THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610120016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 37 lines
This newspaper recently reported that 15 Virginia Beach high-school seniors qualified for National Merit Scholarships this year. In a related article, Chelsea Clinton was reported to be a Merit Scholarship qualifier, as were 19 other students in her school alone! Do we have bad schools, dumb children, both or neither?
Virginia Beach is touted as having one of the best public-school systems in the nation - I believe that's true. I also believe our children's brains are the same size and quality as those in Chelsea's school. So, what's going on?
First, let's look at how these scholarships are awarded. They're based on PSAT scores. This is a lousy way to pick the recipients, since a great PSAT grade doesn't necessarily equate to a great student. Test-taking skills can be learned.
As I see it, there are four ways we can go:
1. We can do nothing and just accept the fact that high-priced private schools will always out-do ours.
2. We can find out exactly what they're doing and do the same.
3. We can all go our own way and pay private specialty schools to imbue our kids with the sacred secrets of test-taking tactics.
4. We can change the way these scholarships are awarded so that things like grades, class standing, course difficulty, extracurricular activities and community service are considered.
I like a two-tiered approach. For the short term, let's go with No. 2 so our kids can compete on an even playing field while we look for systemic fixes. No. 4 is the long-term solution. If the objective is to offer merit scholarships to the most deserving students in the nation, then it's time we did our homework.
PAUL S. GROSSGOLD
Virginia Beach, Sept. 28, 1996 by CNB