JOANNE JACOBS: A reform too far: Sorry, your kid’s only 67% of a ‘whole child.’

Thirty-ish years ago, I was invited to be on a panel at an event discussing a school district’s plans to add “whole-child” and “wellness” criteria to graduation requirements. They wanted graduates to be joyful learners and a bunch of other nice things. I said: “Imagine a student who’s unhappy, unhealthy, hates school — but he aces every class. Imagine denying this student a diploma because he’s not healthy and joyful.” A sort of groan went through the audience. “That’s right,” I said. “You wouldn’t do that. You couldn’t. So, don’t say something is a requirement if it’s not.”

The idea was dropped.

And now it’s back because government is where bad ideas go to achieve immortality.