Being a good teacher isn’t always an easy task, especially with all the rules and regulations you have to follow. One Florida teacher learned this the hard way after being fired for giving students who failed to turn in their assignments zeros.
Diane Tirado had been teaching for years, but in August she got a new job as an 8th grade history teacher at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie. But when several students failed to turn in a project, after she gave them two weeks to complete it, she gave them zeros.
Apparently the school has a no zero policy. The lowest grade is a 50 percent. Just a few weeks after school started, Tirado was fired for the grades she gave.
She left a message to the students on the board, which she later posted on her Facebook page. It said, “Bye Kids, Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I’ve been fired for refusing to give you a 50 percent for not handing anything in.”
Because she was still in her probationary period, the school didn’t give her an explanation exactly why she was fired, so she may not be able to get help from the teachers’ union or sue the school. Still, Tirado doesn’t regret standing up for what she believes in.
Tirado says that teachers should be consistent and base their grades on work that has been done. This is a grading scale that has been around for years. She says most teachers love their kids and want them to succeed, and many people are siding with her.
Other teachers have admitted that they would be out of a job too, and that teachers should have the right to decide what grade a child receives. Many have expressed their full support of her.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time a teacher has been fired for giving out zeros. Lynden Dorval was a physics teacher at Ross Sheppard High School in Edmonton, Canada. She was suspended in 2012 for giving out zeroes to students who didn’t turn in their work.
Dorval took the case to court and was compensated for his termination, which included two years’ salary and an increase in his pension. He says he knew what he did was right, whether it was legal according to the school policy or not.
Hopefully Tirado’s story will change the way schools handle students who don’t turn in their work. What do you think? Was she right? Be sure to share this story with your family and friends and see what they think.