Teacher who wouldn’t raise grades gets reward

[carpro]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17874261/

Teacher who wouldn’t raise grades gets reward

School district must pay $1.4 million after it suspended, demoted her

BATON ROUGE, La. - A Louisiana school system must pay more than $1.4 million to an English teacher who was suspended and demoted after refusing to change the D’s and F’s she gave to 70 percent of her students, a federal jury has found.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

As a former government school teacher, I can tell you first hand that you would be amazed at the pressure on teachers to inflate grades.

 

[Scarlett O.]

As a former government school teacher, I can tell you first hand that you would be amazed at the pressure on teachers to inflate grades.

And unfortunately, it is no different in Christian schools. I've been at two of them in the last five years seen it all.

And my co-teacher was at a third one for four years before coming here.

Just last week, one of my 6th grade boys who had been making bad grades due to sheer negligence was threatened by the "Coach" that if it did not make a "B" on his Bible test that he would not play in the big game. I was informed about it about two hours before the test.

EVERY kid in my class wanted to tutor him for the test. I said that ONE of them could work with him at recess. I choose his closest friend and brightest student. They worked very hard.

But he had NOT worked hard for the past 6 six day. He is capable - he has made "B's" for me before, especially in math - he just is rebellious and won't do it many, many times.

I did not want to be the bad guy and I answered every question that he had when he took the test. I basically gave him three answers, I "helped" him so much.

He made a D. I had to give it to him. I omitted one whole section of the test and helped him. What was I supposed to do? He had not done the work required to master the material. The coach wanted to see the paper. The boy didn't play that night.

And I was indeed the bad guy.......I wasn't the most popular teacher last Thursday. Neither the coach nor his mother were my best friends that day.

It's hard to stand your ground - Public, private, or Christian school - sports is king. It pulls in money - and in private and Christian schools, sports pulls in more students, ergo, more tuition monies and more attention for the school.

It's hard.

 

[menageriekeeper]

I think sports should be banned from schools. Let the districts have public leagues that are open to all students, no matter how they are educated and let school be a place of learning!

 

[Salty]

...And I was indeed the bad guy.......I wasn't the most popular teacher last Thursday. Neither the coach nor his mother .

Scarlett, you have my respect! :thumbsup: :saint: :thumbs:

 

[Benjamin]

I think sports should be banned from schools. Let the districts have public leagues that are open to all students, no matter how they are educated and let school be a place of learning!

Boy, we differ on that one; I think sports should be a mandatory requirement of the learning process. We just had a major voting battle here about taking away ALL the funding for sports and arts...the bad guys lost!

 

[menageriekeeper]

Okay, tell this bad guy what is accomplished by making sports mandatory?

What are you going to do with those students who aren't talented athletically, whose athletic talents lean toward say karate or curling and not football or basketball?

What about disabled children? How are you going to incorporate organized sports into their lives (though my community, not school, community has an excellant program that does just that)?

Come on, support your position!

 

[Salty]

Boy, we differ on that one; I think sports should be a mandatory requirement of the learning process. We just had a major voting battle here about taking away ALL the funding for sports and arts...the bad guys lost!

I think MK was talking about inter-scholastic sports - not intermaural.

I agree that all kids should be involved, and not necessarly the big three:

Swimming
Ice Hockey
Lacrosse

 

[Benjamin]

What are you going to do with those students who aren't talented athletically,...

Fixum!

What about disabled children?

I'd think of somethin; like organize something challenging they "CAN" do against their peers and makum work for the glory.



P.S.....MS. Don'tDrinkWater...!......

I gotta go now...maybe later. Derailing this guys tread anyway.

 

[menageriekeeper]

:laugh: It took me until I was 40 to learn my right hand from my left. I used to dribble with my right hand but bat with my left. (yes! I know different sports!) Don't you think my teachers tried to fix that?? :laugh:

But, you haven't explained why the schools should do this rather than the city or counties or just private organizations should.

Now I'm not talking about physical education in which sports are a part of the cirricullum. Like Salty said, I'm talking about interscholastic sports.

