The Education Wonks
It's possible that "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
Tough call, really, especially if the school was up front about the situation. Still, what harm would be done?
I wish everyone would write to the newspaper to protest. The address is on the link. We can simply email the newspaper; it's at the bottom of the page. Maybe if enough people make it known that this decision is ridiculous and that this community is making a fool of itself, the board might change its mind.
Please folks come on here, the kid was told up front that he could not recieve his diploma! This is another example of people thinking that they can have it their way instead of playing by the rules.
The kid is getting what he deserves regardless of grades, test scores, or extra-curriculars.
However, you figure this has to be a fight because in "injustice" has been done here by keeping your word and trampling the minority. Why don't we just do away with a 4 year program, once a student makes straight A's for a year and pass a test we can end the misery and give them a diploma?
Take your certificate, say thank you, be happy, and go home!!!
What's hilarious -- in the sense that it's not really funny at all -- is that thousands upon thousands of functionally illiterate American kids graduate with h.s. diplomas every year. And this particular school district is all of a sudden minding the gate extra closely when a foreign student -- apparently literate in two languages -- wants a diploma?
Isn't it the American way to think you above the rules? The Rotary Club and the school told him at the start that an American HS diploma was not part of the experience.
I am proud of him for doing well, but he has not completed the requirements of that school or other American High Schools.
However, he knew coming in it wasn't going to happen.
Sorry kiddo. I don't think this means he can't go to an American college if he wants to apply.
Good luck in the future kiddo.
More evidence that education in the USA is more about politics and jumping through the right hoops than learning (and demonstrating that learning).
Giving as an excuse the transcripts were too difficult to translate, then reviewing them once translated demonstrated very different intentions than the end results.
Had they stuck by their guns it may have been one thing. But having proferred lame excuses, and having them consequently proven wrong, these people ought to show a little honor.
Of course it's entirely possible they don't have any.
The article states that he DID complete the requirements for an high school diploma, so people writing otherwise are completely incorrect. He met all requirements.
The only "non-compliance" is that he is a foreign exchange student from Poland who was told he many not get a diploma. I don't think a diploma SHOULD be automatically awarded - and that seems to be what he was told. However, if you've earned one, then why wouldn't we grant you one? If he moved in from Britain during his last year as a non-exchange student, and met grad requirements, he would get a diploma. Why is being a foreign exchange student the magic bullet that keeps one from getting a diploma?
All courses required for graduation from the district have been met.
Zero tolerance strikes again.
Just wondering, but what if this student had been in the country illegally and simply enrolled in school as a senior? Wouldn't he have earned a diploma then simply by completing the senior year requirements just like everybody else?
He says that he was told earning a diploma could be "possible", which is probably the main communication problem here. Americans often say things "might" happen when we know darn well there is a very slim chance. To Europeans, saying it's possible means it is somehow possible.
I ran into this type of situation last semester when one of my students came back from a semester in Germany. Before he left he was told it was "possible" for him to receive credit for the classes he took in Berlin, but when he returned the administration started talking about "lack of contact hours" and "different content of the classes". Never mind that the kid passed a Chemistry class taught in German. No credit. Not even as an elective.
and, what will he tell everyone back in Poland? IMO, if the kid qualifies, award him the diploma. Oh, but maybe he wasn't the star on the football team ? Maybe INS/Dept. of Homeland Security should revoke his student visa and ship his trouble making butt back to Poland? Hey, Poland needs bright, educated people to help get the country back on track after their horrible commie era.....We don't need him and his talents HERE.....he obivously doesn't want to mow lawns, wash dishes, pluck chickens, clean hotel/motel rooms, work in the fields or do other such jobs like most new residents of this country...... (yes, I am being snide).
Where can we sign up to start the petition?
It's just politics, and anyone that thinks there are no politics in the school system is completely clueless.
Now this young man has to go back, complete an extra year of school he obviously doesn't need, and then he will be permanently behind the other students that would have been in his graduating class.
As for Darren and Non-Sympathetic Hoosier: My guess would be that you are both middle-class, white males, who have, unknowingly, had your ways through life smoothed by the luck of your births.
Wow, Brenda, that's quite an assumption you have there. I happen to agree with Darren and Hoosier, and I don't fit your profile. Guess again.
