampa Inc.

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