Addressing Biblical and Ethical Issues in School

In Baltimore, one high school is in the spotlight for having one of the highest graduation rates in the city while having no students proficient in math (Papst, 2017). This discovery was made by Project Baltimore and reveals information indicating that schools are changing the grades of students to enable them to graduate. The article by Papst (2017) describes how some teachers in the high school are shocked by the revelation while others are not surprised. One of the educators interviewed for the article identified “grade changing” as the reason for the high graduation rate in spite of zero proficiency in math scores.
Changing the grades of students is an unethical exercise that should not be promoted or allowed—yet in the current educational environment, schools are rewarded with federal funding for having good test records and/or graduation rates. The actual level of education that students are achieving is incidental and gets lost in such a climate. While this article surprised me, I always understood how the environment could come about. Schools are incentivized to boost their numbers to make themselves look better. That is a big problem, because it means educators and administrators are tempted to act unethically in order to obtain funding from the state and/or federal government.
The ethical issue involved here is the fact that teachers are lying about student performance. They are setting students up for future failure instead of helping them achieve knowledge there and then. They are passing the buck, so to speak, and that is a violation of a core ethical tenant in education. Teachers are responsible for fairly assessing student achievement—not for altering that output when it doesn’t match the desired outcome of the administration.
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The article by Kauffman and Khadaroo (2017) focuses on the role of educators in addressing issues that are divisive in the classroom. The central issue identified in the article were the recent events in Charlottesville, where protestors clashed over ideological reasons. Some educators felt that the reaction from the White House was inadequate in framing the events appropriately, so they felt a moral responsibility to address the issues in their own classroom with students.
From a Biblical perspective, Jesus teaches everyone to love his neighbor, and that is a value that educators should strive to stress in their classes. This is really the essence of the Golden Rule, and even if one does not identify as Christian, Our Lord promotes a value that everyone can recognize as morally good and just in and of itself. Loving one’s neighbor is the bedrock of community: values and social well-being are based on this precept.
The article attempts to juxtapose the issue by framing it as whether teachers have a moral imperative to address the issue or whether they are overreacting. This is not a very good way to frame it. It sets up a polarizing approach to the issue instead of one that cuts through the confusion and the ideological differences and gets to sublime ethical and Biblical lesson that educators should instead be embracing—namely that Our Lord has commanded us to love one another. In this light, there is no need to view oneself as overreacting or as doing one’s moral duty when one addresses the issue. Teaching students how to have a moral and ethical core that is based on the teachings of the Bible is what being a good educator is all about: it is about promoting the Golden Rule.
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The article by Helms (2017) highlights the issue among two charter schools in Charlotte: they are losing enrollment but are also receiving funds from taxpayers. The question about how the state should address free-market approaches to education and the regulation of charter schools is an ethical issue that administrators and educators must face along with parents.
The positive sides of charter schools are that they increase options for parents about where to send schools and the charter schools themselves often have a lot of support systems in place. However, Helms (2017) points out that there is also a downside to these schools, which is that funds can be grossly mismanaged and that the operators of these schools can often be too “cozy” with regulators, signaling some degree of corruption or cronyism in terms of how these schools obtain financing and meet regulatory standards.
From the ethical perspective of administrative responsibility, this issues is one that should raise awareness about how schools should be operated: they should not be there to be a for-profit institution but rather an institution that is in place to educate and provide students with the tools needed for success. The problem is that all too often institutions and organizations put profits before people and that creates all manner of corruption. People should come before profits and when that mindset is in place, it is easier for all stakeholders to promote and embrace the right kind of ethical values to enable everyone to succeed.
References
Helms, A. (2017). Ethics questions at two Charlotte-area sites highlight charter school
tensions. Charlotte Observer. Retrieved from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article165522657.html
Kauffman, G., Khadaroo, S. (2017). Education leaders consider: When should we speak
up about divisive issues? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from https://www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2017/0830/Education-leaders-consider-When-should-we-speak-up-about-divisive-issues
Papst, C. (2017). Teachers stunned by Project Baltimore discovery: “I don’t think it’s
possible.” Fox Baltimore. Retrieved from http://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/teachers-stunned-by-project-baltimore-discovery-i-dont-think-its-possible