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Subscribe to RSSHigh school students in Maryland have received diplomas in which the word "program" was misspelled. WRC-TV's Jackie Bensen reports.
The thousands of high school graduates in Prince George's County, Md., have completed all their studies, but they don't have an official diploma to prove it.
A spelling error marred at least 8,000 high school diplomas that were distributed last week, officials from Prince George's County, Maryland's second-largest school district, said. Students received diplomas that stated they had completed the approved "progam" of study.
The missing "r" was discovered after commencement exercises had already begun.
“We apologized for any inconvenience or disappointment this may have caused our students,” Briant Coleman, spokesman for the Prince George’s County Schools, told msnbc.com on Thursday. “Our students have been disappointed and at the same time are relieved that they will be getting their new diplomas soon.”
Prince George’s County, located outside of Washington, D.C., has 23 high schools, Coleman said.
The mistake resulted from vendor error, he said.
The printing company issued an apology, saying it would cover the costs for reprints. “We understand the value of your hard work and achievement; therefore we are reprinting your diploma,” read a statement from National Quality Products, NBCWashington.com reported.
Terrence Odom, 18, who graduated on May 30 from Oxon Hill High School, said he was disappointed by the typo.
“I would think it would be somebody’s job to proof and reproof again, especially with something that serious,” Odom told The Washington Post. “We were all excited to get our diplomas. Now we have to wait to get the official one.”
Coleman said the diplomas should be in the mail later this month.
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shcool
I can't believe they made that eror.
I can. It's easy to do. You'd need several people proofreading the diplomas to catch such a minor spelling error. That's the kind that blends in really well.
I'm guessing next time they'll have more than just the secretary do it!
Nope probably just relied on a computer typeset program with no spellcheck. That is what happens when you dont spillcheck. Opps did I misspell a word? HAHAHAHA. Another milestone for our education system.
I don't know how many times I have looked at a word that I know and it's mispelled and my mind doesn't pick up on it. Honest mistake. The printers are going to make it right. By the way how many mistakes do you think the grads will make graduation night.
Meanwhile back to the chant on the picket line for more pay, more vacation time, less class sizes, less working hours, and more pension benefits for school administrators, teachers, and support staff.....all together now.....
"It is for the children".....again....."It is for the children".....hmmm
Makes one wonder what goes on IN the classrooms.
Ido,
so you're advocating for more ignorants students ?
This was just the result of the educational budget cuts. An 'r' can be costly, especially 8,000 Rs. Imagine if a contestant was to buy an 'R' 8,000 times, even if that contestant won, he/she be going home owing money to Pat Sajak.
You'd think MSNBC would at least proof read this article. Students received with diplomas.... Really!
Well it will be an expensive mistake for an "r". The printing company will love it if in fact they were not at fault for the error. If they were, I guess they get that financial hit to redo.
I can believe they made that error. I see glaring mistakes all the time on many documents nowadays. There are far more errors today than ever before and I think it's because people just don't care about what they're doing. There's shoddy workmanship everywhere you look and this should come as no surprise to anyone.
Better "progam" than pogrom.
ldo,
I can attest to the fact that most teachers are extremely competent. My wife teaches in the Maryland School system, which by the way, has been number one in the country for many years running. Perhaps this mistake is because the administration is too busy trying to ameliorate the various problems kids face at home and they had to hand it off to someone else. Amazingly, this was just a simple error but you want to make it about teacher incompetency? F' that you twit!
If my wife was paid by the hour and worked the hours she does, she would be making a lot more than I do. They are, for the most part, probably the most dedicated group of people you will find. Teachers have to put up with crap from people like you who look at them and ask why their children aren't performing well. Alot of that has to do with the parents at home who either are or aren't engaged in their childs life. If you think it's easy teaching kids, go ahead and try. I doubt you would do it for a living let alone last a single day. How would you teach a child who is living with grandparents who just don't have the initiative to invest time in the kids life? Too often society asks the teachers to bridge that gap but - NEWS FLASH - they can't. If the parents are absent, the kid really has the odds stacked against them. And the teachers have to put up with all of this and still maintain their education and achieve a Masters degree which they, for the most part, pay out of their salary.
So ldo, next time you want to bag off about teachers, how about walking in their shoes? Like worrying that a parent is going to get you fired by threatening a lawsuit. Or maybe a kid tells a teacher that another teacher touched them inappropriately when in fact its a figment of their imagination? Or maybe a kid gets injured on the playground and the parent says the teacher wasn't paying attention to their hyperactive kid and wants retribution? Or maybe you have to put up with intrusive parents? Teachers face many obstacles in a days work. I would say the biggest one is parents who have no clue how to manage their lives let alone bring up a set of kids. So ldo, go back to your life and leave the teaching to someone who knows how to do it.