This is possible because not very much in public education is about individual kids. There are thousands of wonderful people in education today, but the institutions have collapsed.
Yes, but did he pass a mandatory, high stakes test? Without that, how can anyone be said to be educated and/or worthy of graduation? Straight A student? Meaningless without mandatory testing. Silly foreigner.
The ultimate tragedy: The Rotary Club and the school district are not restrained in any way. There is no federal or state law preventing their awarding of a diploma to this exceptional young man. They can do what they choose to do, and they are choosing to be empty-headed bureaucrats.
It may be worth our time to recall that since the fall of the Soviet empire, Poland has been one of America's greatest friends and supporters. They believe in our nation, its sense of generosity and fair play. I wonder what most Poles will think of this? I suspect they'll understand. After all, they lived under petty despots for decades.
Wow, Brenda, I have no idea how you could read what I wrote and then write what you wrote. Two Latin phrases come to mind: non sequitur and ad hominem.
My wife and I, both Hoosiers, hosted a foreign exchange student from Moldova 2 years ago and had the same experience. I *DO NOT* sympathize with this young man because he, like our student, was told the exact same thing. (1) You MIGHT NOT get your diploma, depending on the school system. (2) Upon asking (our student asked on her first visit to the school, when she was signing up for classes), told again that YOU WILL NOT get it, due to policies of the school.
This student (and ours) were told repeatedly that this is just not something that they do at their school. It's a RULE (you know, those annoying things we're SUPPOSED to live by?).
Our student was told, when signing up for classes, that if this was not what she wanted, she should cancel her trip and return home in time to spend her senior year with her peers. I don't doubt for a minute that this young man was told the same thing.
Our student, too, had straight A's and, indeed, pushed herself to get A+'s and do extra credit in the hopes that her good study skills would convince them to "change the rules" just for her. My wife and I thought that what she was doing was wrong, and told her so. There are rules in real life and we are expected to follow them, not to assume that they can be bent "just for us". I am surprised that some educators on this board seem to feel differently.
In the end, she whined, cried, kicked her feet and made a general nuisance of herself that the school board caved in, mainly to get rid of her. How eager do you think our school system will be to accept exchange students in the future? Good question....
To all those who believe this was the right decision:
I assume you also agree completely with the scenario that happened just a few weeks ago, posted on this blog, in which a young man discovered a pocketknife in his pocket just as his ride to school had left the parking lot. He walked straight to the office inside the front door and let them know he had forgotten it was in his pocket from whittling over the weekend. In return for doing the right thing and reporting it (he could have kept it hidden in the recesses of his pocket), he was immediately suspended and then expelled. After all, it was the rule. Bring a knife to school, get expelled.
You know, rules. Zero tolerance. No room for common sense. Or doing the right thing. Just rules. Yes, there are rules in real life. And hopefully, there are brains too, and not just mindless adherence to those rules.
Of course not. You're talking apples and oranges and you know it. Don't confuse "school policy" with "zero tolerance". The episode you refer to with the knife was taking zero tolerance to the extreme and was wrong. There's such a thing as "common sense" which doesn't exist in zero tolerance policies.
The current discussion topic has nothing to do with "zero tolerance", but simple rules that were created FOR exchange students. RULE: You will not get a diploma from our school. Seems pretty obvious to me.
I don't understand the rationale for the rule, and absent any good reason to *keep* the rule, I'd recommend it be gotten rid of.
But we do have to live with the rules as they exist, not as we wish them to be. If the student was, in fact, told about this rule, well....
I guess a trip across the stage and a "certificate of completion" wouldn't be a good compromise, huh?
Rules exist --particularly in schools--to ensure that reasonable, rational policies are carried out. Why? To further the ultimate mission of any school: Educating students. Of course, one might argue that the current ultimate mission of the schools is to generate high stakes test scores for state and federal educrats, but that's another post.
Of course, rules also help to ensure equal treatment, safety, due process, etc. But in the school setting, should we promulgate or retain rules that do not further the ultimate reason for having schools, indeed, for having rules?
In this case, it would seem that one would be hard pressed to demonstrate that this particular rule is in any way supporting or furthering the education of children.
