Principal Orders Teacher To Change Lazy Student’s Grade Just Because Her Parents Work At School District, They Maliciously Comply
It’s really tough being a teacher, even without someone breathing down your neck. You work long hours, the pay usually isn’t stellar, and you have to manage the emotions and expectations of an entire classroom of future adults. With all the stress, it can sometimes feel like you’re never appreciated enough as an educator. And when someone tries to interfere with the grades you give out… well, hang on to your hats because that’s overstepping the line by a wide margin. There’s no space for corruption in the classroom.
Redditor u/yarntags, a new high school teacher at a rural school, went viral on r/MaliciousCompliance after sharing just how subjective and unfair things can be there. They explained how a student who barely put any effort into her work and was constantly late kept getting top marks in all her classes just because her parents worked in the school district.
Well, u/yarntags likes to be fair. That’s why they graded the lazy student’s work objectively. However, her parents and the principal called them in to complain and tried to pressure them into changing the mark. The OP complied to the letter, finding a creative way to let their feelings on the situation be known.
Scroll down for the full story, Pandas. When you’re done reading, share your thoughts on what happened in the comments. Meanwhile, tell us about the most (un)fair teachers you’ve come across. Have you ever run into any Minerva McGonagalls or Dolores Umbridges?
It’s unfair that well-connected students get better grades than they should. Alas! It really does happen
Image credits: Max Fischer (not the actual photo)
A high school teacher shared what they did when the principal pressured them to change an underperforming student’s grade
Image credits: Yan Krukov (not the actual photo)
Image credits: yarntags
Redditor u/yarntags post on r/MaliciousCompliance got 24k upvotes and started up a fiery discussion about objectivity when it comes to grades, student behavior, and parents who can’t deal with the fact that their precious little angel might not be so precious after all.
We definitely think that educators ought to be paid more if this is the type of work-related drama that they have to deal with. Something that the OP mentioned really caught our attention. They said that they totally got why the principal went along with the underperforming student’s parents’ demands—it was a small community and replacing two staff members would have been very difficult.
However, the principal got the message loud and clear after the redditor changed every single student’s grade to a 100, regardless of whether or not they actually turned in the assignment. No special treatment, right?
Moreover, the redditor shared how difficult it actually was to control the lazy student, who literally kept making out with her boyfriend in class. But after the whole grade change drama, they both got transferred out of OP’s class.
Recently, Bored Panda spoke about the interactions between parents and their kids’ teachers with blogger Samantha Scroggin from Walking Outside in Slippers. She said that it’s vital to build trust with one’s children so that we can get a broader picture of how they’re actually doing at school.
“I always try to maintain an open dialogue with my kids, but it doesn’t always work as well as I’d hoped. I think we can’t expect our kids to open up to us on our timeline and our terms. They have to share when and if they want to, and us parents showing a genuine interest in what’s going on in our kids’ lives sets the groundwork for when they’re ready to open up. Sometimes this can mean listening to them drone on about Pokemon and their friend drama at school,” she told us.
“I feel like it’s just as important for parents to have an open dialogue with our kids’ teachers at school to see how they’re doing. We can’t always rely on our kids for the full picture, but it’s important to take our kids’ perspective on school situations into perspective,” the parenting blogger told Bored Panda.
“I actually recently had an issue with my daughter’s first-grade teacher. She is an older teacher who is not very responsive via the school’s email system. Because communicating with her was so difficult, I told the principal at the end of the school year about my struggles with the teacher. I then requested a teacher for next year who I know to be very responsive. But I don’t think there is any right way to deal with school or teacher issues. I would defer to the parents to decide what is best for their child and situation,” she said.
A while back, Lisa McLendon, from the University of Kansas, told Bored Panda that it’s always nice for educators to see when their students flourish.
“I keep a folder of the handwritten notes I’ve received from students, telling me how they value what they learned from me or just thanks for being their teacher, and I read a couple when I have a bad day, to remind myself why I do this job,” the professor shared with us.
“Relating concepts and skills to real-world activities can help many students understand not just what they’re doing but why. Explaining the purpose of big-picture things like a whole course as well as small things like individual assignments can help students understand why what they’re doing is relevant. Also, putting concepts and skills into the larger field can help students contextualize what they’re doing and see how it relates to things they’ve done before and things they’ll be doing at the next level,” she shared how educators can help students learn better.
The OP shared some more of their thoughts in the comments of their post
Meanwhile, here’s how other internet users reacted to the story
First teaching job in China at a small private school in Beijing. Gave all students the grades they deserved and got told by the administrator that wasn't how it worked there. Parents paid for the grades they wanted and got what they paid for, children of those who didn't pay failed regardless of ability and effort. Very short stay there.