God bless all the teachers in this country!
It's far easier to blame the teachers than to look at oneself and understand that a child's education is partly the schools responsibility and partly the parents responsibility. I have run across less than adequate teachers, but for the most part I agree that most are very dedicated and hardworking. It is a thankless job and I applaud most of those that are willing to do it.
Outsourced.
Maryland republican....
Your response was anticipated. You did make some good points, however, your snippy comment to me was totally uncalled for and undermined your gracious comments about your wife.
I am amused at how many of you jump on the anti teacher bandwagon about this when in reality it was the printer that made the mistake . How many of you have asked for the printer to be fired because of their incompetence.
nah maryland repub, as a former resident I think you repubs that will soon lose pg county to the highly educated back persons want to make a statement. Pg county has been long known for its black violence near dc and its racism on the outskirts.
I believe the # 1 school system in the country is still Massachusetts, followed by Vermont. Believe Maryland is between 10-20. I lived in Maryland for many years. The system is not bad, but definitely not the best.
Looks like the proofreader for msnbc moonlighted for the diploma company.
The screwed up diploma was official also. What difference does it make anyway. If employers want proof of your level of education they want transcripts, not diplomas. The transcripts indicate if a diploma was awarded.
That's true. And how many teacher-bashers have missed that? It wasn't the government-run schools that made the mistake - it was the private sector company's mistake. Yet not a single one of these anti-teacher types had anything bad to say about the corporation.
No, it was Maryland that had the best school system in the US.
Yes they are. I taught for many years at a community college, and one season I was required to teach high school students that "had the potential but lacked the motivation". I never did that again. And sometimes, the parents really do care about their child's education and work with that child, but the child just doesn't give a damn. You can't legislate a child's desire to excel in school, and you can't legislate a parent's commitment to a child's education.
The situation is nearly unworkable, but putting all the blame on teachers is just dishonest. Teachers are underpaid, period.
The printer ("National Quality Products") might consider changing their name.
Love their motto........"Spelling is Overrated"
gtouch - that motto should be "Spelling is Overated"
Perhaps policies have changed since I worked in a printing company in the 80's, but we NEVER EVER printed anything until the customer had signed off on it's correctness. Luckily for the company in question, the run is only 8000 sheets and not 80,000!
its, not it's...please correct and re-post for further review and sign-off.
this wasn't a mistake, as a former resident, I know pg county southern whites take racism seriously
It's the sign of a small mind that can spell a word but one way.
Proofreading has long been a thing of the past.
Maybe, but how hard is it to spell check?
I've been a reader all my life and it's been a rare occasion when I find a magazine, book, government publication or article that doesn't contain spelling errors. There's really no excuse for it.
That is untrue. We have a department that does nothing but proofread reports before they become final and go to the client. Maybe we are just a company that doesn't want to look stupid and lose business.
It was probably more of a typo than a spelling error, easy to do on a computer keyboard. One would have to wonder how many people at the printers didn't see it plus how many in the school district. A proof copy was probably provided via computer to the school district and glossed over.
...you can't trust spell check. It's not nuanced enough to catch all the intricacies of the English language....and spelling does count.
I agree with you, Sichuan. It's like nobody even cares anymore.
Especially when you don't use it. Spellcheck helps with the spelling of a word - but not necessarily the word.
What difference does it make? Most of them can't spell anyway!
Or read.
Or write. (and, isn't that a pity)
To whom are all you referring? Fyi - Maryland was just ranked #1 in education for the third year in a row.
http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/pressrelease_details/2011_01_11
Racism is real in Maryland, visit south pg county, you will then understand.
But they feel good about themselves since they weren't made to feel inferior through testing. If is far better for a perspective employer to make assessments about their capabilities than for a teacher.
This is just a sign of what damage a public school system has created. Telling parents what school their child MUST go to regardless of which school the PARENT believes is in the best interest of their child, telling students you CAN'T mention "God", telling students you MUST read books like "Johnny has two mommies", telling students they MUST go to the nurses station to take an aspirin or use your emergency inhaler, telling students you MUST tell school officials when you are being bullied then when they do nothing and you protect yourself YOU are suspended or expelled, and so on. But if you want a condom or an abortion you can do that without parent consent.
And the result of this MASSIVE ever increasing public tax dollars for school education? Lower trend of grades, less people graduating, complete inability for kids to think for themselves, kids that have no idea what the Constitution means or how this country was founded, no idea of history or geography (since they only teach to whatever assessment exams are given), and diplomas with incorrect spelling.
