GA teacher fired for failing student

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

Said student was a football player. Said student was sleeping in class. Said teacher, a 20+ year veteran, had told his class at the beginning of the term that if they goofed off, their grades would suffer. Well, the parents of the football player complained to the principal, who told the teacher to raise the grade. When the teacher complained, he was fired. (this from an NPR story I heard on the way home)

So I guess the lesson here is that if you're a football player, you don't have to pay attention in class-heck, you can even fall asleep and get a passing grade! I'm sure when the football player graduates and doesn't get in the NFL, he'll get some sort of job. And I'm certain that his boss will let him sleep on the job. </sarcasm>

[newscott]

1. What, some athlete is getting preferential treatment?

Next thing you know, they'll pay other people to take the SAT for them or something. :sarcasm:

[smoogatz]

2. 20+ years and no tenure?

Or was it a private school?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. no, a public school

and I have no idea why no tenure. The reason for the firing was "insubordination" because the teacher wouldn't follow the principal's dictates. The teacher is appealing to the state Board of Education....if I had a link, I'd write an email in support of the teacher.

[smoogatz]

9. Well, assuming this guy's a full-time tenured teacher

and not a part-timer or a sub, the school district has a wopper of a lawsuit coming. You can't just fire a tenured teacher because you don't like the grade they gave the quarterback. I applaud this guy for standing up for himself--nowadays the gradebook is the only real weapon teachers have in dealing with unruly students.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. believe it or not

the principal said teachers couldn't use grades as a discipline tool.

[dsc]

18. and he is right

but if a student sleeps in class, and there is work being done while he sleeps, then the work isn't done which permits a failing grade.

[smoogatz]

19. I'm spoiled

by teaching at the college level. Class contribution is usually a big part of my grading criteria--and you can't contribute if you're asleep.

[AngryAmish]

32. I'm glad you weren't my teacher

Got some of my best naps during lectures.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

41. If I was a professor, I would be glad that you aren't my student

I hated people who slept in class. Might as well not come to school and drop out.

[AngryAmish]

42. How well I did in school is my business

If the required work was done and I passed the test, who cares.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

43. ahhh when I was in school I develop relationship with my teachers

Didn't only consider them as teachers but friends. Actually I would think the same with co-workers. You develop relationships. But I guess you have your own style of distance.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

44. btw

School wasn't always about education. But I guess that's how Chicago works. When I was in high school not only we stress academics but a full round education. Like band, joining clubs, getting involved in school events and etc. But I guess Chicago wants a 1 dimensional student. For example, the University of Chicago got rid of sports...

[AngryAmish]

47. U of C got rid of sports because it was attracting too many bookies.

There were allegations of fixed games. I guess you don't know how Chicago works.

And the poster above - I did not want to have a relationship with my teachers. That is why I did attended a large university. I'm kinda shy.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

48. I'm sorry

I'm shy too. I actually know how you feel. But, you know sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Friendship makes the whole experience better.

[bryant69]

4. A link on this story by any chance?

Bryant
check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Here's a Link

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=60362

Teacher fired after lowering grade of sleeping athlete

A Gwinnett County teacher was fired early Friday after refusing to raise a student athlete's grade he lowered because the student appeared to be sleeping in class.

The Gwinnett County School Board voted 4-1 early Friday _ after a marathon Thursday night meeting _ to fire Dacula High School science teacher Larry Neace, said school system spokeswoman Sloan Roach.

Why won't these people be honest and start PAYING these athletes to play their games?

[Ms. Toad]

17. As a former teacher,

I have to agree with the school board on this. I think the athlete angle is a distraction.

The student received a perfect score on the assignment. ("Neace said he cut the student's perfect grade in half because he thought the student had fallen asleep at his desk the day the assignment was made.")

Obviously the kid learned what he was supposed to learn that day, since he got a perfect score on the assignment. Give him the grade he earned - and impose appropriate discipline: He slept for 30 minutes, have him make up 30 minutes after school - or even an hour. That is appropriate discipline. Docking his grade is not - particularly when it is against board policy.