I got so mad reading your comment that I almost downvoted without thinking. Those poor students.
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Not a teacher but I used to tutor kids when I was in high school. My younger brother who was a star athlete was exactly like this kid. He knew people would hand him grades for doing nothing one way or another. He got one math teacher who wouldn't budge one year so my mother insisted I "tutor" him. By which she meant do the work for him to hand in. I was forced to do it or not get to do anything. Somehow the good student got punished. Doing both mine and his meant I had no more social life. I stayed up late doing both and eventually my grades started to slip. But my parents didn't care and focused on the golden boy. So I got mad and secretly slipping in "completed by Maple Porkly (not my real name)" into word problems. The teachers saw it of course and we had a meeting. I explained the situation and he had my brother expelled for cheating via a "fellow student" tip off. Parents never caught on it was me. His teacher even talked to mine & explained what happened to get my grades back up.
I wonder what would happen if the teacher told the class that someone (whose parents are favored by the principal) got their grade improved because the principal forced it... Might be a whole lot of other parents calling that principal making sure he didn't allow that again. The teacher would be scared of putting their job at risk but if you decide you are gonna quit anyway it might be interesting to see the fallout.
This is exactly why in the UK we have nationally-set standards for assessing learning, and our exam boards are independent organizations, and we have a government regulator which arrives unannounced at any time they want to inspect any school they suspect is not performing well. When I was doing my masters in education in the mid 2000s I was lucky enough to do a teaching placement in the USA. The absolutely dire quality of teaching there in comparison to the UK really shocked me. It wouldn't surprise me if their local politics and corruption also played a part in teaching over there too.
The public school education in the US can very wildly in the US. I’m married to a former Teacher of the Year and a school principal and the difference in the district she taught in and the one we live in are like night and day. One district over 90% of graduates go to elite universities and the other maybe 20%. Not surprisingly the well funded district whose parents all went to college had much better test results.
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At my school (a private one), the administration watered down the grading scale so that the lowest passing grade went from a 70% to a 60% and adjusted the other grade ranges in line with this. They did this to accommodate the rich kids who refused to try. The teachers who cared about standards just increased the difficulty of their tests by 1/6. Increase 60% by 1/6, and you get 70%.
A 60% passing cut off is standard across the US though? A D is not an F.
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Yep, my boyfriend in high-school was a teacher's son and she would feed him how to do assignments. He had no work ethic. She didn't like him dating poor single mother me (it was also a small town) and eventually went to the guidance councillor to slander me to try to break us up since we were planning on going to the same university. Last I know is he ended-up dropping out because she didn't know how to do the course work for him there.
As a retired teacher, what happened to this teacher is a reality. We live in a world where students are being taught that they can wait until the last minute to turn in work AND still get decent grades, as well as turn in garbage work and expect a decent grade. I retired early because I was just tired of fighting lazy students, rude parents and ridiculous administrators. As much as I loved teaching, it became untenable.
Those parents are going to turn their child into a spoiled brat. And we definitely don't need more of those.
what a spineless excuse of a principal. leadership and example start from the top down.
I quit on the spot. Before that I was a teacher for 5 year old children and I was working with children who had problems, one of which is now called adhd. They couldn't sit still to concentrate but I'd observed them sitting quietly for a while after break so I began the running game. Once an hour for 15 minutes all in my class that wanted could run laps. Educational because they would call out what number lap they were on. After 15 minutes we sat down and they could concentrate for the other 45 minutes, one kid ran on the spot if I saw his energy level going up. Kids loved it and my class improved from being the remedial class to the same level as the ones who were in the genius class next door. That teacher hated me. Yes my students were noisy, kids are noisy but they were also having fun while learning. At the end of school year my students had improved more than the genius
Amazing how many of these entitled kids and the ones who's parents would never let them fail at anything (even if they deserved it) have gone on to jobs of a political nature!
I'm a middle & high school teacher. The comments saying she's a bad teacher for allowing the PDAs in class.....um, these commenters either are not teachers, OR are fortunate to work in a school stucknin a time warp: I teach AND have a 13 yr old. Children's behavior in the classroom has gotten SO outrageous, and teachers are powerless. No matter what you do, ignorant, entitled parents accuse you of being unfair, etc., and you can lose your job over it! It's not the kids' faults, nor the teachers. It is the fault of the parents & the system for allowing things to reach this pathetic point. Giving all 100s was the right move IMO. The comments/suggestions she added on each paper will still help those who earnestly tried. I had a similar situation: a senior at a small, rural school. Wrote curse words in Sharpie in his textbooks, never even filled in a word on tests, etc. At graduation time, I was told to give him an A bc he "needed to graduate & his family was influential in the area
The teacher is not at fault here......The spineless principal, and the idiots who were handed the responsibility of raising this spoiled, entitled moron, are the problem! I would simply say as a frustrated member of this dysfunctional thing we call a society, i say "nice job" to them for inundating it with another maladjusted, misinformed dummy to the world !!!! Her "participation" trophy should be mailed to her when she "graduates!"
