| Outsmarted |
11 August 2003
|
Teen-Ager Denied College Diploma on Grounds of Age
Daniel Lipsman has been cleared of educational abuse for denying his 15-year-old daughter, Angela, a
high school education. His defense was air-tight; the smart girl was taking college classes at Manhattan
Community College and had earned enough credits to get an associate degree. High school would have
been a waste of her time. Some bureaucrats thought otherwise and began preparing a criminal
prosecution. It wasn't the first time the "System" has failed to address the problems of the gifted, and it
won't be the last.
For non-American readers, young Ms. Lipsman's degree is a two-year diploma often awarded by junior
colleges and used by gain access by many to a four-year college in pursuit of a bachelor's degree. That a
fifteen-year-old managed this is certainly impressive. The sad part is that she cannot be given her degree
because the state requires proof that she finished high school -- an impossibility because she didn't begin
it. The Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED), diploma by examination, option does not work for her
either, since one must be 17 years old to sit the exam.
This being America, her father sued to get the rules overturned. "Justice" Bernard Malone of the Supreme Court in Albany ruled that she can't have her diploma since she was not "legally free" to skip high school.
Once the laughter at the ridiculous situation subsides, the very real problem of the gifted student in an
assembly-line educational system remains. If a child whose IQ is 30 points below average, at 70, goes to
an American public school, there are programs and special assistance ordered both by legislation and
judicial fiat. If a child whose IQ is 30 above average, 130, goes to that same school, he gets no guarantees
that his situation will ever be addressed. Insufficient accelerated classes are offered, fewer still mandated,
almost none adequately funded. While not discounting the needs of the less talented, who is more likely
to benefit society?
The word "talented" is the key, because there are many gifts unevenly shared. Academic brilliance is but
one of them. Musical prodigies, athletes, mechanical wizards and the like all need their talents honed.
However, music programs are dying, shop classes are places to park the trouble-makers, and even athletic
programs are suffering cuts. One size does not fit all in education, and the most talented of America's
youth are being wasted. At least, Mr. Daniel Lipsman won't go to jail for trying to stop it, but Justice Malone has just committed a crime for which no punishment exists on the books -- stupidity from the bench.
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