America’s already sub-par educational standards continue to be lowered in districts across the nation. Along with the introduction of federal Common Core curriculum, teachers are becoming far more interested in dispensing leftist propaganda than instilling actual knowledge.
Nowhere is this depressing trend more apparent than in Lake County, Florida. According to a recent local report, at least one school in the district, Gray Middle School, has banned any educator from issuing a grade lower than a 50.
In an interview with WFTV in Orlando, one school administrator contended that the outrageous policy is somehow in the students’ best interest. When confronted with the fact that it falls far short of preparing kids for the real world, the official tried to spin the decision in the district’s favor.
“There’s definitely consequences,” he said, “but more importantly it teaches that we want them to succeed and we want them to do well.”
Low grades, he asserted, are “overly negative to the student.”
The consequences to which he alludes, however, are difficult to find. Students who fail to even look at an assignment will receive at least half the credit of a classmate who finished without making a single mistake.
According to one internal email, teachers may give “no grades lower than a 50 per administration.”
Among a clear majority of parents, however, the rule is utterly absurd.
“I think it’s reality,” one man said of under-performing students receiving a corresponding low grade.
Another man, recalling instances in which he received failing grades, said the experience “made me realize I didn’t know everything I thought I did.”
The work ethic instilled into students during these formative years will serve as the foundation for the rest of their lives. Instead of learning to take responsibility for their own actions, teachers are actually telling them that there is virtually no such thing as failure.
With this type of rationale prevalent in today’s society, it is no surprise that fewer Americans than ever before possess the basic skills necessary to provide for themselves.
–B. Christopher Agee
