In defense of at least SOME teachers.... and as a former teacher myself (resigned in June of this year):
I know several teachers and former teachers (myself included) who have taken a great deal of heat for “giving” too many “F” grades. Also, there have been threats by administrators if you don’t have enough of your “top” students getting “A’s”.
I know that I got called to the carpet more than once when one of those “top” students didn’t get an A when they had straight A’s all the way through school.
Well... if they don’t do the work and achieve the grade, I wasn’t about to “GIVE” an A - I put in the grade they earned. But if ordered specifically to give that higher grade - then how can you justify giving lower grades to those who “earn” the same lower grade the other student did?
And it snowballs.
O good friend of my father recently retired from teaching Science in public high school. He had his fill. He was called to the Principal and Superintendent’s office many times because he too many students were failing his class.
But what was he to do? He had even gone to putting test answers on the board before handing out the tests - and still over half the class would fail. The students were just too lazy to even look at the answers and write them down on their test.
Add to all this the NEA and other feel-gooders (including attorneys who look for “injustice” in the schools) and we have an environment where - if a student doesn’t get a good grade, it MUST be the teacher’s fault - so good grades are handed out like candy....
He had even gone to putting test answers on the board before handing out the tests - and still over half the class would fail.
Sad. Too familiar though; Here in Rochester some 'overzealous administrators' gave the 7th and 8th grade students in the city school district 'study sheets' with answers to the actual test questions for two state exams. The pass rate? 56%. My wife and I think there were two factors: lack of reading ability and lack of motivation and study skills. I want my tax money back...
O good friend of my father recently retired from teaching Science in public high school. He had his fill. He was called to the Principal and Superintendent’s office many times because he too many students were failing his class.
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Good for you! You and your friend were honest.
The other teachers who give inflated grades are liars.
The principals who demand it are liars.
The teachers who cooperate with this corrupt system are liars.