I came upon this story recently and, after I finished convulsing in both hysterics and horror, I reread it again to make sure I wasn’t suffering from some monumental (the operative part being mental) psychosis.

Here’s the jist of the story, please sit down and surround yourself with soft pillows in case you seize up after reading this.

A teacher was fired because she gave a grade of 0 (Zero) to students who didn’t turn in their homework. I will give you a moment to digest this.

Here’s a quote from the story.

“A middle school teacher was promptly let go after she was told by school administrators that she failed to follow the school guidelines when it came to grading her students.

“Diana Tirado, who taught U.S. History at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida was forced to say goodbye to her students after she was fired from her job for not giving the students any credit for their homework.

Tirado defended her decision after she was fired for giving her students all zeroes for not turning in their homework.”

https://www.yourtango.com/news/middle-school-teacher-fired-giving-students-zeroes

The school has a “No Zero” policy which is listed in the student and parent handbook as “no zeroes – lowest possible grade is 50%.”  I didn’t think anyone ever read these things and, had I known they may have contained such idiotic loopholes, I might have read them.

The students who suffered this life altering ignominy complained of this grievous violation, bringing it to the teacher’s attention and then complaining up the chain of command until she was fired. Apparently they couldn’t do the homework but did read the book.

Are you f&^%ng kidding me.

Let me get this straight. If a student turns in nothing for a homework assignment, they get a score of 50%. For Doing Nothing.

I suppose if they had submitted a blank piece of paper on time they’d get maybe 70% under this logic. What exactly is this policy designed to teach? Ignoring assignments carries no serious consequences?

And what about the students who actually did the work? Do they get a bonus for following instructions? Do they get a free pass on the next assignment? Probably not. What they get is a life lesson on the inherent unfairness of the world.

As to the nitwits who can’t even be bothered to make an attempt at doing their schoolwork, when these geniuses hit the real world, not completing assignments won’t be worth 50%, it will be worth a termination letter and unemployment. Of course, unemployment compensation may be their crowning achievement in their earning history. Either that or they should at least study for their Walmart Shopping Cart Retriever Driver’s License. I hear the driving test is a bear.

And has for the teacher who stood her ground, I hope some sensible school district will recruit her. We need more teachers like that.

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