Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reactions to last week’s signing of a bill enabling former high school students denied diplomas because they failed the Georgia High School Graduation Test to now receive them. The test is no longer used, so the Legislature argued it was unfair to hold former students hostage to an abandoned standard. An estimated 9,000 Georgians will benefit from the reprieve. Here is a sampling of reader comments:
EnemyLines: This further devalues an already questionable high school diploma. Obviously it's reason to celebrate; we've got find some way to make those snowflakes feel precious, doggone it.
Class: Passing the test meant something; it meant that you had at least learned a minimal amount in school. To us business people, it gave us slightly more confidence a diploma actually meant something. Now, we do not even have that. How else are you going to argue that a diploma is not just an attendance record (and not even a good one of those)? How do you determine how much a person has learned? Do you accept teachers' grades that are known to be inaccurate, since we had people with 3.6 grade point averages who couldn't pass this basic skills graduation test? There was a time when a high school diploma meant something. That was back when a teacher would fail you if you did not learn the basic minimum in a class.
MaryE: I want to commend both the bill's sponsor, House Education Chair Brooks Coleman, and Gov. Nathan Deal for seeing this bill was passed and signed into law. It is never too late to right a wrong, especially a wrong done to these children of Georgia. I respect and appreciate what you have done here.
ScienceTeach: I can't speak for other schools, but I know a lot of the students from our school were special education students who really did not have the basic skills needed for high school. They might have "passed" their classes, but sometimes the grades were given to them because they tried, and we knew at some point the Georgia High School Graduation Test would "catch" them anyway. If a diploma is supposed to signify a certain level of achievement rather than just 12 or more years of attendance (the problem the GHSGT was created to address), we're moving backwards.
Lyk: I am dealing with this issue now. My child was an honor student, and her grades and conduct were high As and Bs. She passed everything but the math portion of the graduation test. She took the math portion nine times. When we asked for a waiver, she was denied. I don't teach my kids there is an easy way to do things, but my daughter has worked very hard. I feel she deserves her diploma. She had to work harder than her fellow classmates because she was diagnosed with ADD and ADHD in fifth grade. It was not easy for me as a parent, and it surely wasn't easy for her.
Beth: Hmmm, Coleman helps get Opportunity School District bill passed for governor … governor signs bill for Coleman. Coincidence? Not bashing this bill, just noticing the timing.
Jefferson: Should doctors have to go to med school and pass? Give them a break … let the money be made.
Star: Will these people be getting a diploma from the state or from their old high school? Will there be some sort of marker, like "Diploma Without Passing the Test"?