And for those whose first reaction is to say "but rules are important and we have them for a reason," please try this thought experiment before responding: If you cannot think of a single utterly moronic, harmful, useless, and obstructive rule on your campus that you would, if you could, rescind in a heartbeat, then by all means, make the "rules are important" argument, and be thankful that you work on the single campus in this nation where education is the ultimate goal and nothing is allowed to intrude upon that process.
Zero tolerance has a different application but it is entirely the same philosophy.
It says here is our set of rules. You will follow them without deviation. And if you do deviate, then here is the punishment. No excuses. No thought process. No reasonable application. Just the rules.
That is exactly what happened in this diploma case.
Every statement in the preceeding paragraph applies to the diploma situation.
All it takes is a thinking human being, not overly attached to rules-for-the-sake-of-rules to stop for just one minute and realize that awarding this diploma creates no harm. None whatsoever.
And we DON'T have to live with rules in this country as they exist. We fight to change them all the time. What a mindless bunch of drones we'd be if we didn't fight for what we believed in. Maybe that's what wrong with this country anymore.
Julia,
The difference between this situation and your zero tolerance analogy is very clear.
In the zero tolerance stories--like the one about the student who turned a knife into the office and got suspended/expelled--the rule was carried out to an extreme, stupid, illogical conclusion. In this case with the foreign exchange student, the rule was applied *exactly* as it was intended to be applied.
Yes, we have bad rules. But I recommend we live with them until they are changed legitimately. Not enforcing rules breeds contempt for all rules, a recipe for nothing good.
I still like my compromise.
No one rational argues for ignoring rules--in effect, for anarchy. But we give officials such as principals and superintendents salaries far about the imagining of mere mortal teachers because we also give them the discretion to make decisions about rules. They can, at will, exercise that discretion and bend break or completely disregard a given rule. One would hope that they do so keeping in mind the ultimate goal of all schools and with good will, but the fact remains that they have this discretion.
This issue comes down to whether, considing the goals of schools, discretion is being properly used. It is not.
My only question in all of this is what about all of the other exchange students that have passed through the Mitchell Community School System and so many other systems that have not recieved their diploma because of this same rule, or some version of it? Do we now send those people diplomas who didn't recieve them because of this rule?
I'm not saying that this boy doesn't deserve a diploma, and I'm not say that using precedent is always the way to go, but I haven't seen anyone that has posted about what has happened in the past. Our court system uses past rulings to interpret the laws every day, so why is everyone crying punishment when the same thing has happened in this school system?
I would like to stress that this boy is not being punished for doing a good job. He was told, on several occasions, that he MIGHT recieve a diploma, which means, also, he MIGHT NOT recieve a diploma.
I think that it is great that this boy applied himself and experienced all that an American high school has to offer a student. I'm sure that his life will be richer for the experience that he has recieved by coming to America. He has recieved a VALUABLE experience that MOST of the world will never recieve. Yes, he may now be a year behind, but that was an inherent possibility implied by the word MIGHT.
I want to stress a couple of things here real quick. I have thought many times that I could buck the system and have the rules changed just for me based on my performance alone. When I went though the public school system here in Indiana I was an A+ student. I graduated from my high school with a 4.187 GPA. I worked VERY hard for my grades. I also worked 25+ hours a week for the last two years of my high school experience. Many times I got what I wanted from teachers (and administrators) based sheerly on my performance. I was granted many privledges that other students never had the oppurtunity to recieve because they weren't exceptional performers. There was however a rude awakening when I finally got to the real world, where the rules do apply to everyone, no matter how idiotic they may be.
So here's my point.... yeah, he passed the GQE (which, by all real standards a 7th grader should be able to pass) and he participated in extracirricular activites and he was a straight A student. Great for him! I'm sure any worthwhile university here or in Europe would see his experience here and his ability to do so well in country that speaks a different language as an excellent candidate for higher education. Sure, he may be set back a year, but he can easily shave a year off in college by working through the summer, and age at graduation gets shuffled around a lot in college. He recieved wonderful life experience and has done something 95% of his peers will never do in lieu of recieveing a diploma. He should be HAPPY that he was able to recieve the experience, not angry because the negative side of the MIGHT was what came to pass. The administration may have messed up, but I don't think it wrong of them to make a decision that is more than likely based on what the school system has done in the past.
Hallo, My name is Filip Lempa and I am the student this article is about.
