Local: The buck stops over there somewhere

February 19, 2008
By Billy Dennis

Peoria School District 150 today approved a policy that essentially takes then out of the loop when parents protest the grades given their little darlings.

I may be the only person in Peoria who thinks this is a bad idea.

Hear me out.

This comes two weeks after the board voted 5-2 to change a Richwoods High School student’s grade to a “B” from a “C.” I don’t know all the details, but plenty has been revealed on the Web to suggest the kid probably deserved the grade she got. Jim Stowell and Rachael Parker were the only board members who voted to not interfere, and they were right to do so. Kudos to them for getting it right the first time.

Teachers, principals and superintendents are, in the end, no different than any other public employee. Their work should always be subject for review by taxpayers’ elected representatives.

The idea that parents — those taxpayers who are most directly affected by the actions of teachers and administrators — do not now have the right to even seek redress of a grievance from their elected representatives is stunning to me.

Of course, there’s no substitute for character. We have to have board members who have the wisdom and courage to say “no.” Teachers are not infallible, and neither are administrators. Therefore, there needs to be the option for the school board to step in when necessary, and say “Yes, you are right and the teacher is wrong.”

I had some really good teachers in my day. I had one or two stinkers, too.

The problem in this case isn’t that the school board had an opportunity to change a student’s grade. The problem is that after the board listened, they should have voted to uphold the teacher’s grade.

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4 Responses to “ Local: The buck stops over there somewhere ”

  1. AnotherExJSer on February 19, 2008 at 2:55 am

    I think you have this one right, Mr. D. The board showed cowardice on both ends, which is just what I would expect from that body.

  2. VONSTER on February 19, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    When we lost the willingness to let the schools tell us our kids were f’ing up, we lost the ability to raise good kids.

  3. Site news: 10,000th post : Peoria Pundit on February 20, 2008 at 12:42 am

    [...] This post was, according to my stats, was my 10,000th post. [...]

  4. Peoria Pundit » Media: D-150 combines ignorance and arrogance at Friday's press conference on June 14, 2008 at 1:38 am

    [...] all she needs to know the administration will tell her. And then there’s the time they voted to change a student’s grade from a “C” to a “B.”  And there are more examples of this sort of butt-headedness, but they are too numerous to [...]