the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Regarding the alleged incident in which extra credit was denied to a RHS student one day, then offered the next day to her entire class in conjunction with the purchase of a $20.00 ticket to the Bergenfest Music & Arts Festival (scheduled to be held at BFMS on June 29 – following the conclusion of the school year),
Public Schools Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said during last nights BOE meeting: “that fact is not in dispute.” Meaning, the parent’s description of the incident was accurate. Dr. Fishbein declined to discuss the particulars about the specific incident since the student was identified by name. But he did say that he plans to meet with the entire administrative staff within the coming days to set forth a policy concerning awarding extra credit.
Here’s the complete discussion that took place at tonight’s BOE meeting. Following the discussion, the parent who first brought the matter to the BOE’s attention makes an appearance to further explain what happened to her daughter.
Here’s the working link to the cropped video:
https://ytcropper.com/cropped/pF5cf64fd99be95
“So why hasn’t he been fired?”
The devil you know . . .
We knew it was true. A couple of ridiculous naysayers that want to FILTER people out tried to imply that it was not true.
Seriously, you’d fire a man because a teacher wants to reward students with extra credit to attend an event? Doesn’t he have kids to feed / career? Would you really do that?
“Seriously, you’d fire a man because a teacher wants to reward students with extra credit to attend an event? Doesn’t he have kids to feed / career? Would you really do that?”
.
No.
I’d fire him because he is a feckless, useless tool… a major disappointment who is not up for the job.
.
Dr. Fishbein is apparently not a constructivist education ZEALOT like so many of his fellow school superintendents in the Notheast. For this reason he MAY be eligible for a pass on shortcomings in other areas (not without due criticism of course). Constructivism (vis. Marty Brooks and his fellow professional zealot wife) is an absolute cancer in the field of K-12 education.
After watching the video, I was dismayed at our Superintendent’s ingenious explanation of “extra credit” as not an “academic credit” but merely a reward for the “most boxtops, etc” turned in. A reward benefits the class and they do “get something extra but it is NOT A HIGHER GRADE!” He also states “that extra credit has been awarded for decades” which is an accurate statement only if you do not count “extra credit” as a grade point issue. He is trying to pass it off as “One of those things that has always been done”. by including class rewards THAT DO NOT INCLUDE GRADE POINTS but are merely “rewards”. Winning ice cream or pizza for your class has nothing to do with an individual child getting “extra credit” in his/or her grade point average! I know for a fact that this extra credit for something that is not awarded to a student who has actually asked for and done. (Which the woman who brought this up stated that her child had been refused any credit for extra academic work –probably because “it was too late” for the teacher to take the extra time to grade it– but could have gained it by having fun and doing NO EXTRA WORK.) I also know that this method for gaining “extra grade credit” was not done before 1996 as before that we had children and grandchildren in the system and I was usually Grade Mother so I would definitely have heard about “extra credit for grades being given for non academic work ” and raised a stink at that time. I was also in constant contact with parents for a large number of years after that. I see Dr. Fishbein started in 2008. I challenge him to provide proof of “extra credit for something not academic” being awarded before he took over. And going to a concert or a play is not “academic” unless a report is required after viewing it. Going to a Museum on other than a school trip is for fun. It cannot become “academic credit” without something academic being submitted for “extra credit”. Regardless how our Superintendent is attempting to smooth it over and cover it up by saying the “rewards that a whole class gets” are actually a form of “academic extra credit”. And the “Tissues bit for extra academic credit” is absolutely unbelievable!!! Students HAVE been asked to bring “tissues”–NEVER for extra academic credit”– in for the decades our Superintendent quoted for “non-academic extra credit”. But they were “asked”, not told their grade would be lowered if it was a hardship for them to bring them in. Most students do bring them in so they won’t be singled out as different from the other classmates, but everybody knows that some parents send in quantity several times a year and some only bring the allotted “suggestion” of a 3-pack once. And I’m going to make an inexcusable comment here–Did anyone who has lived here for any length of time think that maybe the gradual decline in the “Tradition of Excellence” could be possibly caused by the new tradition of awarding children for participation so that everyone can get an athletic or other trophy so they aren’t singled out as “maybe not being the best”? And, apparently under Dr. Fishbein they are being awarded extra academic credit without doing any extra work. And a last nasty shot, How does Dr. Fishbein KNOW “It’s been going on for decades” if he claims to have just heard of it now?
No need to finesse this, the practice needs to be condemned and ended, not excused away (and therefore subtly encouraged). Plus, because there’s a certain niece-uncle relationship involved here, the superintendent needs to be careful not to play favorites when it comes to discipline.