Louisiana 'career diploma' bill is a cynical sham- "A Pity Prize"
by Jarvis DeBerry - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

"In the abundance of water," the reggae legend Bob Marley sang, "the fool is thirsty."

Imagine, then, the consequences of an abundance of fools. If they're in the Louisiana Legislature and making education policy, they will foment an epidemic of thirst for years to come.

The state's lawmakers -- in cahoots with a derelict state board of education, self-interested teacher unions and school boards and a governor who ought to be ashamed of himself -- are abdicating their responsibility to make the state's high school diplomas mean something. They are, instead, about to create an attendance award and pass it off as if it signifies something other than the state's low opinion of the recipients.

In true Orwellian fashion, the document the state's lawmakers are crafting will be called a "career diploma," an apparent shorthand for "no career will be had with this pretend diploma." It will be given to (inflicted upon?) students who never get the hang of the material taught in eighth grade, but who hang around four more years for a pity prize.