There is no doubt that most public schools allow students to buy favoritism from there own parking spaces to sports to grades. It is very wrong yet very real. This type of behavior needs to stop but as long as school officials are allowed to behave this way it will not end. In this case the school board needs to be made aware that the principle is giving special favors to a student to appease her parents. And it needs to be discussed in open at a school board meeting. I agree with almost everything you said and I understand your frustration. What I do not agree with is your comment that rural people have a "usual assortment of oversized attitudes" this comment is where you stepped over the line and implied that rural people have oversized attitude. This was an arrogant yet incorrect comment. While just like everywhere else there are bad attitudes if you give it an open mind you might find that rural people are very friendly as a whole.
Agreed. I've lived in both rural and city, and people can have big egos and attitudes on both sides.
Load More Replies... I used to be a teacher but I got so fed up with the parents I got a different job. On one hand I had parents who just didn't care at all and the kids or how they were doing at school. I always said to the students if they wanted help with homework it was ok to stay after school for me to help them. I knew some parents who didn't care that I was helping their kids, only that they weren't home and didn't need to pay for childcare and that's all that mattered. Other parents were way over the top. Several parents complained that I was helping the stupid ones with their homework but not their precious children. I explained that every child in my class was welcome to stay after school to do their homework and get help but that wasn't good enough. They wanted extra tutoring for their child alone for free after school. I knew that a lot of my kids didn't get the support at home that they needed which is why I was willing to stay at school to help them because it wouldn't get done at home.
When I taught, it was impossible to fail students. We would have to give them numerous warnings, change our lesson plans, adjust everything for these students and in the end, they would pass regardless. Why? Because the fed gov wanted close to 99% graduation rate. So to achieve this, the bar was lowered to the point that students tripped over it to graduate
Yeah, the appearance of good results is often focused on more than genuine improvement and learning. When I was in high school, my school district decided to require all the 11th and 12th graders to take the ACT. They were trying to target students who normally wouldn't even try to take the test in hopes of encouraging them to go to college if they got a decent score. All the schools administered the test, except one. They opted out, for whatever excuses they gave. But the real reason was because by making all the lousy students take the test, all the schools ACT averages would drop. They wouldn't look as good in accreditation. This school wanted to look better than the others by not requiring the test for their students. Instead of caring about their students, they only cared about their own egos and the school's appearance of having a higher ACT average.
Load More Replies... Not totally related, but on the topic of letting students slip by with better grades, I'd like to lodge a complaint against my history teacher who allowed a student to maintain his 4.0 after cheating on the final exam. Because of this, that student will likely graduate as valedictorian with me, and there is nothing I can do about it. Why wasn't the student penalized? He was one of the starters for the basketball team, and the teacher knew that the coach would be pissed if the student got suspended.
My dad was a teacher, and any time my grades weren't measuring up, he got a very confused look on his face and stared hard at me. He always tried to make sure I was finishing homework, and knew I typically aced tests, so if something wasn't going right, he'd get very involved for a while, and I had very little free time during those episodes. He was also a drill sergeant, so that might have influenced his behavior ;)
Changing grades is policy issue, was never asked to do so. One of mymentees was bullied by principal for a couple of relatives. I intervened and principal backed down. Student was given makeup work because district had credit recovery. Unethical people always find someone to "play ball" and seek positions to gain advantage for family and cronies.
Cheers to the future college flunk out. She’s being set up for failure thanks to her parents. One can only hope she meets the real world before college
Could be worse. My twin brother set fire to a dustbin outside the principals office just because. And he set of rocket firework down the hall while letting me take the blame. No fallout what so ever, more then a couple of chosen words. Not even a call to our parents. Ah - the mid 80's in rural Lappland. The things me and my brother got away with!
they should round up the parents and the principal and all the other staff that perpetuated this fuc king garbage, line them up against a wall and beat their skulls in with a big cast iron frying pan.
