Grading criteria of our daughter's HS teacher. Unfair? (Need answer fast.)

In My Humble Opinion
121

I disagree with grading kids on how many yearbooks or ads they sell for the reasons given–it is arbitrary and favors better-off kids. And I too refuse to participate in any sales-related events at my daughter’s school, I give money or my time instead of having her sell scented candles and bad chocolate. It is sad and amazing that there is a for-profit industry around raising money for schools. You can’t tell me our educational system is adequately funded. And I’m in a middle class/affluent part of a well-run district. (Though the circumstances of this yearbook thing make me wonder whether the teacher is skimming or something–some circumstance outside the constant begging.)

My daughter did participate in a “fun run” event to raise money for the school–run by an outside firm that took a cut of money raised, natch. The kids were to get pledges per lap and they got “premiums” as incentive to get more pledges. Lots of our family members were able to give money and so my daughter got a bunch of gewgaws, but it made me sad to realize that my daughter’s friend wouldn’t be able to keep up because her immediate and extended family aren’t as well off. Class differences exist but I don’t think school activities should reinforce them, whether for credit or not.

122

So I met with the principal today at 10:00 AM.

Before I left the house I noticed Catherine was working on a Photoshop project.

Me: “What’s that?”
Catherine: “It’s an ad for the yearbook.”
Me: “You mean you’re still working on the yearbook, even though Tuesday was the last day of school?”
Catherine: “Yep.”
Me: “Did you sell this ad?”
Catherine: “No. I think my teacher did. But the company didn’t have an ad to give us, so I have to design one.”
Me: “Huh. So just curious… when an ad is sold by a student or your teacher, where does the money go? Who handles all the money?”
Catherine: “My teacher handles all the money.”

So I arrive at the principal’s office at 10 AM sharp. He showed me a copy of the curriculum descriptions. It plainly states that grades will be based on ad sales in the yearbook class. So there’s that. It said nothing about grades also being a function of yearbook sales (i.e. the yearbooks themselves). I told him that, despite being in the curriculum description, it is my opinion that a policy where grades are based on a sales quota for anything is wrong, unethical, and possibly illegal.

He said Catherine’s grade is now a B+. So let’s review:

Catherine’s grade was an F for the quarter. I complained to the teacher on Monday via email. Tuesday morning the teacher said her grade is now a C-. Tuesday afternoon I sent another email to the teacher. He responded on Wednesday. He also called me on the phone to let me know that he will not include the yearbook sales quota as part of Catherine’s grade, but will still include ad sales. He said her grade is now a B. The principal now informs me her grade is a B+. So F → C- → B → B+ within 30 hours.

I asked him, “What if a student offers a bunch of free ads to businesses, and pays the fee out of his/her own pocket?” He said he wouldn’t have a problem with it. I find this interesting, as he is essentially admitted it’s O.K. for a student (or their parents) to buy their own grade.

According to the principal, for next year’s yearbook class, a student’s grade will no longer be a function of yearbook sales. But it will still be based on a quota of ad sales. I again told him I thought this grading criteria was invalid, unethical, and possibly illegal. He disagreed.

I told to him that, unlike the other students in the class, Catherine does not have a driver’s license, and we live in a very rural area of the county. I asked him how she should get ad sales. “Well, she could use the phone.” Cold-calling for grades, essentially.

I finally asked about the money in the class, and suggested an audit should be conducted on the finances. He said, “Oh, our school is always getting audited. There are no problems.” I asked if the audit includes detail such as customers paying for ads in the yearbook. He just kept saying, “Oh, our school is always getting audited. There are no problems.”
And here are a few more tidbits outside my conversation with the principal:

  1. In an email I received from the teacher on Wednesday he states, “The book sales idea came from the Jostens rep (maker / publisher of the Yearbook).”

  2. The teacher called Catherine on the phone yesterday and talked to her. According to Catherine he said, “Your father and I have been talking, and I have decided to give you a B. Please don’t let any of the other students know about this.”

  3. According to Catherine, there is at least one other student in the class who received an F for the quarter due to not meeting certain sales quotas for yearbook/ads. She believes his final grade was F. So apparently the teacher decided to not base Catherine’s grade on yearbook sales, and did not do this for anyone else.

123

I had a lot to say but I’ll keep this short:

  1. Catherine is lucky to have as devoted a parent as you.

  2. I bet the principal is getting kickbacks too. Whether you want to put put your kid through the ringer of a media spectacle is up to you.

124

It would be so tempting to take out an ad in the yearbook that said “I paid to get an A in my yearbook class”

125

If your daughter were a senior, I’d say take it as far as you want. Since she still has a year in school, it’s up to you if you want to end it here or not.

