Keeping Teachers On Track

An opinion article by Sean Riley

Have you ever had a teacher who lacked teaching knowledge, had poor classroom control, frequently gave bad grades to good students, graded too heavily on “participation,”or totally just didn’t know how to teach? These characteristics my friends, are those of what is commonly referred to as a “horrible teacher.”

They don’t know what they’re doing. Maybe you don’t understand a word as they ramble on about covalent bonds, or maybe they lose control of the class and 5th period becomes a joke. Maybe they left you a comment on your report card that said “bad class participation” and your parents took it the wrong way and you ended up grounded for a week.

Listen. What we need is a new policy where the students get to give grades on which teachers are good and which teachers just suck. Yeah, there is Ratemyteachers.com, but sites like that don’t get teachers fired. A site that encourages students to give feedback on teachers but takes no action is like a journalist complaining about the newly elected president. You may hate him, but your article isn’t going to get him impeached.

What I’m talking about is a grade report, just like the one that students receive in the mail each quarter. These grade reports will include the letter grades A, B, C, D, and F, just like the students’ report cards, and there will be room on the side for leaving a comment. Now, students can get back at teachers for their undeserved D in geometry or F in health. You can also use this space to provide the teachers with the reasons why you didn’t particularly like them. Maybe they lectured on all day, or spoke in an accent you couldn’t quite understand.

I am very positive that this grade report system would work out just fine. Those teachers who received a grade that is not passing may perhaps lose their jobs. The teachers who received an A may just receive a little bonus to their salary.

Teachers: get your lesson plans together. A big surprise may just be coming your way!