Michelle Malkin says here that she wants us to "support this public school teacher" -- meaning the one named in this AP story.
Teacher fired after lowering grade of sleeping athleteThe Associated Press - ATLANTA
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.
Neace left the building after the ruling and would not comment.
Sounds pretty harsh at first, eh? Firing the guy for "lowering" the grade of the nodding-off star athelete...?
Students are rallying around the 23-year veteran physics teacher.
"These students lost a teacher who cared not only about their academic growth, but their growth as individuals," said Deidre M. Stephens-Johnson, who represented Neace.More than 200 students, parents and teachers packed Thursday night's hearing. Many of them carried signs or wore T-shirts and buttons supporting Neace.
Aw, that's sweet. He sounds like a great and well-loved teacher. How in the world could they take him away?! Uh... Read on.
Gwinnett school officials said Neace was barred from campus for insubordination after he repeatedly refused to comply with a district policy that prohibits using grades as discipline.Neace, who has taught at Dacula High for 23 years, was removed from class after he refused to raise the grade he had given a football player on an overnight 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.
I had always gotten perfect grades in mathematics. Math just always came easy to me. (Until I hit calculus, that is.) One semester in my high school sophomore year my teacher decided to lower my grade from 95 to 85. Why? Because he thought I'd missed too many days of school. (Yeah, I played hookey a lot that year, what of it?)
My classmates argued for me. He refused to restore my proper grade, y'know, the one I earned on those tests we'd taken -- the tests that result in the numbers that are crunched at the end of each marking period that result in the grade. To this day I regret not hauling his @$$ into the principle's office.
But, this guy's @$$ was hauled in by the rightfully outraged student. Fire the man.
School officials said they gave Neace a chance to restore the football player's grade. When he refused, they sent him home. He has not been allowed back at school since April 14, when he was told he could resign or face being fired.Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks recommended to the board that Neace be fired.."
First of all: Why is the student repeatedly being refered to as an "athlete" or "football player"? He's a student and the incident took place in a physics class. Many are claiming that NOT to have cut his grade in half would have been "coddling" the "star athelete".
Nonsense.
This is purely a case of a teacher abusing his presumed and arrogantly assumed authority. Fire the man.
"He cannot have a policy that supersedes board policy," Wilbanks said. "He had no right to do that."
"No right"? Damn right! Discipline cuts both ways. Fire the man.
Neace said he had a practice of reducing the grades of students who waste time or sleep in class. His course syllabus warns that wasting class time can "earn a zero for a student on assignments or labs."
No administrators had previously complained about the practice, which he adopted more than a decade ago, Neace said.
Maybe that's because none of his previous victims knew that he was violating district policy which disallows such Draconian fiat from a public employee, so they just took it.
Mr. Neace substituted his own rules for the Board of Education's rules and got called on it. And for this blatant and defiant disregard for the Law he is somehow championed as a hero by many -- even some bloggers whose judgement I respect immensely. Why?
Many of Neace's champions echo his esteemed council:
"What we have in this case is a case of a pampered football athlete sleeping in class and being given favored treatment on an academic grade," said Michael Kramer, another of Neace's lawyers. "What we have here is the principal essentially attempting to coerce and intimidate a teacher."
Uh, no. What we have here is a teacher who thinks that he is above the law and likes to grade students not soley on their actual grades, but on whether or not they appear to be paying attention to his every precious gilded word.
(And, once again: The fact that the student is an athlete is as relevent as the fact that he may be left-handed. Sheesh!)
Neace crossed the line. He called himself the Law and then -- when clearly shown the obviousness of his own hubris -- still refused to yield. Fire the man.
School system spokeswoman Sloan Roach said she did not know when the termination would take effect. "He was already suspended with pay until the outcome of this hearing," she said.
Ferchrisakes, just fire the man!