Our public school is a total failure and any parent who allows their child to go to a public school system should be arrested for child endangerment and neglect. Save your money and send your child to a private school or homeschool your child. Don't let the government dictate what your child is NOT going to learn!! The government school system has failed. Teach your children yourself and make sure they learn what they NEED to learn to be successful (math, english, history, geography, ability to think for themselves) and don't let government push their agenda of religion is bad, conservatism is bad, and their sexual and gay agendas.
ProBusiness, way to take a simple printers error and turn it into an indictment of the entire public school system. You win today's award for "Typical Right-Wing Moron". Congratulations on this prestigious award and we hope you will enter again tomorrow since this kind of tripe will ensure you win consecutive awards!
No.. this is a sign of you being completely ignorant and over-analyzing somebody who made a typing mistake.
"DING, DING, DING, DING" .... Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner!
The coveted "Unabomber Manifesto of the Day Award" goes to .....
----Drum Roll ----
We have a repeat winner. Once again it's ... ProBusiness!!!!!!
Congratulations, "Here's your sign."
God thought it was funny. He/she has a great sense of humor...........look around at humanity.
Probusiness -
You're actually complaining about the public school system that found an error in the product provided by a business? Appears some are blinded by their own lack of logic.
This was a spelling error. Those happen all the time though I am surprised someone didn't use a spell check program on the first draft. My name has been misspelled on several documents. They should be happy someone found the error and could correct it. I have a diploma with Lanna hanging on the wall. This is a rather silly story.
'ProBusiness' wrote:
REPLY: ProBusiness, I have a question for you. If one simple spelling error, one letter of one word missing and not caught before printing the diplomas for one school is the expository evidence you present as proof for your indictment of American society and all of its government, political and social ills ....
...then what do you make of my expository evidence: the many thousands of schools which received diplomas without any spelling errors?
As the Greek philosopher said ...
"The world looks a lot different when you take your head out of your ass." Mediocrities (c.331 BCE)
Wow... that was quite the rant. I do hope you are feeling better now. Have a lie down did we?
I would just be curious to know... how a story about a typo (a missing "r" on diplomas) - probably laid out by a secretary who graduated during the time you speak of: when G-d was in our schools and condoms were something the government was handing out to our military - has anything to do with the story I just read?
I appreciate your strong opinion, because G-d knows, I have my own, but I just don't see how THIS story leads to that rant...
Peace to you and yours,
The ironic thing about your rant is that the error had nothing to do with the public school students and everything to do with the business that produced the diplomas, which may very well be run and/or staffed by graduates of a non-public school.
In the end it's a minor error that was probably missed by a myriad of people - those that produced the diploma, those that looked over the proof, and probably dozens of others who skimmed over the text or handled the diploma in some fashion. It is perfectly understandable, is being handled in a mature and appropriate manner, and maybe even it's a learning opportunity for all involved.
But you had to try to use it to support your rant. I truly don't think G-d is worrying a heck of a lot about a minor misspelling on a diploma. I would think G-d has larger things to worry about.
AG99 & Marc- If a secretary had proofed it, it would have been spelled correctly!
What a bunch of ignorant people in this forum. I make a statement about the decline in the public school system and finish it up with a reference to the misspelling of the diploma. It is called a "metaphor". You don't know what that means?
Of COURSE I was not saying the misspelling was the decline of the public school system and if you took it that way you confirmed your inability to think rationally or intelligently. The point I was making was the incredible decline of our school system.
You don't believe me? Just look at grade scores over the last 40 years.
You don't believe me? Just try to visit a school and see we now have to have armed guards and metal detectors.
You don't believe me? Just visit any fast food place and try to get the correct change if they enter the wrong amount given into the cash register and must calculate change.
You don't believe me? Talk to any Human Resources department and ask them if the "new graduates" know how to put together a resume, be able to have a telephone interview without the words "like", "you know", or "you know what I'm sayin", or know how to dress for an interview.
You don't believe me? Just look at states (like Florida) that have many more kids failing the FCAT test then expected and you know what Florida does? They lower the "minimum" amount needed to pass.
So all you unintelligent, irrational, and illogical people who are obviously educated at a public school and cannot think for yourselves let me be very clear (and maybe I need to write in crayon for you so you can actually read it) the misspelled word was simply a metaphor for a much bigger and larger problem. For all of you who criticized me focusing on ONLY the misspelled word congratulations - - you simply confirmed what is wrong with the very public school system I admonished. Maybe one day you will realize how the public school system has screwed you up and you will never reach your potential because you have been "educated" at a public school.