Funny, I'm from the late Fifties generation. If I got a bad grade, my parents came down hard on ME, not the teachers or administration. It was a rarity when I protested a grade and they backed me AFTER they investigated. OTOH, they made a point of keeping an eye on my grades and homework, too. I ended up with a 3.65 GPA out of 4.0 in college. I wonder how THAT happened? /Snark
I teach high school art. The way I have found around all of this is students are 100% responsible for their grades. They are given the rubric at the beginning of the project, they complete the project and submit a photo of their work and the completed rubric through on online system. Students mark where they've met the rubric, they clearly have no choice but to mark where they haven't met the rubric and they have to reflect on their artwork. If they don't turn in their work, they get a 0 until it's turned in. I don't prevent them from turning in late work. Parents/Admin that try to say anything are shut down immediately, there is nothing for them to say. I don't give student work grades, they give their own work their grades. While students are working on their work, I have a conversation with each of them we discuss what's going well with it, I offer advice. My students always show solid growth throughout the year, they don't try to cheat, because there is no reason to.
Totally other way, our HS math teacher Was grading us unfairly. She failed everyone EXCEPT her favourites, she pruprosely never explained stuff saying "you should know this from elementary" we were so freaked out we never even asked for personal help with the topic. Once the teacher/parents session my mom started a mob asking for math teacher And then tearing her a new one fir treating not only me but all other Kids like worthless worms. Other parents of failing Kids joined my mom. She actually bowed and agreed that she was vindictive to teach the first years And she became somehow fine lady with surprisingly dark humor
I've seen a lot of comments arguing about how the problem is always just because of bad parenting. And while there are plenty of examples of this issue being from parents who refuse to discipline their children, there's a lot of other situations and factors that can play into the problems with the education system: Bad parents, bad students, bad teachers, bad administration, bad government policies and interference, etc. I've seen them all. It's unfair to lay complete and total blame to only one of these. Sometimes it's the parents who are the problem, sometimes the teacher, and sometimes even just the student doesn't give a c**p no matter how hard everyone else is trying to help them. I get that this article is specifically about the parental issue, and I'm not arguing that. I'm more responding to comments that have specifically stated that it's only ever the parents' fault, which is not always the case.
Entitlement Seriously Just because you work in the school system does not make your child smart. The fact you want teachers to give her good grades when she hasn’t earned them shows your lack or intelligence. Your child will grow up and FAIL at life…. And that’s on you! False grades will only help her get into a college to look stupid. Setting your own child up for failure doesn’t make you a good teacher or a parent. As for the kids making out in class…. Parent issue unless they want their child expelled.
My wife went to school with the principals daughter. The girl had a straight C average and scored 725 on the SAT, yet somehow still ended up Class Valedictorian. Constantly put everyone else down because they weren't smart, "just good test takers". No college would accept her, despite her Valedictorian status. Now she's a TA at "daddy's school".
My son was hardworking and did well in high school. One time, he forgot to hand in a big assignment and his teacher called me. Turned out when he realized he forgot, he was too scared to hand it in late so decided better to not hand it in at all. Imagine that reasoning... When the teacher called, my first reaction was anger at his irresponsibility and told his teacher to give him zero. And that he will come to tell her how HE was gonna fix it. Teacher refused to give him zero as it would unfairly affect his overall grades and he was one of her star students. I got him a calendar and taught him planning. These lazy students become lazy employees with questionable work ethics and not taken seriously by their peers. I work with students with learning challenges and see how hard they try. Much respect to you.
Yeah this is normal. Most people don't see it though. Schools that rely on contributions to stay afloat are often like that. I knew very young despite how well I scored, I'll never be at the top because those are reserved for the kids of parents who "made contributions". I don't care much for those things anyway. Making friends with these kids are beneficial though since they cannot bring down the hammer without smashing a golden goose lol.
The angel will end up pregnant before the end of her Sr year. Then, she, boyfriend and baby will move in with mommy and daddy.
This is why universities should continue to require standardized entrance exams like the ACT and SAT. It weeds out the frauds and exposes grade inflation. I’m married to a school principal and there is no way she would ever ask for a teacher to change a grade. She believed in consequences with our own children when it came to schoolwork. Don’t study or do your homework and getting a bad grade is the natural consequence. She never once asked if they got their homework done. My wife was also a former Teacher of the Year and would have quit immediately if she was told to change a grade. It’s called integrity.
I'm all for this idea of having a standardized exams, as it would weed out a lot of the bad students. However, I will say that it isn't a perfect system either. I've known plenty of excellent students who worked hard for their grades, but were not good test-takers. Friends who always turned their work in on time and tried their best, but scored low on the ACT. My sister's grades were good until it got to a test, and then they'd drop. Not because she didn't do the work or wasn't smart, but she just had a hard time with exams and the pressure of time and stress. Meanwhile, my brother and I were always great test-takers. We were all good students, all raised by the same parents with a good work ethic, but tests really can make or break a grade, just because some people aren't any good at them.
