The Preuss School won't help you get good grades but it will help you get into college.

And isn't that what's important. If there were two things that I would pass down to my younger cousins who are now entering college it would be these:

1. Major in whatever you want, just make sure you like it.
2. Don't worry about the grades, in fact, boo on grades, LEARN something.

Oh and 3. Never, ever, ever take a class at 8 in the morning.

The Preuss School is the UCSD charter school recently in the news for being named one of the best high schools in America and then even more recently for possible grade tampering by teachers and administrators. The media was a rantin' and a ravin' about how sad and disappointing this whole thing was, you know, considering that they were supposed to be HELPING poor disadvantaged kids and not making a mockery of their transcripts. Voice of San Diego takes a moment to explore why this isn't as big a deal and everyone thinks it is, and why they've known all along that this is the way the school seems to work.

What the university's own research tells us is that the Preuss School's most important work -- and this is indeed important -- has been in helping its students take the necessary classes that leave them qualified to apply to a University of California or California State University campus. It also requires all them to apply to college, and helps them submit winning applications.What it doesn't appear to do is make students any more prepared for standardized tests, or help them get better grades.

So kids that might not normally head off to college are now heading off to college and kids that might normally explore high level classes are exploring high level classes and we're upset? You know, and this is not to make light of the situation (what me? make light?) but I don't really remember my teachers being so invested in MY grades that they would be willing to doctor the outcome. So way to be dedicated teachers of Preuss School... better then those public school crazies who think they should get the same kind of dedication and activities and field trips, IN PUBLIC SCHOOL.

Um, so, we might as dumb as you thought we were.

On the heals of being ranked one of the Top 100 High Schools in America by US News and World Report, The Preuss School is under more scrutiny now that a newly released audit shows the principal and other employees encouraged teachers to inflate student grades. From KPBS:

University investigators conclude Preuss principal Doris Alvarez and a former school counselor knew full well that a large number of their students were given passing grades even though they were failing, and that students were also given credit for classes they didn't take.

Sign on San Diego is reporting that : In 72 percent of cases, grade changes improved a student's academic standing. In the remainder of cases, the inaccuracies had a negative or no impact, leaving officials to believe some changes may have been made because of human error or confusion over the school's grading software programs.

Na na na na na We're not as Dumb as you Thought we Were

From the LA Times:

In a first-ever ranking of high schools by U.S. News & World Report magazine -- best known for its influential, and controversial, ranking of colleges and universities -- 23 of the top 100 schools in the nation were from California, including 10 from the Los Angeles area. Also in the top 10 were the Oxford Academy, a college preparatory school in the Anaheim Union High School District that accepts students by examination, and the Preuss School, a charter school under the joint oversight of the San Diego Unified School District and UC San Diego.

So there! San Diego has a smarty school! They have smart people doing smart things being smart and loving the smart in life. Such good students.

The Preuss School is currently under a cloud because of allegations of grade-tampering, but that would not appear to affect its ranking, since U.S. News relied on standardized test scores, not grades.

Et Tu LA Times? You couldn't just NOT mention that for a minute while we celebrate, touche. TOU-CHE.