On September 14th of this year, a Florida teacher at West Gate, in the Point St. Lucie school district, was fired for giving a grade of zero to several students who refused to turn in their homework assignment.
Diane Tirado has been teaching students for over 17 years now, but when she took a year of personal leave, she was reappointed to West Gate, where she only taught for just over a month before being terminated.
The seasoned Social Studies teacher prides herself on teaching.
As a result of that belief, Tirado proudly practices the art of only giving credit where credit’s due; to the kids who actually make an effort.
Unfortunately, the St. Lucie School District and West Gate, in particular, seem to feel quite differently.
It all started in August when Tirado assigned what, she thought, would be a fun homework assignment.
Tirado instructed the students in her social studies class to keep what she called an “Explorer’s Journal”.
Similar to what one would expect of a 15th-century journal, she requested the students to fill the pages with drawings of maps and notes on historical events, to give them an immersive history experience. She even gave them two weeks to complete the assignment.
It wasn’t long after giving the kids their seemingly benign assignment that student and parental complaints started rolling in, making Tirado a regular visitor to the hot seat in the principal’s office.
Parent’s were upset about the homework load, finding the request to take history notes and draw maps over the course of two weeks to be a bit excessive for their children. According to the 52-year-old teacher, it was a nightmare.
“I got called down to the principal’s office because parents were not happy with me. It was ruining my life for weeks.”
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and several students failed to hand anything in to be graded. Acting on common sense, Tirado decided to give those students a zero for the homework assignment, as there was nothing for her to grade.
During one of the many visits with the principal before grading the assignment, the determined teacher was informed of the school’s grading policy.
In what is supposed to be a safeguard against students falling so far behind in a school year that they can’t catch up, the principal explained that they always give kids a score of 50% or greater.
When Tirado asked what to do in the event that a student fails to hand in an assignment, the principal’s response shocked her. In an interview with ABC13 Houston, the teacher recalled the details of the conversation.
“I asked him ‘Well, what do we do if they don’t turn anything in?’ and he goes ‘well, we’ll give them a 50’, and I said ‘Ohhh, no we don’t!”
Incredulous, Tirado went on to say that, in spite of the school’s take on “best practices”, she doesn’t give a grade without it being earned.
“I’m used to kids not handing in work… but then chasing them until the report cards are in to make sure they make it up. But I don’t give a grade for nothing.”
Shortly after grading the papers with a zero mark, Tirado was called back into the principal’s office to face her termination.
She was fired on a Friday at the end of a school day under the supervision of a police escort.
When she learned that she wouldn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to her students, she left them a heartfelt message and included the details of why she was leaving.
Bye Kids.
Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in.
♥ Mrs. Tirado”
She then snapped a picture of the whiteboard and sent it to students and faculty via a school app, and then posted it to her personal Facebook page the following day.
Within less than a month, the image has been shared over 3,000 times on Facebook alone.
The virility of Tirado’s post on social media poured more fuel on an already heated debate surrounding school board policies and what has been collectively called “the dumbing down of America”.
Inspired at the fact attention was being regenerated toward the serious lack of both ethics and good teaching practices being forced upon educators across the US, Tirado agreed to a live TV interview with Inside Edition News.
Before the interview on September 26th, Tirado posted a message on Facebook explaining the gravity of the situation.
The interview drew even more attention to the wayward school district policies and the need for change.
As a result, Tirado has received an overwhelming amount of support on social media, including from students and educators alike.
One teacher explained on Reddit what she had been told regarding the reasoning behind giving credit to students, even when they have failed to learn anything or turn in homework.
Even though the stated intention of the policy is to be equitable in how teachers grade a student’s performance, taking life circumstances into consideration, the majority of teachers and parents alike feel that the practice is seriously flawed.
One perceptive Redditor commented on the importance of allowing students to fail.
If students are just passed through the educational system, and the grades they receive aren’t a true reflection of their work, not only will this make them ill-prepared for the realities of adulthood, but it will also cause many students who just need help to fall through the cracks of society.
When students receive a passing grade for absolutely zero participation or effort, it sends the wrong message about how to approach life.
Could this be the cause of the overwhelming attitude of entitlement that we are seeing so much of in our society today?
Is the “everyone’s a winner” mentality we’re peddling helping or hindering the youth of our nation?
While there are many questions and points of view surrounding the debate of administrative enforced blanket-policies, one thing is for certain; it needs to be talked about so solutions can evolve out of the discussion, and that is exactly the battle that Tirado has signed up for.
Her hope, as well as thousands of other educators, parents, and students, is that nationwide awareness of the issue and subsequent conversation will bring about real, lasting, and ethical policy changes into the school district.
Check out her interview with Inside Edition below.
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