First of all, I would like to thank all the people who commented on my case and were willing to protest and help me in other ways. I truly need your help. I also would like to thank the people who said that I do not have a right cause to defend my case. You emphasized some points that were not presented in the article and need my explanation.
As mentioned above, I indeed need your help, in any way that you can offer it. It is very hard for me to get help in my issue. As my host mother mentioned, when people hear about my case, they say "Oh, that's really bad, but there's nothing I can do".
Now, to clarify a couple of things:
Before coming here, the Rotary in POLAND told the outbound students that it is possible for them to get a diploma, and that in the past some exchange students have been granted one. It all depends on the school.
At the moment, my school friend from Poland spends her exchange year in Vermont. She is my age, she is a great friend and a bright student. She, however, does not have to think about the diploma issue at all. Her High School told her at the beginning of the year after looking at her transcripts from Poland: "Take the required courses, do a senior project and you will be given with a diploma". Also, my Polish friend from School was a last year exchange student in Pennsylvania. He was given a diploma although he has been in school for only 11 years including his American School year!
So as you see, it all depends, and I believe that if I meet the requirements, I should be given a diploma.
"I am proud of him for doing well, but he has not completed the requirements of that school or other American High Schools"
wrong, I completed them.
"He says that he was told earning a diploma could be "possible", which is probably the main communication problem here. Americans often say things "might" happen when we know darn well there is a very slim chance. To Europeans, saying it's possible means it is somehow possible."
As you can see on my examples, there was not a misunderstanding about that issue.
"Sorry kiddo. I don't think this means he can't go to an American college if he wants to apply."
If I wanted to go to an American college there would be no issue. I would have taken the GED test and would attend college here. However, I feel that my country needs me and I do not want to be another young person who could have done something for his/her own country, but is living somewhere else in order to improve his/her standard of living and make more money.
The diploma would give me a way to go to college in Poland right away, whereas the GED is likely not to be accepted by Polish authorities.
"Yes, but did he pass a mandatory, high stakes test? Without that, how can anyone be said to be educated and/or worthy of graduation? Straight A student? Meaningless without mandatory testing. Silly foreigner."
I passed the GQE which is the only test that an Indiana High School student has to pass in order to graduate. Please read carefully.
Yours: "Silly foreigner" 
You have to understand that I do not want to change the rules, I am just asking for an exception in this case. What is not fair is that the principal told me that he would look into my issue and make a decision whether or not I should be given a diploma. I was to provide him with some Polish documents translated by a court-verified translator. In the process of doing that he gave me a "NO" answer without a fair reason. I truly do not believe that was right.
You have to forgive me if my writing was vague or contained mistakes. It is 12;11 now in Lawrence county and I'm exhausted after a day of school and a track meet. I could not however, put off writing my comment here because finding it an hour ago I was just amazed by the reaction of you all and felt that I have to answer without waiting.
Please, if you believe that I am right in what I am doing help me.
Filip Lempa;
filip_lempaNOSPAM@yahoo.de
You have to cut off the "NOSPAM" from my e-mail because I do not want to publish my exact e-mail address in order to avoid spam sending robots.
In both cases the "rules" - which are entirely self-made (by some organization or other, they are not "god-directed" - were "carried out to an extreme, stupid, illogical conclusion."
Hey, either you follow ALL rules all the time to the letter, OR you leave some room for a person in a position of power to engage a few brain cells.
One can't have it both ways.
I wish you luck. I believe you will be successful here in the USA or in Poland. Keep working to earn your university degree!
I think that the place where it all falls apart for the school, is that they (as I understand it) first said they would review the case, asked for the translated transcripts, and then changed their minds and said that they couldn't change their minds. That's plain illogical - why bother reviewing the case if they already knew the outcome. It really reminds me of what is called in the UK constructive dismissal: set impossible conditions, and fire the person because they couldn't meet them. In this case, say, demand court-approved Polish-to-English translations, (presumably hoping for a pass through expense) and then, although the translations where in fact forthcoming, refusing the promised review.
What I think is evident (at least from the newspaper article) is that people in authority acted in a dishonourable way... but that's my two euro-cents worth, of course.
I'm not sure what this would look like in Poland, but here in France, employers would certainly wonder about the fact that someone with apparent good results was "held back".
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