Gwinnett (GA)teacher who refused to alter grade is fired

I have to wonder why people are so hell bent on this student being "punished". I thought the whole point of going to school was to learn the class material. If the student learns the material but doesn't pay attention in class then why should anyone care?

I was asking a rhetorical question, because as far as I'm concerned, behavior usually affects a grade whether one is graded on behavior or not.

It's not clear to me that this particular student actually "learned the material" - it seems to me that if failing one homework assignment caused him to be ineligible to play sports (not stated, but implied by all the furor), he had a pretty tenuous grasp on it all to begin with.

Of course, I haven't seen this teacher's syllabus or gradebook, and I don't know what sort of assignment this was or how it was weighted.

using a students grade to punish the student

So?

They don't fall asleep in class in Bangalore.

However, the school has a stated policy of not using grades for punishment

What kind of moron-generating policy is that?

Anyone who's been in the system for ten years and still doesn't understand how the system works

Should be put in charge for merit and perserverence on that basis alone.

Anyone who's been in the system for ten years and DOES understand how the system works, yet doesn't quit in outrage and disgust should be fired.

Here's another example.

I gave a medical student a grade of "F" in Medicine, a major third-year course (of course, if the grade stood, a career-ender).

This "student" did all the assignments on time and passed all the tests. However, at 2AM when his patients were in trouble, he was nowhere to be found. Not once, all the time.

I was called in and ordered to change the grade. My grading did not conform to policy, which policy is, only tests and papers count toward the grade.

Would you have changed the grade?

How do students get to the third year of medical school thinking they can get away with bad behavior?

Their are kids in the bottom half of the class that can't make a 1000 on the Sat with 3.0's in Ga

You forgot to mention our national ranking.

This teacher was just on with John Gibson on Fox. He said there was another student in the class that same day who also fell asleep and was given the same 50% reduction in grade for non-participation in class. Guess what - that student didn't complain and was not a football player. The teacher was fired because of the football player, not because of his policy. And it seems like this assignment was done in class, not a nightly homework assignment, so it was a class participation grade.

So, it's a pretty clear case of the school board and principal kowtowing to a school athlete.

Below was a post on another site by a parent who attended the school board hearing.

http://www.voy.com/32130/19224.html

"...A hearing officer, provided by the State Bar of Georgia, presided and served as judge of the legal issues. The School Board was the finder of fact, essentially the jury. Evidence and testimony was presented on both sides, the Superintendent Wilbanks and his attorneys who were seeking Doc’s termination, and Doc and his attorneys.

As the facts unfolded it became clear to me that Doc Neace was railroaded. Here’s what I recall from the testimony and evidence. On March 28th Doc had an assignment the students were to work on in class. After receiving the assignment sheet two guys put their heads down on their desks, apparently sleeping. There wasn’t enough time to complete the task in class, so Doc said he would give 5-10 min the next class period. One of the sleeping students handed in his assignment, and when Doc graded it there were no points taken off for the actual work, but he took half off for the student’s waste of class time the previous day when he should have been working on the assignment. Doc’s syllabus, approved by the school each semester, presented to and signed by students each semester, which had been in use for ten years includes a provision that ‘wasting time’ during class will earn the student a zero on the in class assignment. Part of Doc’s teaching process is the in class help he provides to students as they work on the assignement, so anyone not working in class is not engaged in Doc’s teaching process. Doc only took half off this paper because he gave the students time the next period to complete the assignment.

The student complained to his dad who called principal Donnie Nutt for a meeting to discuss his son’s grade. The principal contacted the science dept. admin. who contacted Doc to set up a meeting for April 1st. There was no testimony that Nutt ever contacted or met with Doc to get the facts or discuss the matter before the parent meeting on April 1st. Doc testified that as he approached the principal’s office for the meeting before school he could see the parent in Nutt’s glassed in office, laughing and talking with the principal, then Nutt shook the parent’s hand and friendly patted him on the back. Doc testified that as a result he felt apprehensive going into the meeting not knowing what was going on.

Nutt began the meeting by letting the parent tell Doc his concerns which turned into a rant at Doc for about 15 minutes, including slamming papers on the table and cursing at Doc. Finally Nutt intervened and asked if Doc had taken off half the grade for the student’s sleeping in class, and when Doc said yes, Nutt started admonishing Doc in front of the parent and told him to change the grade. Doc testified that he felt like a whipped dog backed into a corner. So much for any support or meaningful communication from Doc’s supervising principal.

Later that day Principal Nutt presented Doc with a letter of direction to change the grade, reading it 3 times to him, hence following the school system’s policy requiring three requests. At issue was the fact that Doc considered his wasting time provision an academic matter, and Nutt said according to Board policy it was a discipline issue. Doc again told Nutt he couldn’t change the grade, but the principal could.

Spring Break was the next week, Doc was trying to contact the state prof stanards people to see if he would lose his certificate for changing a grade, and then after the break he was summoned to the County office and banned form all Gwinnett County campuses. He has told he had two options, resign or be fired.

It appeared that at no time did the school system folks get a statement from Doc, but they had statements from everyone else. When Doc brought up his concerns about his certificate, he was told this was a local board issue, not a state standards issue. But his teaching certificate was the key issue to Doc.

According to Superintendent Wilbanks testimony, Gwinnett County schools is focused on the “Business of Education.” I noted that he said business first, education second, and that’s what the school system focuses on, business rules and regs and policies. Doc Neace’s focus is on education first.

One question from the Board last night asked if at any point was a third party neutral brought in, and the answer was no. Nobody cared what Doc had to say.

My take on the whole process was that there was a total lack of professional communication from Principal to teacher, an unprofessional and abusive handling of the teacher-parent meeting, allowing the parent to rant and curse, then the admonishment of his teacher in front of a parent and Nutt’s rush to judgment, to throw his hot potato to the County HR people and move Doc Neace out of Dacula HS ASAP.

Doc has 26 years of dedicated teaching, 23 at Dacula HS, and he’s never had an unsatisfactory evaluation or sanction or admonishment. In just 2 weeks, one of which was spring break, he has his career ended by a spoiled whining student and his bully parent in collusion with a controlling clueless principal who has systematically dumbed down the academic excellence at our school. I am stunned and embarrased by the action of Principal Donnie Nutt, of Superintendant Alvin Wilbanks, of the adminsitrators of Gwinnett County Public Schools and lastly the School Board. I hope and pray Doc appeals and wins!"