It also creates an unfair situation in many states in which (by law) schools must treat students who are suspended as having excused absences (meaning the student gets the opportunity to make up the work without penalty). This student was present, got a perfect score, and got docked. The student whose behavior was serious enough to get him/herself barred from class still has the opportunity to get a perfect score. (Not that I think treating a suspension as an excused absence is appropriate - but suspended students should not be in a better position than students who sleep in class.)

[wellst0nev0ter]

27. If That's The Issue, Why Did It Take An Athlete To Merit Attention?

Perhaps the participation requirement is too draconian. But it doesn't take away from the fact that the school and the school board wish to provide special accomodations for an athlete that would not be available to other students. If everyone else in class was required to pay attention, then the athlete should not get special favors.

[Ms. Toad]

40. I don't know that it did take an athlete...

Certainly the athlete angle is being played up, but any number of other scenarios are also consistent with the current press:

The board routinely enforces its rules with respect to any complaint it receives, and teachers have routinely complied with the demand to change the grade.

The board routinely enforces its rules with respect to any complaint it receives but had never a complaint before, and this first complaint just happened to come from an athlete.

The board routinely enforces its rules with respect to any complaint it receives, and had previously fired teachers for refusing to comply, and this is the first time the national press picked it up (picking it up this time because of the athlete angle).

The strongest statement the article makes is that no administrators had previously complained. In the school in which I taught, few administrators would have seen the policy - certainly no board members.

When I see bad policies as a parent and complain, they are often changed. For example, last year my non-athlete daughter received an all class lunch detention, per the classroom policy, because others in the class were talking. The few, including my daughter, who showed up for detention received a second lunch detention because they did not drag all of their classmates to the detention - while those who skipped the first lunch detention were not required to make up the detention). This was a long standing policy of this particular teacher, of which the principal was aware (or could have been via the paper policy the teacher was required to submit each year), but no parent had complained before. Think what the press might have been, had my daughter been an athlete - and the teacher refused to comply with the demand to change the policy...

I don't know all of the details, and I do not believe athletes should be given special privileges (my earliest acts of civil disobedience were related to my high school's routine practice of treating athletes like mini-gods). I also don't believe that bad educational practices should be tolerated, just because it is an athlete that happens to bring the bad practice to the attention of folks who can do something about it.

[CRK7376]

35. I agree

if the student passed the work/asignment and still had time to sleep in class....oh well. Keep them after or dock points based on participation etc....

Tough call for the teacher. Often I would keep sleeping students in class during their breaks, releasing them with enough time to get to their next class, but no socialization etc....

[kodi]

6. I refer to it as the "Fritos and NFL" culture in America

massive consumerism coupled with the idea that special privileges are granted to those who are in the public eye making money for corporations.

[ulysses]

7. somehow, it'll be spun as the teacher's fault. n/t

[strategery blunder]

8. This is part of why I gave up my aspirations to become a teacher

I had wanted to teach HS social sciences, primarily history. But I have abandoned that aspiration for the following reasons:

1) Loss of academic freedom, as evidenced by this case. Also the bushbots will want me to teach the "patriotic" version of history, something that I would refuse to do.

2) An unhealthy obsession over fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests. I want my students to be able to answer essay questions, dammit.

3) Voters who want to have their cake and eat it too--you know, the ones who expect perfection from public schools but always vote against school tax levies. Usually Republicans.

4) Have I mentioned NCLB yet?

Yes, I know it's sad that young people are being driven away from the profession like this, but what else am I going to do? I fought this fight as a student (believe it or not) and I got crushed.:puke:

[Swamp Rat]

10. Me too

Well, the good thing is that it pushed me to get another Masters and PhD (in progress) because I still want to teach, at the university level. :)

If I ever have children, it will be Montessori and school abroad for them. The kids here in the USA are barely monolingual. My friends and relatives have young children who are trilingual (or more), and can do the work of high schoolers here. It's sad when you know 10 year olds, from 3rd world countries, who are the intellectual equals of 18 year olds here.

[strategery blunder]

11. I must confess that I am monolingual

I'm trying to learn German; I took four years of it in high school but the public education system sux0rz if you want to learn another language in it!

Unfortunately, the instructor I have in college (final next week) is too aloof to really teach a language very effectively.

