My son is in kindergarten in a charter school in our town. At his first parent/teacher conference in November we were told he was below basic in many areas. When his report card came he got 2 "C's" and 2 "D's" along with "A's" in all of the non-core subjects. His teacher explained that his grades were based on his meeting kindergarten level standards, since he was not meeting end of year standards he had earned poor grades. My husband and I questioned this to be sure we understood, and she explained that grades are based on what he is expected to do at the end of the year, and that since he did not know all of that material - despite the fact that it had not yet been taught - he was considered to be near failing. An administrator who happened to be attending the meeting backed her up. This seemed ridiculous to me but I was of a mind that kindergarten grades are not a big deal (most schools don't even give grades until years later anyway) I felt it was best to let it go.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. My son is given his second report card. It is much better. I have pulled him out of the class and am home schooling him due to the fact that he was being bullied in the classroom and the teacher refused to even look into it. Letters to the principal brought no response. My son had responded to the bullying with aggression. It wasn't a politically correct response, but he is in kindergarten, and when he told the teacher what was happening she refused to believe him - she shared that in an IEP meeting, explaining it away by assuring everyone in the room that "no one else saw that", even when I had reported seeing it take place.
Finally, this last week I had a couple of conversations with different people. The Speech therapist who works with my son told me that she had to insist repeatedly that the teacher base my son's grades on the most recent information she had, she said the teacher was planning to grade him on earlier information despite the fact that he is currently completing first grade level writing. He can write a full sentence properly, with a capital at the start, spaces between the letters, and a period at the end. She intended to give him a "D". her reasoning was that many of her other students were doing no better now than at mid-term so using mid-term grades was reasonable despite the fact that he had been tested the week before and had aced the writing portion of the test.
Then a couple of days later I spoke to some mom's of other kindergartners at the same charter school that I have known for a few years. Their kids are not being graded on the principal of meeting end of year standards. Their kids are being graded on what they have been taught, not on what they will be taught in the future. Imagine that, being graded reasonably. So the next question is what to do with this information. I decided it was time to write a letter asking for the schools actual policies. This seemed pretty reasonable to me. I asked what the policy is for grading kindergartners both in regards to academic standards and regarding the use of time sensitive testing. I figured an honest and forthcoming administrator would be happy to share policy with me.
Apparently I was wrong to assume I would reach an honest (forget forthcoming) administrator. I was told to "ask the teacher". If I wasn't happy with that answer "ask the principal". So ask the teacher who I already suspect has lied to me and ask the principal who completely ignored my concerns about my child being bullied. Besides, I was just asking for a copy of a written policy, why the run around? Not only was I told that he would not answer my questions, but he sent this letter at 9:18 on the Saturday night before Easter, and included a "have a happy holiday" as though he was being friendly and helpful.
Well, this is exactly why our legislators have made a policy that requires that public entities must make their records open to public scrutiny. The thinking is that we, the public are their owners, since it is our taxes that pay for their programs, and so we have the right to view how they are using that money. We have the right to keep them accountable.
So I sent a request for public records. I asked that they supply me with copies of their written internal grading policies for kindergartners in regards to academic standards, copies of their written internal policies regarding current v. older testing. I also asked for copies of my son's specific testing just prior to both grading periods, copies of the e-mail transaction between the teacher and the SLP who shared that they had gone back and forth several times over how the teacher was choosing to grade my son (using old information when she had new information). Copies of e-mails between the teacher and the school administrator who had backed up what appears to be a flawed method of grading. Finally I requested their e-mail destruction policy, because without a policy they may not legally destroy any e-mails legally.
They have now boxed themselves into corner. If they don't give me the information I have requested, including the emails, they set themselves up for criminal charges. Once we get the information it is likely it will be obvious that they are covering up a for a bad teacher. Either way, it doesn't look good for them. It would have been best if they had realized early on that this teacher is trouble. I have been told that several other parents have written letters of complaint about her methods. It should have been obvious to the administration that this was not the person that should be teaching kindergarten. But this is the way it usually goes. It is rare that administration want to face the fact that they have made a mistake in hiring. They may meet with the teacher and try to ensure change, but as long as the masses quiet down, one child being harmed just isn't worth the effort. It is nerve wracking and anxiety producing to take these battles on, but if we don't who will be the teacher's victim next year? We can't fix it for my child, but maybe we can keep kids safe from this kind of treatment in the future.
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