‘Somehow she had straight As in all of her classes.’ Teacher Finds Creative Way To Make Sure Lazy Student Doesn’t Get Special Treatment

Teachers have it rough, and I would think that the worst part of the job is actually the parents, not the kids or even the bureaucracy.

OP would confirm that, after moving to take a teaching job in a more rural area. They had trouble with one student in particular, and soon found out that her parents both worked in the district.

I moved to a new state to take a high school teaching job in a rural town.

I liked my fellow teachers and almost all my students, but this was a small town with the usual assortment of outsized attitudes.

She had straight A’s despite turning in late and often shoddy work and hardly bothering to pay attention when she showed up for class.

One student was particularly lazy.

Her parents both worked in the small school district (admin at the HS, teacher at the MS).

She rarely turned anything in on time, and what was turned in was generally rushed or incomplete as if she’d gotten the instructions secondhand.

Somehow she had straight As in all of her classes.

I quickly figured out why.

When OP gave her a (deserved) D on an assignment they found themselves in the principal’s office – with the girls parents.

When she turned in another late, incomplete assignment, and I very generously gave it a D, her overall grade in class dropped to a B.

I was called in the next day to a meeting with the principal and both of her parents who immediately complained I was being unfair and capricious with my grades.

OP explained themselves and answered all questions, but at the end of the meeting, was still directed by their principal to change the grade.

They accused me of not giving students the instructions, so I showed them the instruction paper which I passed out and went over in class.

They accused me of not giving her specifically a copy, but I remember handing it to her and I told them why: she was making out with her boyfriend when I was trying to go over the instructions. (They didn’t like hearing that part lol)

They accused me of not being clear with the deadline, but it was the second line of the directions.

They accused me of not fairly grading her work, but when I showed them her work, they clearly hadn’t seen it before and wondered whether I’d gotten assignments mixed up before I showed them her name on it.

The principal asked me to change the grade in the gradebook. I asked about whether she’d have to redo the assignment first, but that was declined by her parents.

I understand why my principal caved – it wasn’t worth trying to fight two employees in a small, rural district already struggling to recruit people.

So, not wanting to play favorites, OP changed all of the grades in the class.

So I went back to my classroom and changed every students’ grade to a 100 in the gradebook. No special treatment. Even the ones who hadn’t turned in a single thing got a perfect score.

When the rumor got back to he principal, he decided not to say a word about it – and he never said anything about OP’s grades again, actually.

The Fallout:

Many students asked me why their grade changed, but I never addressed it.

I would just brush them off by saying not to worry about it, though clearly rumors were spreading like wildfire in the small school, because even the secretary and the principal asked me about it later on.

I only said that yes, I changed her grade. The principal looked like he wanted to ask me about why I changed all the grades, but he just shrugged and walked away. He never interfered in my grade book after that.

The student’s parents transferred her out of my class and her boyfriend also transferred a day later (no more PDAs in my class, finally, so no complaints).

What does Reddit think of this method? Let’s hear them out!

The top comment says anything to put that kid in her place.

You always look to the parents.

They say parents like these make teaching harder for everyone.

Everyone agrees they are not doing their kid any favors.

It’s way too easy to burn out.

This is just one reason teachers have it rough.

And why some kids just never seem to thrive in the grown up world.