I will, however, admit that my knowledge of German, however limited, has occasionally come in handy during my summer job at O'Hare Airport. Germans are most surprised when they find out that an American serf actually took the time to (attempt to) learn their language.;)

[Swamp Rat]

25. Sehr gut!

:D

[strategery blunder]

28. Ja voll!

Jetzt muß ich schlafen.

Guten Nacht.:):boring:

[Swamp Rat]

29. Eu também.

Boa noite! :boring:

[ProudToBeLiberal]

46. bonjour

o_O

[Swamp Rat]

49. Hyvää päivää

:D

[Massacure]

31. I'm 16, and my history class rips Bush a new asshole every day!!!

:D

[LibDemAlways]

12. Twenty years ago I taught high school for

a year (one year was enough) and failed a boy who had been suspended. Under the rules of his suspension, he had to report after school to pick up his assignments and return them to me the following day. I never once saw him. I had no basis on which to give him anything other than an "F." At the end of the year, that "F" in English meant he couldn't graduate. The principal called me at home and said the boy's mother was quite upset, and couldn't I change the grade to a "D." I hated to be hard-assed about it, but, no, I couldn't. A few kids had earned their "D's" by showing up and putting forth some minimal effort. That boy did nothing. I had no choice but to fail him.

I also taught "Business English" and had half the varsity football team in my class. OMFG. What a nightmare that was.

[Ms. Toad]

45. I had students who earned their Ds

by showing up every day, working their hardest, and doing extra credit assignments. I would have made the same decision.

Folks who were borderline, but who had tried their hardest (or who had turned their work habits around mid-term, but not quite soon enough) received the benefit of the doubt, within a point or two on a 100 point scale. Folks who played around and expected to be carried through got the precise grade they earned, which in some instances was 59.4% (passing would have been 59.5%).

Our state required two years of math to graduate (at that time). Among other classes I taught a fair number of the second year classes (which I affectionately called, "Now that you know one plus one equals two, what do you do with it?" You can guess what I called the first year. The class was a equal mixture of (1) intelligent troublemakers who probably should have been in the college track, but had never been able to be present enough days to get a passing grade (2) athletes (some overlap with the first group) (3) students who moved several times a year, with varying innate academic abilities, who were never in one school long enough to pass many classes and (4) students who tested just above the cutoff for special education and who were working at the top of their ability just to barely pass my class. Let's just say teaching that mixture was quite a challenge.

[jmm]

13. Ghee, maybe if he gave his students

a well rounded curriculum like this they wouldn't be falling asleep?

College Entrance Exam For Athletes

1. What language is spoken in France?

2. Give a dissertation on the ancient Babylonian Empire with
particular reference to architecture, literature, law and social
conditions -OR- Give the first name of Pierre Trudeau.

3. Would you ask William Shakespeare to

____ (a) build a bridge
____ (b) sail the ocean
____ (c) lead an army or
____ (d) WRITE A PLAY

4. What religion is the Pope? (check only one)
____ (a) Jewish
____ (b) Catholic
____ (c) Hindu
____ (d) Polish
____ (e) Agnostic

5. Metric conversion. How many feet is 0.0 meters?

6. What time is it when the big hand is on the 12
and the little hand is on the 5?

7. How many commandments was Moses given? (approximately)

8. What are people in America's far north called?
____ (a) Westerners
____ (b) Southerners
____ (c) Northerners

9. Spell -- Bush, Carter and Clinton

Bush: __________________________
Carter: __________________________
Clinton: __________________________

10. Six kings of England have been called George, the last one
being George the Sixth. Name the previous five.

11. Where does rain come from?
____ (a) Macy's
____ (b) Kmart
____ (c) Canada
____ (d) the sky

12. Can you explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity?
____ (a) yes
____ (b) no

13. What are coat hangers used for?

14. The Star Spangled Banner is the National
Anthem for what country?

15. Explain Le Chateliers Principle of Dynamic Equilibrium -OR-
spell your name in BLOCK LETTERS.

16. Where is the basement in a three story building located?

17. Which part of America produces the most oranges?
____ (a) New York
____ (b) Florida
____ (c) Canada
____ (d) Wisconsin

18. Advanced math. If you have three apples, how many apples do
you have?

19. What does NBC (National Broadcasting Corp.) stand for?

20. The Cornell University tradition for efficiency began when
(approximately)?
____ (a) B.C
____ (b) A.D.

Signed _______________________

[pie]

16. that's funny

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Wow. It's not like he was trying to teach evolution, or anything.

