Dr. Bernard Taylor, who serves as the superintendent of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Public Schools, has unfairly come under heat for his efforts to try and help students with the proposed “H” grade that would allow students an opportunity to make up needed work and pass at a later date. I knew he would be hated on for this … especially when I heard that he was going to go on right-wing Fox News channel to explain his position to the nation. As I predicted, he was attacked by the host and the other guest. But, I have been a bit surprised at the public outcry from some people against this proposal.
Here is a letter from a woman to the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press:
Tuesday December 09, 2008, 9:00 AM
So my suggestion is that we place a fee on each “H” (”held”) that a student carries each trimester. The money gathered from this fee could be used to pay the teachers that have to make up new tests for these students who apparently didn’t study for the first ones.
Way to go Bernard Taylor, superintendent of Grand Rapids Public Schools. Don’t hold students accountable (”GRPS students won’t fail,” Press, Dec. 3). Give them a letter and another chance.
As Dr. Taylor so aptly said, even lawyers in some states get unlimited chances to take the bar exam and people have three chances to get their driver’s license. But don’t forget, these future lawyers and drivers pay a fee to take these tests over and over.
The money could also go to reward the “A,” “B,” and “C” students who did what they were supposed to do in the first place — show up for class, have their homework completed on time, and study for the tests.
Comments: So, she wants to apply a sort of tax to students who get an “H” grade? I guess that makes great sense in his economy, huh? Parents who are already struggling to make ends meet, parents who may be working multiple jobs, parents who are fighting to keep their homes … now are supposed to pay some kind of tax on a letter grade of “H” their child gets? It makes no sense. First of all, these students still have to do the work. Where is the outcry on college and university campus when students get an “I” for incomplete and make up the work that they’ve missed. This is not a pass to the next grade for free proposal here. Students still must do the same work. It is amazing how people lose their compassion and have no problem throwing kids under the bus. But, I guess it is easier to push someone under the bus than it is to reach down and help someone up.
Grand Rapids Press:
http://www.mlive.com/grpress/opinion/index.ssf/letters_to_the_editor/
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