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Kleenex worth extra credit
for some California teachers
Under a budget crunch,
high school students are
bringing in school supplies
for points in California
By Nicole C. Wong
Knight Ridder Newspapers(KRT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In California,
Palo Alto High's budget is so tight
that Sonia Ferrandiz-Bodoffs Ger
man teacher offers three extra credit
points to any student who brings a
box of tissues to class. In Cupertino,
Calif., science teacher Katheryn
McElwee gives her Monta Vista High
students five points for a roll of pa
per towels.
Even English teachers at Harker, a
private school in San Jose, Calif.,
that charges up to $21,000 a year in
tuition, have resorted to awarding
extra points for school supplies.
"The teachers are pretty desperate,
and so are we," said Sonia, a fresh
man.
With school budgets shriveling,
teachers are enticing students to
help stock the supply shelves in ex
change for extra credit. In some cas
es, the tissue-box bonus can bump a
B-plus to an A-minus, but other
teachers say it has almost no impact
on a student's final grade. Either
way, some education leaders say any
credit for Kleenex undermines the
grading system.
"It's absurd," said Buzz Bartlett,
president of the Council for Basic
Education, a Washington, D.C.
based nonprofit group that advo
cates for high academic standards in
public schools. It sends the message
that "grades are not a reflection of
the quality of your school work."
The California Department of Ed
ucation does not provide guidelines
on awarding extra credit. And prin
cipals often don't know what teach
ers are rewarding with bonus points.
Some teachers add a point to a
student's participation grade for
bringing supplies. Others tack on
five points to the final exam score.
Many set limits on how much extra
credit a student can earn. Teachers
offer different explanations on how
the extra credit can impact a stu
dent's final grade.
"If they are on the border, it
might help them out," said Eliza
beth Brimhall, a Palo Alto High sci
ence teacher who awards a maxi
mum of five points extra credit for
one box of tissue.
But Palo Alto High math teacher
Ellie Slack said the five points she of
fers for tissue — equivalent to one
homework assignment in a class
that rolls out about 90 assignments
each semester — is less than 0.5 per
cent of a student's grade. "Basically,"
she said, "you count it as zero."
Teachers who offer the incentive
say it's the easiest way to stock up on
often overlooked school necessities
— items that teachers regularly whip
out their own wallets to buy. One
San Francisco-area teacher says col
leagues who don't offer extra points
for supplies sometimes swipe tissue
boxes from those who do.
Having a steady supply of tissue
on hand for students — especially
during the allergy and cold seasons
— is smart from an academic stand
point, teachers say.
"Then you don't have to excuse
them from the room to get toilet pa
per from the bathroom," which
could mean missing 10 minutes of
class, said Slack, whose classes emp
ty two tissue boxes a week.
Tissue has become so coveted at
Palo Alto High that several teachers
stash their stockpiles in locked cabi
nets. Students are just as protective.
The side of each box displays the
name and class period of the tissue
box donor — written in large letters
so the teacher remembers who de
serves credit.
Tissue isn't the only item in short
supply. But it often gets neglected
when a science department, for ex
ample, puts lab supplies at the top
of its shopping list.
This year, Harker English teacher
Mark Mitchell went with the extra
credit option for tissue. Before that,
he resorted to another creative tactic.
"I used to steal them from the of
fice," Mitchell admitted, thinking
back a few years to when he taught
at King's Academy, a Sunnyvale,
Calif., private school.
Students often clamor for extra
credit, so offering points for ponying
up a box of Kleenex or Puffs is a sim
ple way to quiet them down.
"In the honors classes, they fly in"
because those students chase after
every single point, Palo Alto's Slack
said.
Honors student Kristy Iyama, a
senior at Campbell, Calif.'s West
mont High School, jumps at every
chance to bump her grades up a bit
by bringing in tissue boxes.
"When you get the opportunity,"
said Iyama, 18. "you definitely go
for it."
Iyama realized this arrangement
can put poorer students at a disad
vantage — especially when teachers
award more extra credit for expen
sive items, like markers for overhead
projectors and dry-erase boards.
Monta Vista teacher McElwee,
who often needs additional supplies*
for animal dissections in her biolo
gy and physiology classes, awards
five extra-credit points for tissue and
up to 15 extra-credit points for a box
of latex gloves, which costs more.
But she also invites students to
earn extra credit by writing two para
graphs on the importance of safety
during a science experiment, "in
case there are kids who want the ex
tra credit but don't have the money,"
she said.
"In six years of teaching, I've got
to tell you I think I've read two to
three of those papers — total,"
McElwee said. It's probably easier
for students to "just raid their mom's
pantry."
(c) 2004, San Jose Mercury News (San
Jose, Calif.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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