PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (WPEC) — A teacher in Port St. Lucie, Florida claims she was fired for refusing to give students partial credit for work that is never handed in.
“I got fired. I was packing my stuff, and I was not going to see the kids,” Diane Tirado said.
Mrs. Tirado didn’t get to say goodbye to her student physically, so she wrote her message on a whiteboard instead.
“Bye kids, Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in. [heart] Mrs. Tirado.”
She snapped a photo of it and shared it on Facebook. Then, the messages from her eighth-grade students started pouring in.
“You showed me to be responsible for my work and the things that I do. I hope you don’t forget me,” one student wrote.
Mrs. Tirado has been a teacher for more than 17 years. The 52-year-old began working at West Gate K-8 School this year as an eighth-grade social studies teacher.
She says she gave her students two weeks to complete an explorer’s notebook project but says some of them didn’t turn it in.
That’s when she says she learned about a no-zero grading policy, written in red in the school’s handbook, stating, “NO ZERO’S – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”
Tirado says this sends the wrong message.
“If there’s nothing to grade, how can I give somebody a 50 percent?” she asked.
Her Sept. 14 termination letter doesn’t cite a specific reason, only stating she was contracted as a teacher on a probation period, and that she can be dismissed without cause.
Her message on her classroom’s whiteboard has been shared hundreds of times, with messages from other parents and teachers congratulating her on standing her ground.
Tonight, she is calling for change because she believes the grading policy at West Gate K-8 School won’t help students in the long run.
“I’m arguing the fact that you don’t get something for nothing. I want the policy changed, and it’s not just here,” she said.
There are zeros found in the grading scale above the “no zero’s” wording on the West Gate Student and Parent Handbook, which adds confusion, Tirado said.
WPEC is still waiting to hear back from St. Lucie Public Schools as of late Monday night.
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napswithdogs on September 25th, 2018 at 16:11 UTC »
Former teacher here. We had to document a minimum number of parent phone calls and student interventions to fail a kid. If a certain percentage of kids failed your class you could be expected to have an “accountability talk” with your administrator. We had one who would shut the door and scream at teachers. The kids were never called in to answer for why they failed. Teachers are held accountable for much more than kids or parents these days. It’s one of the many reasons I quit, even though I had really good kids. “Will my admin back me up?” is a constant worry, and it’s always an unpredictable outcome.
Uh_I_Say on September 25th, 2018 at 15:43 UTC »
Teacher here. Just wanted to chime in and explain why these policies exist, as it was explained to me years ago:
The idea is that if a student can't receive lower than a 50 per marking period, there is never a point where it is impossible for them to pass for the year. Technically, they could not show up for three quarters, pull a 100 in the fourth, and still pass for the year.
Now, an optimist would say this is a good thing, as it means the students will always have that opportunity to make a comeback. Particularly in low-income districts that lack parent engagement, the last thing you want is a kid realizing they can't possibly pass for the year and deciding to spend their day on the street instead of wasting it in school. I've seen firsthand students who really only kept coming to class because they still had that chance -- however small -- to pass for the year.
The more pessimistic view is what many have already pointed out in these comments: that it allows schools to keep pushing students through the system without actually teaching them anything, artificially inflating graduation rates and making admin look good. I've also seen this first hand, as well as the fallout when it was discovered by the school board.
Personally speaking, I'm not a fan of giving a student a 50 for doing nothing. I understand there are specific scenarios where a student misses a large amount of work due to crisis or injury, and that should not destroy all of their previous work. However, I think exceptions can be made for those scenarios without being codified as the mandatory grading policy. But, every school I've worked in has had some policy like this, so unfortunately it seems like it's becoming more common.
LanceThunder on September 25th, 2018 at 15:27 UTC »
as someone who got some really really low grades in high school i support the teacher. i think in the 11th grade the majority of my final marks were below 40%. students need to be allowed to fail like that. the important part is that once they do fail that the adults take the time to find out why. for me, i was dyslexic. once i finally got the help i needed for that my grades shot right up.