Load More Replies... Class. Same age kids. I found a way to teach them that the principal hadn't seen before and she was worried but had agreed for me to use it for the school year to see what happened. Parents of my students were calling the principal and I asking for the secret and we told them, let them burn energy! All kids have a lot of energy and can't be expected to sit constantly. Parents started doing the same at home and it worked. Sadly that principal retired and the new one said I couldn't teach like that even though he saw how good the results were. I tried his way for 3 months and it went bad so I quit. I did the same thing with my kids and now grandkids. Oldest is 7 and being investigated for adhd. At my place, with running, I have not seen any sign of adhd.
A nightmare. These teachers got my phone number and kept calling saying I was giving the dumb kids preferential treatment. I tried talking to the principal but she backed the parents even though I told her that all children in my class were welcome to stay and explained that so many of my students were doing a lot better than before. She told me that I had to treat them all alike. Eh but I'm doing that?! OK, I said I won't be giving out homework anymore but any and all students would be encouraged to read a chapter of any book instead of homework and even gave away books for my students to read. (A lot of my students didn't have books to read at home). That wasn't good enough for the other parents. My kids were still top in the grade for the whole school district because I took time to explain during class and after as well. Got back after the summer break and was told they had changed the rules and I had to give out homework and I was no longer allowed to help my students after school
A teacher helping kids after school? Encouraging them to read? Why, they might learn something! How dare you!
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As if we don't hear enough about "social promotion" and graduating students who can't read their own diplomas. In some states this can cost you your teaching license. Welcome to the culture of "everybody wins. Or have we?
How about "No, she gets the grade she deserves just like every other student!" Then go to a new school district. Every school district in the country is crying for qualified teachers. You could find a new job in a heartbeat. What good is it having a teaching certificate when you just hand out grades on a whim because of entitled parents with entitled brats?
Shifting goaline accusations is a concrete clear showing of b******t. Anybody who acts like this should be immediately mocked and humiliated
First teaching job in China at a small private school in Beijing. Gave all students the grades they deserved and got told by the administrator that wasn't how it worked there. Parents paid for the grades they wanted and got what they paid for, children of those who didn't pay failed regardless of ability and effort. Very short stay there.
I got so mad reading your comment that I almost downvoted without thinking. Those poor students.
Load More Replies... Not a teacher but I used to tutor kids when I was in high school. My younger brother who was a star athlete was exactly like this kid. He knew people would hand him grades for doing nothing one way or another. He got one math teacher who wouldn't budge one year so my mother insisted I "tutor" him. By which she meant do the work for him to hand in. I was forced to do it or not get to do anything. Somehow the good student got punished. Doing both mine and his meant I had no more social life. I stayed up late doing both and eventually my grades started to slip. But my parents didn't care and focused on the golden boy. So I got mad and secretly slipping in "completed by Maple Porkly (not my real name)" into word problems. The teachers saw it of course and we had a meeting. I explained the situation and he had my brother expelled for cheating via a "fellow student" tip off. Parents never caught on it was me. His teacher even talked to mine & explained what happened to get my grades back up.
I wonder what would happen if the teacher told the class that someone (whose parents are favored by the principal) got their grade improved because the principal forced it... Might be a whole lot of other parents calling that principal making sure he didn't allow that again. The teacher would be scared of putting their job at risk but if you decide you are gonna quit anyway it might be interesting to see the fallout.
This is exactly why in the UK we have nationally-set standards for assessing learning, and our exam boards are independent organizations, and we have a government regulator which arrives unannounced at any time they want to inspect any school they suspect is not performing well. When I was doing my masters in education in the mid 2000s I was lucky enough to do a teaching placement in the USA. The absolutely dire quality of teaching there in comparison to the UK really shocked me. It wouldn't surprise me if their local politics and corruption also played a part in teaching over there too.
The public school education in the US can very wildly in the US. I’m married to a former Teacher of the Year and a school principal and the difference in the district she taught in and the one we live in are like night and day. One district over 90% of graduates go to elite universities and the other maybe 20%. Not surprisingly the well funded district whose parents all went to college had much better test results.
Load More Replies... At my school (a private one), the administration watered down the grading scale so that the lowest passing grade went from a 70% to a 60% and adjusted the other grade ranges in line with this. They did this to accommodate the rich kids who refused to try. The teachers who cared about standards just increased the difficulty of their tests by 1/6. Increase 60% by 1/6, and you get 70%.
