Nov. 14 Daily News editorial

A charitable spirit

Thumbs up to the many charitable youngsters who ignored their sweet tooth and handed their Halloween candy over to Happy Kids Dentistry for eventual shipment to troops serving overseas. One hundred and thirty-two kids took advantage of the dental office’s $1 per pound of candy buyback offer.

The kids brought 500 pounds of treats to the Longview dental office of Dr. Hani Eid, according to Daily News reporter Brenda Blevins McCorkle. Office manager Meke Johnson told McCorkle that it was more than expected. But no one’s complaining. The office gladly awarded each kid a toothbrush, coupon for a free meal at Applebee’s and the dollar for every pound of candy turned in. Johnson said some of the kids handed their dollar right back to help pay the cost of boxing and shipping the candy.

Pay-to-pass a bad idea

Thumbs down: Unlike the candy buyback, there’s not much good that can be said about a Goldsboro, N.C., middle school’s “out-of-the-box” fundraising idea following a disappointing chocolate sale. According to The News & Observer of Raleigh, a parent advisory council at Rosewood Middle School took it back to the basics with a plan to sell higher test scores. Students can buy 20 test points for $20. They then can add 10 extra points to each of two tests of their choice, raising their scores by a letter grade or turning a failing score into a passing score.

Clever? North Carolina Department of Public instruction didn’t think so. They say exchanging higher grades for cash sends the wrong message to young students. School district officials apparently agreed. They ended the fundraiser Thursday and the school principal who had approved it resigned.

Disappointing grades

Thumbs down: We're not sure exactly how much to make of the report card Washington education received last week from the Center for American Progress. But it’s not one we’d be happy to take home. Overall, the center’s Leaders and Laggards report ranked Washington 37th — deep into the bottom half of the class — in terms of educational innovation.

According to Live Finne, director for education at the Washington Policy Center, the state received a D in school management, C in school finance, B in hiring and evaluation of staff, D in removing ineffective teachers, B in data, B in pipeline to postsecondary and D in technology. That says Washington schools are good at keeping records and evaluating talent, average in funding and poor at staying current on technology and getting rid of the deadwood. Not an encouraging picture on the whole.

Bad news, good news

Thumbs sideways: It was a bit unsettling to learn that the state Children’s Administration, the agency that investigates child abuse, will take about a third of the social workers out of the Kelso branch office and send them elsewhere in the state. We don’t like the idea of having fewer professionals in this community watching out for at-risk kids. On the other hand, it’s some comfort to learn that Cowlitz County ranks behind a bunch of other counties in terms of child neglect and abuse.

State Department of Social and Health Services officials told Daily News reporter Tony Lystra that child abuse and neglect is more prevalent in King, Kitsap and Pierce counties and some Eastern Washington counties. And Children’s Administration officials insist that the transfers won’t put kids in Cowlitz County at any additional risk.

We prefer to view this glass as half full.