UPDATE: Having read this post, now read the Associated Press article again. Read only the blockquoted italicized text and that bold title and then tell me that this AP story isn't teacher('s union)-friendly and student-athlete-hostile. Thanks for the fair and balanced reporting, AP. [/sarcasm]
And glad t'see that at least one one (1) fellow Munuvian seems to be able to see straight!
And that is the entire point I was making over at my place (thanks for the link, by the way). High school teachers don't have nearly the autonomy that this guy was seeking to claim. And to muddy the water with the words "football player" and "athlete" is just irresponsible. It is no different than teachers or students making a dispute into a question of race when it wasn't a factor.
This is about a teacher doing things with grades that are against district policy -- do you really think a kid who got a 100 on his homework assignment should have a 50 recorded for nodding off for a couple of minutes during class? Do a few moments of distraction really merit an F when he did A work?
It has everything to do with the student being a football player - don't kid yourself. I attended Dacula (Class of 93) as did my sister (class of 98) and brother (class of 04) and sadly it appears nothing has changed. Football players in particular have always been blatantly favored there. My brother played football for Dacula and whole-heartedly agrees. Doc Neace was the only male teacher that wasn't a coach when I attended, and has always been extremely well respected by the students. Most of the teachers at that school didn't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground, but Doc Neace was the exception. I am now the parent of a Gwinnett County student, so I have a vested interest in seeing good teachers stay. The firing of Doc Neace is a huge loss to the district and most importantly the students of Dacula High School.
Posted by: Stacy at May 7, 2005 02:52 PMActually, Stacy, the fact that so many of your teachers "didn't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground" would explain your post, which makes it clear that you also do not "know [your] a$$ from a hole in the ground".
A teacher is expected to abide by board policy -- one which seems to be longstanding. He was not in compliance, and refused to come into compliance. that is spelled I-N-S-U-B-O-R-D-I-N-A-T-I-O-N, and is grounds for terminination in any workplace I've ever encountered.
But I'll tell you what, little girl -- On Monday when your boss tells you to do your job, repeatedly tell him to take a hike and se how long it takes him to utter the words "You're Fired!" And guess what -- you won't get the luxury of a public hearing to plead your case.
Posted by: Rhymes With Right at May 7, 2005 05:04 PMStacy, thanks for dropping by!
I can go ahead and assume that the athlete's are coddled, but that doesn't change a thing. A difference that makes no difference IS no difference (as the saying goes). Football season is over, the student didn't loose any playing and the school year is nearly done. So, like, what's the connection? How does enforcing rules and ethical grading practices make anything extra-curricular at all relevent? The student could've been on the debate team, but the district policies remain the same.
And let's play nice in the comments! Ad hominems among the commenters suck. (Unless they're really clever and/or funny ones!) ;)
Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 7, 2005 05:50 PMEven in college, some courses were dependent on attendence which is something I never understood. If I can take the coursework and independently make the proper grades then why do I need to show up to every class? Placing discipline and grades in the same category is unfair and ineffective. I can tell you in high school and college, most of the time I chose to take the lower grade. My time was more important than being completely bored out of my mind.
Really if the kid was sleeping in class and still able to make the grades, he either exhibited some independent study skills or he had a natural inclination toward science. Why should he be punished for these things?
For the majority of kids out there, attending class matters. A few can get by without being there and do just fine, but most won't. Since they're kids and require direction and clear boundries for acceptable behavior, the best alternative is to make attendance mandatory, and the best way to enforce that is to tie it to grades.
Now an exceptional student might argue that it's a waste of their time, and be absolutely correct. But a slacker is going to make the exact same argument, and so will a student who overestimates their learning skills or is way overconfident. Bottom line, I'm the adult, you're a kid. Sit down. Unfair? Maybe to a few, my suggestion is to change the system on your own time.
Something else that matters: schools get funding based on the number of students that attend each day, not just average attendance or starting/ending figures, but each and every day. Here in Virginia, if schools close early for the day, they do so after first lunch period so they don't lose out on the money they receive for that day. Kinda like baseball games becoming official after 5 innings.