I could be persuaded that interscholastic sport miiiiiiight be an okay idea if just as much money was spend on academic, music and arts competitions. In our systems, children who want to compete in those types of activities have to provide their own funding, while everyone from the band to cheerleaders gets transported during school hours sometimes to basketball or football competitions.

I say school is for learning. Music and art might later provide a child with employment (end goal of educating right?), but in the vast majority of cases, sports will not benefit a child's future employment.

 

[preachinjesus]

I think sports should be banned from schools. Let the districts have public leagues that are open to all students, no matter how they are educated and let school be a place of learning!

On this (and I'm certain many other things) we agree! :thumbsup:

I'm tired of seeing our schools becoming a minor minor league developmental ground.

 

[preachinjesus]

BTW, I have never told my students I am giving them a grade...they always earn their grades.

Its interesting that there is so much pressure to inflate grades. I guess in order to make sure no child gets left behind we forgot to include not forgetting our educational standards to stay up to speed too. The unfortunate thing is that it develops an entitlement complex in kids. That is troublesome. Some people need to be left behind at times; failure has always been a better teacher for me than success.

 

[carpro]

I did not want to be the bad guy and I answered every question that he had when he took the test. I basically gave him three answers, I "helped" him so much.

He made a D. I had to give it to him. I omitted one whole section of the test and helped him. What was I supposed to do? He had not done the work required to master the material. The coach wanted to see the paper. The boy didn't play that night.

And I was indeed the bad guy.......I wasn't the most popular teacher last Thursday.

You're a good teacher. You went the extra mile, but the lazy guy had been lazy too long. Not your fault.

Stick to your guns. :thumbs:

He needs to learn his lesson now instead of later when it really matters.

 

[menageriekeeper]

I'm thinking it was the coach who had his bluff called, why should Scarlett be the fall guy?

Scarlett, you wanna borrow my rollin pin?

 

[Scarlett O.]

I'm thinking it was the coach who had his bluff called, why should Scarlett be the fall guy?

Scarlett, you wanna borrow my rollin pin?

My whole point is......and I know that I should be telling the coach this and not you all....

I just wish that he would come to the teachers at the beginning of every season and say something like, "OK, it's basketball season - do you have any of my players who are struggling academically and need some help keeping their grades up so that they can play?"

This way - we could make out a plan together. But that just isn't how it happens.

I know for a fact that he was mad at this boy. He had spanked him twice for various and serious infractions in the past two weeks. He is tired of disciplining him.

I can't say this for certainty, but I think he wanted the boy to have to sit out and he put the monkey on MY back at the last minute. He didn't ask to see anyone else's grades nor test papers.

We need a policy about this at my school, but it's so difficult for the teachers to go to the administration about anything.

It's a good school, really. I like it there. Children have been saved. And I like to see the students get to have out-of-the-classroom activities.

We just need a better plan.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Just last week, one of my 6th grade boys who had been making bad grades due to sheer negligence was threatened by the "Coach" that if it did not make a "B" on his Bible test that he would not play in the big game. I was informed about it about two hours before the test.

To which my response would be, "Well, you've got two hours. Better get to studying."

I faced similar situations. Actually, my situation was compounded because I was the baseball coach and the defensive coordinator for the football team.

One of the colleges where I taught (where my mother still teaches) was notorious for having basketball players who were rubber stamped in their classes, just so that they could play basketball. They couldn't read at a third grade level, but boy, could they play basketball.

I was never pressured to pass them, but my mother was. It was strongly suggested to her that it would be in her best interests to see that they passed.

She refused and so the coach and the team trashed her to the whole campus. Then, we got a new coach who was also a teacher and he was a big believer in the idea of academics first, then sports. He forfeited half a season because the basketball team couldn't pass their classes. He ended up being a hero.

And I was indeed the bad guy.......I wasn't the most popular teacher last Thursday. Neither the coach nor his mother were my best friends that day.

Then he shouldn't be coaching children.