A 60% passing cut off is standard across the US though? A D is not an F.
Load More Replies... Yep, my boyfriend in high-school was a teacher's son and she would feed him how to do assignments. He had no work ethic. She didn't like him dating poor single mother me (it was also a small town) and eventually went to the guidance councillor to slander me to try to break us up since we were planning on going to the same university. Last I know is he ended-up dropping out because she didn't know how to do the course work for him there.
As a retired teacher, what happened to this teacher is a reality. We live in a world where students are being taught that they can wait until the last minute to turn in work AND still get decent grades, as well as turn in garbage work and expect a decent grade. I retired early because I was just tired of fighting lazy students, rude parents and ridiculous administrators. As much as I loved teaching, it became untenable.
Those parents are going to turn their child into a spoiled brat. And we definitely don't need more of those.
what a spineless excuse of a principal. leadership and example start from the top down.
I quit on the spot. Before that I was a teacher for 5 year old children and I was working with children who had problems, one of which is now called adhd. They couldn't sit still to concentrate but I'd observed them sitting quietly for a while after break so I began the running game. Once an hour for 15 minutes all in my class that wanted could run laps. Educational because they would call out what number lap they were on. After 15 minutes we sat down and they could concentrate for the other 45 minutes, one kid ran on the spot if I saw his energy level going up. Kids loved it and my class improved from being the remedial class to the same level as the ones who were in the genius class next door. That teacher hated me. Yes my students were noisy, kids are noisy but they were also having fun while learning. At the end of school year my students had improved more than the genius
Amazing how many of these entitled kids and the ones who's parents would never let them fail at anything (even if they deserved it) have gone on to jobs of a political nature!
I'm a middle & high school teacher. The comments saying she's a bad teacher for allowing the PDAs in class.....um, these commenters either are not teachers, OR are fortunate to work in a school stucknin a time warp: I teach AND have a 13 yr old. Children's behavior in the classroom has gotten SO outrageous, and teachers are powerless. No matter what you do, ignorant, entitled parents accuse you of being unfair, etc., and you can lose your job over it! It's not the kids' faults, nor the teachers. It is the fault of the parents & the system for allowing things to reach this pathetic point. Giving all 100s was the right move IMO. The comments/suggestions she added on each paper will still help those who earnestly tried. I had a similar situation: a senior at a small, rural school. Wrote curse words in Sharpie in his textbooks, never even filled in a word on tests, etc. At graduation time, I was told to give him an A bc he "needed to graduate & his family was influential in the area
The teacher is not at fault here......The spineless principal, and the idiots who were handed the responsibility of raising this spoiled, entitled moron, are the problem! I would simply say as a frustrated member of this dysfunctional thing we call a society, i say "nice job" to them for inundating it with another maladjusted, misinformed dummy to the world !!!! Her "participation" trophy should be mailed to her when she "graduates!"
There is no doubt that most public schools allow students to buy favoritism from there own parking spaces to sports to grades. It is very wrong yet very real. This type of behavior needs to stop but as long as school officials are allowed to behave this way it will not end. In this case the school board needs to be made aware that the principle is giving special favors to a student to appease her parents. And it needs to be discussed in open at a school board meeting. I agree with almost everything you said and I understand your frustration. What I do not agree with is your comment that rural people have a "usual assortment of oversized attitudes" this comment is where you stepped over the line and implied that rural people have oversized attitude. This was an arrogant yet incorrect comment. While just like everywhere else there are bad attitudes if you give it an open mind you might find that rural people are very friendly as a whole.
Agreed. I've lived in both rural and city, and people can have big egos and attitudes on both sides.
Load More Replies... I used to be a teacher but I got so fed up with the parents I got a different job. On one hand I had parents who just didn't care at all and the kids or how they were doing at school. I always said to the students if they wanted help with homework it was ok to stay after school for me to help them. I knew some parents who didn't care that I was helping their kids, only that they weren't home and didn't need to pay for childcare and that's all that mattered. Other parents were way over the top. Several parents complained that I was helping the stupid ones with their homework but not their precious children. I explained that every child in my class was welcome to stay after school to do their homework and get help but that wasn't good enough. They wanted extra tutoring for their child alone for free after school. I knew that a lot of my kids didn't get the support at home that they needed which is why I was willing to stay at school to help them because it wouldn't get done at home.