Posted by: Ted at May 8, 2005 09:01 AMI'm with you on this one, T.S.--it's unfortunate the student in question wasn't the President of the Chess Club instead of an "athlete"--teachers who grade subjectively are abusing their power.
Posted by: Susie at May 8, 2005 10:54 AMActually, Stacy, the fact that so many of your teachers "didn't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground" would explain your post, which makes it clear that you also do not "know [your] a$$ from a hole in the ground".A teacher is expected to abide by board policy -- one which seems to be longstanding. He was not in compliance, and refused to come into compliance. that is spelled I-N-S-U-B-O-R-D-I-N-A-T-I-O-N, and is grounds for terminination in any workplace I've ever encountered.
But I'll tell you what, little girl -- On Monday when your boss tells you to do your job, repeatedly tell him to take a hike and se how long it takes him to utter the words "You're Fired!" And guess what -- you won't get the luxury of a public hearing to plead your case.
Posted by Rhymes With Right at May 7, 2005 05:04 PM
Rymes With Right,
How does it feel to be a certified assh*le!!!
Posted by: anonymous at May 8, 2005 09:47 PM**shakes finger**
I have asked you nicely to play nice in the comments! You leave me no alternative but to ask you nicely again!
**abjectly shakes finger some more**
Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 8, 2005 10:08 PMHmmmmm....
What do you think, TS? Should I even take offense, since the poster in question doesn't offer anything in the way of identification, only an insult?
I mean, how am I supposed to respond to such a weighty, well-reasoned argument against my post?
Posted by: Rhymes With Right at May 8, 2005 11:04 PMNaah, let it go. If he or she has no argument than reply with no argument. If y'do otherwise then you're prolly only arguing with yerself!
Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 8, 2005 11:18 PMI just want to make it clear that I am not "anonymous"... When I have something to say I'll say it proud.
Bottom line is this project was a lab that they did in class the day the kid slept. Doc realized they didn't have enough time to finish during class and told them they'd have 10-15 minutes the following day to complete it, so it wasn't even homework, it was classwork that the kid slept through. The kid turned in a perfect paper because he got the answers from a classmate - the only logical conclusion and the claim of several of his classmates. Is deducting points for cheating punishment? The kids in this same class tend to disagree with you, Rhyme honey.
When Doc was informed that his 10+ year policy (that everyone knew about and agreed to up until this incident) was in violation of Gwinnett County rules, he AGREED TO CHANGE THE GRADE once he got assurance from the state ethics committee that he would not lose his license. GA law states that once a grade is in the books it is a legal document that cannot be altered - the purpose being so that teachers will not be pressured to change an athlete's grade. Doc wanted to make sure that he would not be found in violation before he changed it, and the admin & board fired him before he was able to get an answer.
I think the problem with your opinion, little boy/girl/whatever, may be your ignorance of all the facts in the case. Carry on... and "anonymous" - don't stick up for me any more I'm a big "little girl" ;)
Posted by: Stacy at May 11, 2005 05:06 PM...and as to telling my boss to take a hike?
"Self, take a hike"
"Self, take a hike"
"Self, take a hike"
Hmm.... nope, not fired. But I do feel a strange urge to go for a walk in the woods.... ;)
Posted by: Stacy at May 11, 2005 05:16 PMNew details can make all the difference, that's fer sure.
And cheating gets a zero and detention after school in the basement.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 11, 2005 07:23 PMIn talking to my brother the football player, he goes as far as to state that he was given a pass to skip classes and assignments by Coach Maloof (the football coach). He even claims to have witnessed an ethics violation regarding a football player's taking of the SAT. Think of the worst you can possibly imagine, and then know that Dacula is worse than that. Even I was suprised at what he was telling me.
Posted by: Stacy at May 13, 2005 03:17 AM