You don't believe me? Just look at states (like Florida) that have many more kids failing the FCAT test then expected and you know what Florida does? They lower the "minimum" amount needed to pass.
The word is: than
...but your point is well taken.
Served....
Love it vor-744944. I thought about reading his posts for errors, but his craziness hurt my simple mind. I am a product of public school.
'ProBusiness' wrote:
What a bunch of ignorant people in this forum. I make a statement about the decline in the public school system and finish it up with a reference to the misspelling of the diploma. It is called a "metaphor". You don't know what that means?
REPLY: ProBusiness, you need regulation (yes, that was a pun)
Try some milk of magnesia, and try to get a grip.
Oh, and here's a clue for you:
Rant, tirade, and angry, rambling manifestos ... are not "Metaphors"
I'm just sayin' ......
Actually, ProBusiness, the numbers of students taking advanced courses far exceeds the number from 40 years ago.
Of course, it's easy to speak in platitudes and conclude the sky is falling. The reality is much different, however.
And let me guess, you had to walk to school 5 miles uphill each way in the snow?
ProBusiness - I tend to agree with the ideas in your statements, but you picked a rather odd place to share them. Plus, the manner in which you did so does not lend credence to your statements, regardless of the truth behind them. Calm down buddy, and try to find a more suitable outlet for the anger you obviously feel at our public school system.
IsrJablonski - There is nothing typically right-wing about his post. While it does contain many conservative concerns the tone of the post is rife with liberal leanings. The emotion behind his words clearly indicates a person at the end of his tolerance for the left's habit of taking away our personal freedoms. This includes our child's ability to get a decent education. As I stated to him, this is hardly the appropiate place. This article is about a simple mistake that the printer is actively correcting and has nothing to do with our education system. Stop labeling all conservatives with such a wide brush.
Amen.
ProBusiness stated:
“What a bunch of ignorant people in this forum. I make a statement about the decline in the public school system and finish it up with a reference to the misspelling of the diploma. It is called a "metaphor". You don't know what that means?
Of COURSE I was not saying the misspelling was the decline of the public school system and if you took it that way you confirmed your inability to think rationally or intelligently. The point I was making was the incredible decline of our school system.”
A metaphor is a figure of speech that literally puts one idea in place of another to suggest a connection or a likeness...
Therefore, your post (because you used this story for the basis of your rant) would imply just that: that you were stating the misspelling was an example of the decline of the public school system.
Simply, what you wrote was a rant.
Nothing more, nothing less.
You took the opportunity to use a semi-humorous example of a “news” story and work it into your own private war on the things that you believe to be wrong. If I went on a rant about everything to which I find offense, I would never get anything done. I suggest a nice warm bath and a good book; it helps me a great deal.
One last point. Your ‘schoolyard’ name calling throughout your second post only shows your own lack of maturity. An intelligent argument does not need to resort to petty name-calling and finger pointing; it ultimately turns the argument against you.
I wish you peace in your journey, and hope that you can find some happiness amongst your obvious angst.
Probusiness, you must be another sheltered child like Romney who has not seen the real America, racism, etc.
this calls for Jale Time!
*tyem
To Chuckx: ...or Gaol Time. (Olde English) LOL
"Students received with diplomas that stated they had completed the approved "progam" of study."
I suggest MSNBC proofread their material.
Hollykb.... Engage your brain before you post. I'm NO MSNBC fan, but they were noting what the printing company mistake was. The error was not that of MSNBC.
MSNBC wrote the mistake in their story-look at the picture and you will see.
Thanks Hollykb - I wondered when someone was going to say that. Ahhh the irony!!!
XDm9mm,
Hollykb was pointing out the error "Students received with diplomas...".
Since MSNBC is striving for articles of 100 words or less, it should be easy to proofread and catch these mistakes.
I think Hollykb is pointing out that the word "with" doesn't belong in that sentence, which has nothing to do with the printing company's mistake.
Hollkb... AND EVERYONE ELSE...
My apologies... I was obviously focused on the "progam" and did not even see the grammatical error. I promise to engage MY brain before I post next time!!
MSNBC spells correctly (mostly)...they just slaughter with the ENGLISH Language (Often)!
Talk about the blind snitching on the blind. Was going to post that too.
It's not like this is isolated. It's hard to find any article the MSNBC staff writers produce that doesn't have some sort of grammatical error.
What do you expect when they have outsourced journalism? It's not just your credit card statement and internet support being produced in a third world country.
My husband's name is Brian.
