A teacher in Georgia has been fired for insubordination when he refused a direct order to raise the grade of a football player that had fallen asleep during his class.
The controversy surrounds a disconnect between the teacher's syllabus where he explains that the rules in his class are that if a student wastes time or sleeps then the student will earn a zero for assignments or labs completed on that day. The 23-year veteran has been enforcing this policy in his classroom for more than a decade with no compaints from school administrators.
The problem, though, is that the district's school board has policy prohibiting teachers from reducing grades as a form of discipline.
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I am proud of the teacher for standing up for his beliefs. Erin has had several cases where she has been ordered to raise grades and has not felt like she had the freedom to disobey, even though she disagreed. I often wished at those times that we did not need her to work so that she could stand up and for what is right, despite the consequences.
I think that the board policy is out-of-line because it removes control of the classroom from the teacher. Secondly, a classroom is designed to train children for work. Sleeping on the job, even if you get your work done on-time and correctly will get you fired. Your behaviour will affect your job despite your work. The classroom should accurately reflect that.
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