I really feel bad for the other kid with an F. Is it someone you know? Would you feel comfortable talking to the parents? Of course I don’t know if that studen is as hard a worker as your daughter, or if there have been grade problems all year, so it’s hard to compare.

126

Wow, that’s messed up. I’d really consider sending a slightly edited version of this to the superintendent and asking for information about district grading policies. And failing action here, it might be worth contacting your state government representative–nothing complicated, just a version of the email you send to the superintendent.

I’m sorry about this. Schools should be better than this.

Edit: by the way, your daughter sounds like she’s also handling it really well.

127

When I followed the link to your daughter’s website, I recognized it. I think your daughter posted here herself earlier this year, a post about not fitting in well at school in which she talked about being into the arts and so forth. Search isn’t working for me but I recall commenters chiming in that a few years from now once she is further out in the world and away from the confines of school she’ll probably make plenty of friends and find “her” people.

I’m referencing that because I also recall noticing that it seemed to be a small town and she described what sounded like cronyism amongst the teachers. (She didn’t use that word, it just is how the description registered in my head.) All considered, it doesn’t seem that surprising that there might be some shenanigans at play here. I agree 100% with others who have said this sounds insane, it is essentially buying grades.

As for the principal repeating that they get audited all the time and there are no problems, that sounds shady in itself. Why would a rural school in a small town get audited, like, EVER, much less repeatedly?! Seems like it’s either totally false and they’ve never (or rarely) been audited, or they really have been, possibly because of others raising concerns about things that seem “off”?

Unless you think the fallout would be too much for your daughter, I’d consider talking to one of those “consumer watchdog” reporters most news outlets have - or at least telling the principal that’s my next step and see if it magically changed the grade instantly yet again.

Sorry you and your daughter are dealing with this crap. Some people are just rotten. But lots of people aren’t! The good thing is that she’s got such talent that she’s bound to have many wonderful opportunities in the future. Hang tough!

128

My first five years of teaching, our school never got audited to the best of my knowledge. Now it seems to be a yearly thing, at two different schools. I’m not sure, but I suspect that it’s become a best practice among school administration to conduct audits more frequently.

I’m not at all convinced it’s shady on the teacher’s personal end; embezzlement doesn’t seem the likeliest root cause. It seems a lot likelier to me that the yearbook has the potential to act as a moneymaker for the school, funding a general supply fund or something similar, and that the yearbook teacher is facing pressure to maximize revenue both from the yearbook company and from his boss. It’d be appropriate to ask central office about this matter.

And while of course you’re under no obligation at all, the idea that the teacher is asking her to keep the actual grading policy a secret is outrageous, and I think it’s well worth you and/or your daughter publicly rejecting that idea. Now the grading policy seems to be, “Give your teacher hundreds of dollars, or get your dad to raise a stink, if you want a good grade.” Again, we’re talking about a policy that disadvantages poor kids, and that’s unacceptable.

129

Bingo. While we’re treating schoolwork as if it was business, can we introduce the rest of business to it? E.g. let’s let students subcontract out sales and collect the profit, er, I mean good grades. Or perhaps a few students could get together, stage a merger, and all sell ads together. In business it’s ok, because what matters is results, not demonstrating learning.

130

I’m not really sure on what basis the practice might be illegal.

But it’s clearly open to all sorts of abuses and is unwise in the extreme.

131

I agree. It sounds like the school is accepting Jostens’ proposition without thinking it through.

Reading about your meeting with the principal, I agree sending what you wrote here to the Superintendent sounds like a fine idea. I would cc the media. I can’t imagine them running with the story, but you never know.

132

The idea that the grading policy may be changed for one student but not another, and seemingly based on whims is probably not criminal, but it certainly appears to violate the student’s right to due process.

Like I said, burn it to the ground. Anytime a person in position of authority asks you to keep something secret that benefits them and not you, it’s bad. Blow the whistle like crazy.

I’d publish everything you have, probably stop short of doxxing them, but yeah, go to town. School board, social media, all the other advertisers, all the parents, local news, op-eds, and school district counsel. Bankrupt them. Fuck that shit.

I have performed financial audits of schools. There is no way in hell inappropriate behavior would be discovered in this fashion. Typical financial and control audits are not designed to detect this time of malfeasance. The principle is attempting to distract you by relying on the fact they get audited when this in fact does nothing.

I would also contact the company that paid for the ad that your daughter is working on and let them know how shitty the school is. And no way in hell should she submit her work. Possibly negotiate the work in return for an A, in writing. Then still fuck them over. Teenagers can’t engage in contracts anyways so you’ll have an out.

Who is the audience of the yearbook and its ads? Students, parents? The market is probably exceedingly small. The idea that sales are required for some podunk publication with circulation of ‘it doesn’t matter’ is ridiculous on its face.

133

I was also thinking - the school may have received complaints in the past - I wonder if there is anything discoverable that they would have known this is bad behavior. Could have grounds for a *42 U.S. Code § 1983 * suit. That hurdle is probably too high, but it could be a legit threat. Like I said, maybe they’ll pay for her college.

134

It could violate the Ohio Code of Professional Conduct for Educators.

Unbecoming conduct includes “soliciting students . . . to purchase . . . supplies . . . that financially benefit the educator without notifying the superintendent.” That might, if there are additional facts, apply. There’s also the clause that “Educators needs to ensure that decisions made about students . . . are not negatively influenced by the socioeconomic status of parents,” and I think this could easily be in violation of that.

But you’re probably right; this probably doesn’t violate a law. Penalties for violating the code of professional conduct are generally limited to disciplinary measures, up to and including revocation of license. In this case, I’d think a formal letter of reprimand, and a signed agreement about future grading practices, would suffice.

Edit: Bone, I think encouraging the girl to exact petty revenge by ruining the business’s relationship with the school is an awful idea. It sounds like Catherine is pretty passionate about the yearbook, and there’s a valuable lesson in compartmentalization here: she’s allowed to think the teacher is being a jerk and still think the yearbook is a laudable project. If she changes class policies to make them more fair, she’ll feel great about it and be respected by peers. If she makes the yearbook take a hit, she’ll probably feel shitty and be resented by peers. This is a case where the high road is a mighty fine road to take.

135

In addition to what others have said, what makes this “grading policy” especially rootless is the fact that a student can have a grade changed from an F to now a B+ simply through parental bitching.

If I am a teacher who believes that my grading system is on the up and up and I have looked at your performance and decide it deserves and F, why would a parental complaint change that to a B+ when I still insist that my grading system was proper?

136

But an audit will probably be limited in scope to public money allocated to the school. I doubt it would cover nickle and dime accounts like a yearbook operation that raise their own funds.

137

That’s your opinion, not fact. The reality is that it’s a bit of a grey area. Education has to be a balance between ivory tower academic intellectualism for it’s own sake and pure trade schools that serve only to teach job skills.
IMHO, the “fairness” of the class should not be based on the OP’s daughter’s grade but whether the expectations for this class were clearly set at the beginning of the class. If the teacher specifically stated that selling yearbooks would be a large component of the grade, I think complaining after the fact is sort of helicopter parenting grade-grabbing.

Another important life lesson is that sometimes you fail at shit.

138

I’m going to say - your point is more reasonable than mine. That being said, there is a time to be unreasonable.

If the truth would ruin a relationship between a business and the school, then it deserves to be ruined. Maybe if the people who advertise in the yearbook knew what they were supporting they would discontinue support and the practice would be abandoned.

If the teacher is trying to protect their reputation by keeping the arbitrary grading policy a secret, then it deserves to be exposed. If the yearbook class cannot be sustained without these tactics, the class should be abolished. They could easily require a lab fee of some amount to cover the costs of the class up front and then grade fairly.

If unpunished, the lesson is that some people are fucking assholes and they are untouchable. Even if she is able to elicit change in class policies - that’s great, but there would still not be any consequences suffered by the teacher or the school. That doesn’t seem fair at all.

Clear expectations of unethical behavior do not make what was wrong suddenly become right.

I really hope **Crafter **recorded the conversations.

139

If the plan is to continue to base grades on income produced by students (how does one get an A in Sex Ed?), I suggest the parents of the yearbook student pool their money/each take out an ad in the Yearbook (since when do high school yearbooks have ads?).
Insist on providing your own copy - the school is runs it or doesn’t accept it.

The copy reads:
My daughter/son was pimped out by (teacher’s name) with the threat of a failing grade unless she/he produced $(whatever the quota), given to (teacher’s name). Mr/Ms (teacher’s surname) has the full support of principal (principal’s name).
We were unable to obtain an accounting of these funds.
If you find this practice distasteful, please do not support it by purchasing ad space (or unwanted copies of the (name of yearbook).
Thank you for your attention.
(signed)
Parents who do NOT pimp out their children.

140

My high school sold ads to local businesses since the early 60s at least. When my daughter graduated from high school a while ago, I bought a quarter page and put some pictures of her along with some parting words. It was unusual but not unheard of for parents back then, but it’s common now.