You guessed it. His college diploma read, "Brain."
We got the revised one & kept the other one :-)
LOL I have a good friend who's name is Brian and mispell his name Brain all the time in texts and e-mails.
That sort of things happens all the time with comic books, baseball cards, etc.... But the mistake makes the item's value jump considerably.
When my nephew was born, my brother was warned by his wife to check the spelling on their son's birth certificate. He was so proud that he had - "Brain" for a middle name. The nurse screwed it up and he verified it as accurate.
I work in printing and I am sure the school district singed off on the final proof. That is how it works.
Singed? They burned the final proof?
Let me guess, Intimidator.. You're the proofreader for NQP, right?
Ultimately, whoever signed off on the proof is indeed responsible. I think printers misspell for giggles...
Our Company has a lovely sign on the wall with the word "Introducting"....
Hope you're not the proofreader. But I could see the school district doing a sing off.
And when they were done it was a signed off.
People are human and they make mistakes. Who seriously hasn't reread something to make sure there are no mistakes, and then realized you still made a mistake. At least the printer company is covering the costs. That's just smart busness.
I re-read all the time. ...and usually catch my errors.
Please tell me that was on purpose.
But if a person lost their job over the typo it's probably someone from the printing company.
I've been in printing since the late seventies and have seen some incredible typos. One was for secondary education that had kids using 1 foot square blocks to build a road. So many blocks wide and so far equals how many blocks used. Well the next question set the road length and how wide and asked how many BLACKS would it take to build the road. I called the people upstairs about it and the were very thankful I found it before printing. The worst part was they had downloaded from another site, so the typo was in the websites area. Also I check when somebody says something like there is a meeting Friday the 8th or something. You would be surprised how many times the 8th is a Thursday or Saturday. Another pet peeve of mine is misspelled words on store marquee's.
or apostrophes used when they are not needed.
Nice. LOL
@ Paul... That's my biggest pet peeve. I've noticed that superfluous apostrophes are everywhere nowadays and I have no idea why. Its misuse wasn't nearly as prominent say, 20 years ago, as it is today.
To Robert Duckworth:
No apostrophe needed on "marquees", dude . . . but I appreciate (and agree with) your rant nonetheless . . .
While errors do happen, I found it interesting that the printing company (at least according to what was posted) noted;
Would they expect PG County to pay for a reprinting of a defective product received? However, I didn't see an apology to the students or taxpayers for the error. Of course the entire letter(?) received from the printer wasn't posted, so there might very well have been an apology, and if there was, I apologize to the printer.
From paragraph 7, just above the sentence you quoted.
Wow, I'm impressed almost 20 comments and no one has put the blame on President Bush or President Obama yet!!! However, I do some blame put on MSNBC - not sure how that works!!!??!!!
"I do some blame"
So where do you get your blame? I would like me some blame, too.
And Maryland is supposed to have one of the best education systems in the country! So very pathetic!
What does Maryland have to do with the printers' mistake?
Well, the employees probably graduated from a Maryland school. It's a stretch, but hey.
“I would think it would be somebody’s job to proof and reproof again, especially with something that serious,” Odom told The Washington Post. “We were all excited to get our diplomas. Now we have to wait to get the official one.”
Oh, quit your whining--the typo diploma will probably be a collectors item some day!
l
I'll bet that the employee at the printing company who made the mistake was an Affirmative Action alumni of the Maryland school system.
Go ahead and axe him.
Or a bagger.
I'll bet you were a casualty of the Affirmative Action. Bitter much?
I guess it's time for the kids to grow up and realize everyone makes mistakes. Don't take it to seriously and let it ruin the achievement. They are getting new ones and still had the ceremony so it's not like it isn't getting fixed. Why is this even news for heavens sake!
Stoneyend01...........Wow, I'm impressed almost 20 comments and no one has put the blame on President Bush or President Obama yet!!!
I think Bush 2 and Obama should both shoulder the blame for this printing error they should give up all things pertaining to life and proofread every document printed. "sarcasm intended"
Outsourced to India?
Them teachers must have learned them kids good so they could gradgeate hi skool.
Unfortunately, that's the way it is today in "Amercia".
Almost as funny as the recent story about the misprinted diplomas awarded to the university graduates of some School of Pubic Health.
Don't be so crabby about that.
I think we've just scratched the surface of this problem.
That'll teach the Prince Georges County school system to contract a bush league printer.
I understand that the printing company employee almost lost his job over this mistake, but they decided to give him a break. It was a close shave, though.
Please forgive me...
Spellchecker. Learn it. LIVE it.
....but verify it, too.