A high school senior from Memphis is suing his school because he was assigned a grade of A instead of the A+ he thought he ‘earned’ in an intermediate school district work-experience class.
His work-study class involved working as a paralegal in his mother’s office. She gave him a perfect score. But, the intermediate school district only allows points upto 11. There is no A+. So, when the Memphis school assigned the grade, it had to assign an ‘A’.
The student claims that this will unfairly detract his chances to become school valedictorian.
My take (and the reason it’s in Pits)
Where does the kid get off ?
Kinda convenient working for Mama Mia, huh ? But, I’m sure you perfectly earned that A.
The kid isn’t so smart after all. Guess what ? Colleges will be throwing themselves at you now after you filed this lawsuit.
Spoiled rich little shit!! It must be nice to know you could always go work for your mamma. THis is the kind of cry baby that will still be living with his parents when he is 30.
I was burned the same way in the past, when one high school teacher refused to give out an A+ on the basis of “an A is perfect. How can you be better than that?” However, the school as a whole and many colleges include an A+.
I’m not saying that I would have sued, but I am saying that a lot of people may be kneejerking (no names, now) and that if a lawsuit is the only way to get this matter resolved, then so be it.
Please, people, be sure to read the story before you add your voice to the chaos.
Weird. I probably can’t remember it in exact detail, but I think my school had a 4 point system, and would allow (in exceptional circumstances) an A+ with a value something over 4. I can’t remember if they then truncated or not, but I had a 4.0 and was not the valedictorian nor even the mutherhumpin’ salutatorian. I should have sued.
Nothing in the story really made his case all that more sympathetic. The difference between an A+ and an A is very unlikely to be what keeps this kid from getting into Harvard. Maybe it affects his chances to be valedictorian, but he should get over it.
But I think it does show the kinds of inane things that high-achieving students will do to ensure that they are not just achieving, but achieving more than anyone else. And that their parents encourage and support.
Well, it seems to me that if he took the class through a different school district (which he appartently did), they have to use the grading issued by the district in which the work (and thus the grading) was done. That’s certainly the case when you transfer schools.
Colleges realize that many schools don’t have plus/minus grading systems, and correct for that when looking at GPA’s. Besides, valecidtorian doesn’t mean jack shit on a hill of beans, either in college admissions or life. Admissions decisions are already made by then. Being valedictorian and a dollar will get you a soda.
Besides, this lawsuit only brings him negative attention. Any admission officer who’s seen the story is going to wonder why he couldn’t get a school job with a non-relative, not mention quesitoning how much of the perfect grade was based on Mom doing the grading.
This kid has nothing to gain with this lawsuit, and potentially a great deal to lose.
I’m wondering something. Can a minor sue someone? Does a parent have to sue on behalf of the minor?
I know (or at least I believe) that minors can’t enter into contracts so how could a minor contract with a lawyer to do this?
Of course in this case I wonder which law firm is representing him?
Yet another little schmucko who turns to the courts for redress of gasp emotional injury inflicted on his poor little boo-boo by the big mean world. He needs to park his dismal keyster in the diner of life and enjoy a hot, steaming cup of STFU! :wally
I missed out on being valedictorian of my law school class by one or two hundredths of a grade point. I got screwed over by being accidentally placed in a class with a professor I didn’t sign up for, who was baffling, crazy, and apparently graded by dartboard (although his daughter did fine). I appealed the grade and requested to be allowed to retake the class with the professor I originally signed up for, who was sane. I tried to convince them that in a class called trial simulation, the one thing you really ought to do, at some point, was simulate a trial. No dice.
So I got a grade I feel like I didn’t deserve, and feel like I got cheated out of being valedictorian, which greatly disappointed me at the time and still burns me a little. But I didn’t sue anybody. Nobody likes coming in second, but you have to realize all grades are arbitrary to some degree, and no school/employer is going to overlook you because you are merely the salutatorian.
Agreed. The article said he was at the top of his class at the end of 11th grade, anyway.
I somewhat agree.
From the article:
I don’t think that this student’s life will be over if he doesn’t get the A+. I do think, though, that the board should not have rejected altering its policy. The student received a grade of 100%, yet when his grade from the class was incorporated into the Memphis school system, he no longer had a grade of 100%.
I’m not going to run out and protest this in the streets, but I do see the problem here.
Watch this space next week for a second lawsuit, when this loser sues because he spilled his hot cup of Shut-The-Fuck-Up on his lap and burned himself.
:rolleyes:
While I don’t think a lawsuit is the answer, I do understand where he’s coming from.
In my sister’s district (and the one I was in), being put into an honors course is wholly contingent upon one’s test scores. My sister doesn’t test well, and was put into regular math. She got something like 107%. An obvious A+.
Now, honors classes in my district are given greater weight than regular courses. 5 points for an A versus 4 points for an A. My sister got an A+. I think she deserves a higher GPA, mostly because she was kept out of the classes that would’ve given her a higher GPA. The kid could handle honors math no sweat. But because she gets really, really nervous when she takes a test…