Shocking.

Anyway, the kid just got a lesson in the Modern Merkin way- different rules apply to the "special" people (Athletes, Celebrities, Republicans).

[nonconformist]

20. Everyone needs to read the story in post #5

The student received a perfect grade on the assignment. Then the student fell asleep in class. The teacher punished the student by cutting his grade in half.

That's just not right. Punish the kid, sure, but he earned his grade. Send him to detention or something.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

36. the npr story didn't give these details

which makes one wonder if they were merely out to sensationalize the situation.

[stanwyck]

21. Although I'd like to see teachers

have authority in their classes, which I think they've lost, the real issue here is that the teacher broke school rules by disciplining through a grade. The homework assignment the student had turned in was correct. The teacher marked down the grade since he believed the student had been sleeping in class, which the teacher had made clear was not allowed. Teachers are not allowed, in that school, to discipline through a grade. Now, we can argue whether that is good policy. But what happened is that the teacher broke that rule. That's why the teacher was fired.
And it's a shame. By all accounts, he is a very good teacher who is highly thought of by many students, faculty, and parents.

[Sgent]

23. One more note

many states in the south don't have tenure. I don't know about GA, but I know that MS has no tenure at all.

[KitSileya]

30. I'm a high school teacher in Norway,

and we're not allowed to lower assignment grades because of conduct. Conduct has its own grade, and a student such as this one would get a citation - enough citations and that grade goes down. However, we also have to have enough participation from the student to give a grade in the subject - if he's absent without leave, doesn't hand in assignments, or doesn't participate in class, we can argue that we do not have enough to base our grade on, but we aren't allowed to lower the grades on any assignment the student has done. I believe that would be unfair.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. How outrages!!

Ugh! Disgusting. The teacher was being fair and balanced and wanting to actually educate them. When I was in high school I know the football coaches actually made them keep their grades up or they wouldn't get to play until they're back up and if they were having trouble they would get them tutors.

[fortyfeetunder]

24. As for the perfect score...was it repeatable?

Which brings to mind, the teacher doubts the kid did this work unassisted, if sleeping thru half the class.

I don't think we've heard the rest of the story.

[artemisia1]

26. That's the best question I've read all night... eom/

[Solly Mack]

33. football players got special favors when I was in HS

HS in Georgia, at that.

One 8th grader from middle school was such a phenomenal player he was passed on to HS even though he failed 8th grade. He was a "star" throughout HS and went on to VMI on scholarship...only to flunk out. I know this because I went to school with him....and he and I were close. He had professional scouts looking at him even in HS...he thought he could "make it" to the pros. This was in the late 70's early 80's

He wasn't dumb...he didn't have to perform in the classroom, so he didn't worry about it...I think schools fail the students when they don't demand they do their schoolwork. Winning the state title was more important to the school.

Another such player came along a couple of years later...equally as good. Allowed to skate through his classes and got into Clemson. He died while still in college.

Teacher's should never be fired or even disciplined for expecting...demanding...school athletes perform as expected in the classroom. "As expected" being defined the same for all students in the same classroom. You meet the requirements or you don't make the grade.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

37. I've heard of this happening

and my question is, how is letting an athelte skate by helping that person get ready for life? Unless he is selected for the pros (and the chance of that is really not that great), he'll have to get a job. He will not have had the training to allow himself to be successful in any career.

Thank heavens my high school did not have football. We had basketball and track, and were middling to lousy in both-but we had more Merit Scholars than most any other school in the state. My first two years at university were a piece of cake after the rigorous training I had in high school, and I was graduated with high honors.

[Solly Mack]

38. Exactly. They aren't being prepared for life.

You can't eat "glory days"

[Dorian Gray]

34. That's really terrible...

Is there any more to the story?

Having once been a teacher, I really feel for this particular teacher. So many people complain that the teachers stink these days, but when they are treated like this, why should they care?

[Puglover]

39. The entire world has gone

:crazy: