{"id":3165,"date":"2008-04-30T14:40:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-30T20:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/plan-to-tie-driving-to-school-performance-is-a-bad-one\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:47:17","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:47:17","slug":"plan-to-tie-driving-to-school-performance-is-a-bad-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/plan-to-tie-driving-to-school-performance-is-a-bad-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to tie driving to school performance is a bad one"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> announced last week his new plan<\/a> to tie eligibility for a driver\u2019s license to academic performance in grade school. It\u2019s the latest example of trying to force students to learn by threatening them with punishment instead of actually improving the educational system to encourage students to want to learn. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the main reason this is simply a bad idea.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll still have to be 16 to get a driver\u2019s license in New Mexico<\/st1:state> under Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s plan. Eighth graders will also have to demonstrate that they are at the level of \u201cnearing proficiency or proficiency\u201d on New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> standards. Ninth graders will have to have a 90-percent attendance rate to be eligible. Failing to meet either requirement will result in a six-month delay in license eligibility. Failing to meet both will result in a one-year delay.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In addition, teens who drop out of school before they\u2019re 16 will have to wait an additional year to get a license.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> called the unique program \u2013 there isn\u2019t currently one like it in the nation \u2013 a \u201ccreative way for us to continue improving graduation rates, classroom instruction and student and community involvement.\u201d He says he isn\u2019t sure whether he can unilaterally implement the new rules or whether he\u2019ll need legislative approval, but he\u2019s pledging that they\u2019ll be implemented next year either way.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What about those who have to miss class?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

One of the biggest problems with the federal No Child Left Behind Act<\/a> is that it punishes failing schools instead of giving them the tools they need to succeed. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s plan is similarly punitive: If you don\u2019t attend class and get good grades, you can\u2019t get a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What about those students whose families need them to take time away from studies to help pay the bills, those who need to drive to attend work? What about teen mothers who sometimes have to focus on issues that are more important than attending band class? What about teens with serious illnesses?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying families should push teens to work to help pay the bills, or that teens should get pregnant, but those are realities in our society. In a poor state like New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, they\u2019re more common than they are in some other places.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Those who have to miss class because of economic and other valid factors are going to miss regardless of the punishment. They\u2019ll drive anyway, and they\u2019ll do it illegally, because they have to drive. Some will get caught. Then they\u2019ll face the further burden of having to spend time and money dealing with the court system. Rather than helping them succeed, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s plan would further burden those overloaded teens.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> has worked to increase teacher pay in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. He has taken some other steps to try to improve the educational system. But so much more is needed. Many believe we need a complete shift in the focus of America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s educational system from test-based accountability to project-based, hands-on learning.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Fostering an appreciation of learning<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the job of parents to make sure that their kids are attending school and learning. Instead of taking that responsibility away from parents, the state should help ensure they have the tools they need to do a better job of parenting.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The state has already cracked down on parents who don\u2019t ensure their kids are in school. Kids already get in trouble for missing school. Neither punishment has done enough to reduce absenteeism.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s because punishment alone won\u2019t work. The state needs to increase its focus on reducing poverty, teen pregnancy and other factors that distract teens from learning. Most important, it needs to give kids an incentive to focus on education, not just punishment when they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Life is full of wonder. Our educational system should help foster an appreciation of that in our children. Learning can and should be enjoyable. The more the educational system focuses on test scores and taking away from schools and students who don\u2019t meet expectations, the less enjoyable learning will be.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What\u2019s next, requiring that college students who are 21 have to show a valid ID and a report card in order to buy a beer?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A version of this article was published today on the Diary of a Mad Voter<\/a> blog published by the Denver Post\u2019s Politics West<\/a> and the independent Web site NewWest.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Richardson announced last week his new plan to tie eligibility for a driver\u2019s license to academic performance in grade school. It\u2019s the latest example of trying to force students to learn by threatening them with punishment instead of actually improving the educational system to encourage students to want to learn. That\u2019s the main […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}