February Editorial
Soon, America will witness the 2012 Academy Awards, where stars of the silver screen will be recognized for their salient achievements of the past year; meanwhile, we will speculate and fawn and wonder what – and perhaps who – those celebrities are wearing. With a flash of his eyes, Ryan Gosling will make women (and men alike) swoon to the ground. And we will feel butterflies inside our stomachs as we adore these celebrities with wide eyes. But why?
What if, instead, we had award shows for firemen, for paramedics, for policemen? What if instead we adorned teachers the way we do movie stars? To each his own. Seldom do we appreciate the role of teachers in our lives. Often we complain, especially after they refuse to round us up that one little percent. Yet, we do so because we cannot grasp the very significance they play in our lives.
This year, many teachers lost one of the aspects of control they used to have in teaching their respective courses – the right to change grades after AP tests. We do not dispute the fact that the policy may be misguided in some aspects, but it ultimately gave teachers another variable to utilize when determining student grades. It gave teachers more choice.
Supposedly, according to California Education Code 49066, “the grade given to each pupil shall be the grade determined by the teacher of the course, and… the grade… shall be final.” But is it?
Theirs is a creative profession, one that requires immense amounts of planning, spontaneity and a rare idealism that is so consciously lacking in today’s society. In the end, what does it matter if teachers choose to change their students’ grades after the initial submission of grades? They deserve the right to be allowed to maintain a level of autonomy regarding the structure and organization of their own course, especially concerning the grading of students.
The minds of students are young and malleable, open to guided sculpting by steady hands. We need to learn to respect, honor and recognize the pivotal role that teachers play in our lives, and the rights that they deserve.
