# School selling test points rampant stupidity abounds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182 "2009-11-11T14:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/21 "2009-11-11T21:47:25Z")
The paper also printed the following price list: > [@](#): > > Rosewood Middle School price list > > A $20 donation buys 10-point credits to be used on two tests of the student’s choice. > > A $30 donation buys the test points and admission to a 5th-period dance. > > A $60 donation buys students test points, the dance invitation, and a “special 30-minute lunch period with pizza, drink and the choice to invite one friend to join them.” > > Photo ops with Rosewood principal Susie Shepherd, the vice principal, and a home room teacher go for $75. The photos will be posted on a school bulletin board and on the school’s Web site. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/22 "2009-11-11T22:29:20Z")
What a bunch of no-imagination over-reactors you all are. The simple solution that solves the “problem” is to make every test worth 1000 points or more. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/23 "2009-11-11T22:44:28Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > The paper also printed the following price list: Photo ops with the principal(s) and a teacher? Unless the attractiveness of middle school teachers has radically improved since my time, I can’t imagine anyone putting up $75 for that. And having that picture posted where everyone can see? Ugh, the ribbing I would’ve gotten… On the important issue of selling grades, I find it ethically reprehensible. As a part-time college instructor (and, if all goes well, future professor), I have enough trouble with students asking me for extra credit for free. :rolleyes: If I even mentioned taking money for grades in my class, I would be out on my ass PDQ, and ABD. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/24 "2009-11-11T22:52:06Z")
I wonder what you had to pay to get transferred to another school/district? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/25 "2009-11-13T17:06:22Z")
I see no new developments. Anybody that sees something new should link to it. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/26 "2009-11-13T17:09:27Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > If I even mentioned taking money for grades in my class, I would be out on my ass PDQ, and ABD. What if you offered an A in the class if a student gives you $1 the first day of class, $2 the next day, $4 the next, and so on and so forth for the rest of the semester? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/27 "2009-11-13T17:45:12Z")
I attended public middle/high school in Duplin County, just south of lovely Wayne County. Our school (and the others in our county) were far more focused on sports than academics; some teachers would cheerfully admit to teaching a class such as advanced math at a lower level just so the lowest-performing kids could pass. I can remember one math teacher filling the board with various information prior to a test, such as formulas for locating the sine and cosine of a triangle…she said we wouldn’t need to know that stuff anyway. :rolleyes: Heck, there weren’t very many kids from my class who attended college. I guess I’m not really surprised to learn that other schools in the area have a similar disregard for academics. ---
**Author:** ![Sanity\_Challenged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Sanity\_Challenged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanity_Challenged)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/28 "2009-11-13T19:07:14Z")
Well, there are [worse ways](http://cbs13.com/local/dead.fly.dare.2.1287937.html) to earn your good test grades. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/29 "2009-11-13T19:16:33Z")
An administrator at a school here was arrested and recently jailed for doing this exact thing. No word yet on whether they allowed her to purchase months off the length of her sentence. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/30 "2009-11-14T06:17:01Z")
Originally posted by Anne Neville: “They need a new principal. One with some principles this time, please.” Very politely done. Bravo. Jon ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/31 "2009-11-14T20:41:27Z")
This is a slippery slope. How long before they go from “pay us and we raise your grades” to “pay us or we lower your grades”?:eek: ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182/32 "2009-11-15T00:01:13Z")
If you click on the same link, the story now says that the program has been nixed by the school district. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-selling-test-points-rampant-stupidity-abounds/517182.md?page=1)