When I taught, it was impossible to fail students. We would have to give them numerous warnings, change our lesson plans, adjust everything for these students and in the end, they would pass regardless. Why? Because the fed gov wanted close to 99% graduation rate. So to achieve this, the bar was lowered to the point that students tripped over it to graduate
Yeah, the appearance of good results is often focused on more than genuine improvement and learning. When I was in high school, my school district decided to require all the 11th and 12th graders to take the ACT. They were trying to target students who normally wouldn't even try to take the test in hopes of encouraging them to go to college if they got a decent score. All the schools administered the test, except one. They opted out, for whatever excuses they gave. But the real reason was because by making all the lousy students take the test, all the schools ACT averages would drop. They wouldn't look as good in accreditation. This school wanted to look better than the others by not requiring the test for their students. Instead of caring about their students, they only cared about their own egos and the school's appearance of having a higher ACT average.
Load More Replies... Not totally related, but on the topic of letting students slip by with better grades, I'd like to lodge a complaint against my history teacher who allowed a student to maintain his 4.0 after cheating on the final exam. Because of this, that student will likely graduate as valedictorian with me, and there is nothing I can do about it. Why wasn't the student penalized? He was one of the starters for the basketball team, and the teacher knew that the coach would be pissed if the student got suspended.
My dad was a teacher, and any time my grades weren't measuring up, he got a very confused look on his face and stared hard at me. He always tried to make sure I was finishing homework, and knew I typically aced tests, so if something wasn't going right, he'd get very involved for a while, and I had very little free time during those episodes. He was also a drill sergeant, so that might have influenced his behavior ;)
Changing grades is policy issue, was never asked to do so. One of mymentees was bullied by principal for a couple of relatives. I intervened and principal backed down. Student was given makeup work because district had credit recovery. Unethical people always find someone to "play ball" and seek positions to gain advantage for family and cronies.
Cheers to the future college flunk out. She’s being set up for failure thanks to her parents. One can only hope she meets the real world before college
Could be worse. My twin brother set fire to a dustbin outside the principals office just because. And he set of rocket firework down the hall while letting me take the blame. No fallout what so ever, more then a couple of chosen words. Not even a call to our parents. Ah - the mid 80's in rural Lappland. The things me and my brother got away with!
they should round up the parents and the principal and all the other staff that perpetuated this fuc king garbage, line them up against a wall and beat their skulls in with a big cast iron frying pan.
Funny, I'm from the late Fifties generation. If I got a bad grade, my parents came down hard on ME, not the teachers or administration. It was a rarity when I protested a grade and they backed me AFTER they investigated. OTOH, they made a point of keeping an eye on my grades and homework, too. I ended up with a 3.65 GPA out of 4.0 in college. I wonder how THAT happened? /Snark
I teach high school art. The way I have found around all of this is students are 100% responsible for their grades. They are given the rubric at the beginning of the project, they complete the project and submit a photo of their work and the completed rubric through on online system. Students mark where they've met the rubric, they clearly have no choice but to mark where they haven't met the rubric and they have to reflect on their artwork. If they don't turn in their work, they get a 0 until it's turned in. I don't prevent them from turning in late work. Parents/Admin that try to say anything are shut down immediately, there is nothing for them to say. I don't give student work grades, they give their own work their grades. While students are working on their work, I have a conversation with each of them we discuss what's going well with it, I offer advice. My students always show solid growth throughout the year, they don't try to cheat, because there is no reason to.
Totally other way, our HS math teacher Was grading us unfairly. She failed everyone EXCEPT her favourites, she pruprosely never explained stuff saying "you should know this from elementary" we were so freaked out we never even asked for personal help with the topic. Once the teacher/parents session my mom started a mob asking for math teacher And then tearing her a new one fir treating not only me but all other Kids like worthless worms. Other parents of failing Kids joined my mom. She actually bowed and agreed that she was vindictive to teach the first years And she became somehow fine lady with surprisingly dark humor
I've seen a lot of comments arguing about how the problem is always just because of bad parenting. And while there are plenty of examples of this issue being from parents who refuse to discipline their children, there's a lot of other situations and factors that can play into the problems with the education system: Bad parents, bad students, bad teachers, bad administration, bad government policies and interference, etc. I've seen them all. It's unfair to lay complete and total blame to only one of these. Sometimes it's the parents who are the problem, sometimes the teacher, and sometimes even just the student doesn't give a c**p no matter how hard everyone else is trying to help them. I get that this article is specifically about the parental issue, and I'm not arguing that. I'm more responding to comments that have specifically stated that it's only ever the parents' fault, which is not always the case.
