To the Editor,

There the school system goes again, lowering the standards for students. That is really going to help our students gain a competitive edge, right?

I am a former valedictorian in high school so I know the importance of working to earn something. This new policy reminds me of some students in high school who had cars. You could tell which ones the parents had given cars to in contrast to those who worked for their cars. The gift car was treated badly. The earned car was treated with tender love and care. This analogy speaks for itself.

Some of the reasons given for the policy change do not hold water. Giving students longer in school to change their perspective on education does not work very well. It only disrupts the educational environment for others and lowers the morale of teachers.

If you talk with people who have turned their lives around, you will find that extra time was not the reason. It was some tragic event or profound failure in their life that encouraged the change. Letting these sleepy-head no-care students sit in class and be unemployed comedians only provides a platform to continue their trouble-making ways.

Is Robeson County ever going to realize that to make minimum wage requires no major skills. Just have a warm body. The students who perform at higher levels will be expected to supplement the lifestyles of those who were given what they have. Robeson will continue to be a dependency county with no economic growth.

The bottom line is that improved nonearned statistics lead to more “Georges” for all. The difference is that leaders of the school system will have paper “Georges” due to an illusion of improvements and the students will get metal “Georges” due to fact that they did not receive necessary skills to compete in the job market.

In conclusion, the big question is: Will a change in policy that makes our students less accountable be the recipe for a better life for them and their families in the future?

Severeo Kerns

Lumberton