Quality??

Class.
Character.
Excellence.
You make it happen!

Does anyone recognize those lofty thoughts? Why, they're posted on the Klein Oak High School homepage, of course!

So far, so good, I was thinking as my oldest grandchild works his way through his freshman year in high school. This is usually the toughest time for a school kid -- adjusting to the demands of high school, especially when he is taking several pre-AP classes.

Then on the first day of second semester, he and many others at KOHS were handed new schedules! What? A new schedule? Why? He is enrolled in year-long courses, and his grades are really good. The excuse reason given was that these "changes occurred due to class leveling." Class leveling? Was someone complaining about class sizes? Was this done with the knowledge of the teachers? Did anyone even CARE what the students and parents thought?

And how does this concept of "class leveling" fit with class, character, and excellence? If a student is having real success with a teacher, and then is moved to another teacher's class that is supposedly the same course -- except that the original teacher was keeping a good pace and (as it turns out) is TWO UNITS ahead of the current teacher -- how is that "class" or "excellence"? What does that tell the student that builds his "character"?

Overall, I've been pretty impressed by the good education my grandkids in Texas are getting in this district. Even with this stupid move on administrators' parts, the level of education is still noticeably better than in California. But really -- what message does some political decision like this send to the students?