Entitlement Seriously Just because you work in the school system does not make your child smart. The fact you want teachers to give her good grades when she hasn’t earned them shows your lack or intelligence. Your child will grow up and FAIL at life…. And that’s on you! False grades will only help her get into a college to look stupid. Setting your own child up for failure doesn’t make you a good teacher or a parent. As for the kids making out in class…. Parent issue unless they want their child expelled.
My wife went to school with the principals daughter. The girl had a straight C average and scored 725 on the SAT, yet somehow still ended up Class Valedictorian. Constantly put everyone else down because they weren't smart, "just good test takers". No college would accept her, despite her Valedictorian status. Now she's a TA at "daddy's school".
My son was hardworking and did well in high school. One time, he forgot to hand in a big assignment and his teacher called me. Turned out when he realized he forgot, he was too scared to hand it in late so decided better to not hand it in at all. Imagine that reasoning... When the teacher called, my first reaction was anger at his irresponsibility and told his teacher to give him zero. And that he will come to tell her how HE was gonna fix it. Teacher refused to give him zero as it would unfairly affect his overall grades and he was one of her star students. I got him a calendar and taught him planning. These lazy students become lazy employees with questionable work ethics and not taken seriously by their peers. I work with students with learning challenges and see how hard they try. Much respect to you.
Yeah this is normal. Most people don't see it though. Schools that rely on contributions to stay afloat are often like that. I knew very young despite how well I scored, I'll never be at the top because those are reserved for the kids of parents who "made contributions". I don't care much for those things anyway. Making friends with these kids are beneficial though since they cannot bring down the hammer without smashing a golden goose lol.
The angel will end up pregnant before the end of her Sr year. Then, she, boyfriend and baby will move in with mommy and daddy.
This is why universities should continue to require standardized entrance exams like the ACT and SAT. It weeds out the frauds and exposes grade inflation. I’m married to a school principal and there is no way she would ever ask for a teacher to change a grade. She believed in consequences with our own children when it came to schoolwork. Don’t study or do your homework and getting a bad grade is the natural consequence. She never once asked if they got their homework done. My wife was also a former Teacher of the Year and would have quit immediately if she was told to change a grade. It’s called integrity.
I'm all for this idea of having a standardized exams, as it would weed out a lot of the bad students. However, I will say that it isn't a perfect system either. I've known plenty of excellent students who worked hard for their grades, but were not good test-takers. Friends who always turned their work in on time and tried their best, but scored low on the ACT. My sister's grades were good until it got to a test, and then they'd drop. Not because she didn't do the work or wasn't smart, but she just had a hard time with exams and the pressure of time and stress. Meanwhile, my brother and I were always great test-takers. We were all good students, all raised by the same parents with a good work ethic, but tests really can make or break a grade, just because some people aren't any good at them.
Load More Replies... Class. Same age kids. I found a way to teach them that the principal hadn't seen before and she was worried but had agreed for me to use it for the school year to see what happened. Parents of my students were calling the principal and I asking for the secret and we told them, let them burn energy! All kids have a lot of energy and can't be expected to sit constantly. Parents started doing the same at home and it worked. Sadly that principal retired and the new one said I couldn't teach like that even though he saw how good the results were. I tried his way for 3 months and it went bad so I quit. I did the same thing with my kids and now grandkids. Oldest is 7 and being investigated for adhd. At my place, with running, I have not seen any sign of adhd.
A nightmare. These teachers got my phone number and kept calling saying I was giving the dumb kids preferential treatment. I tried talking to the principal but she backed the parents even though I told her that all children in my class were welcome to stay and explained that so many of my students were doing a lot better than before. She told me that I had to treat them all alike. Eh but I'm doing that?! OK, I said I won't be giving out homework anymore but any and all students would be encouraged to read a chapter of any book instead of homework and even gave away books for my students to read. (A lot of my students didn't have books to read at home). That wasn't good enough for the other parents. My kids were still top in the grade for the whole school district because I took time to explain during class and after as well. Got back after the summer break and was told they had changed the rules and I had to give out homework and I was no longer allowed to help my students after school
A teacher helping kids after school? Encouraging them to read? Why, they might learn something! How dare you!
Load More Replies... As if we don't hear enough about "social promotion" and graduating students who can't read their own diplomas. In some states this can cost you your teaching license. Welcome to the culture of "everybody wins. Or have we?
How about "No, she gets the grade she deserves just like every other student!" Then go to a new school district. Every school district in the country is crying for qualified teachers. You could find a new job in a heartbeat. What good is it having a teaching certificate when you just hand out grades on a whim because of entitled parents with entitled brats?
Shifting goaline accusations is a concrete clear showing of b******t. Anybody who acts like this should be immediately mocked and humiliated
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