JR2004
01-31-2008, 12:57 AM
Brett Shipp strikes again.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080130_mo_teacherrevolt.74dc8d3b.html
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV DALLAS - A teacher revolt at a Dallas High School has reached a fever pitch, and the fallout could get messy.
Teachers at Roosevelt High School are providing News 8 with evidence that they said shows failing students are being awarded passing grades.
The uproar began last October when the new school principal issued an edict instructing teachers to give students grades they didn't deserve.
One notable case involved one of Roosevelt's star football players, whose grade was evidently changed in the wake of the principal's new grading policy.
Roosevelt's football team made it to the playoffs this year with the help of several talented players. But the eligibility of at least one of those players is in question following revelations from some high school teachers who say they were instructed to change grades of failing students as part of a policy implemented last December by first-year principal Myrtle Jean Dixon.
"We have agreed to provide students a grade of 65 as the lowest grade for a grading period," read one edict allegedly made by Dixon.
One apparent example provided to News 8 was a grade change form for one of the football team's star players in which his failing six-weeks grade of 60 was changed to a passing grade of 70. Principal Dixon authorized the change.
However, Melinda Johnson, an English teacher at the school, said that is nothing new. She said she has been approached and asked to change a failing athlete's grades by four coaches and the vice principal.
"... I refused and I said, 'Nope,' and, 'I'm not going to change the grade,'" she said.
Johnson said she has been repeatedly harassed for standing up to the principal and her administration. In fact, she said it got so bad this week, she quit.
"But, I told those administrators at the building yesterday, 'You will see me on the media because there are things going on at this building that are illegal and unethical,'" she said.
But Johnson is not the only one who has come forward.
Thirty-five teachers and school employees have signed a petition questioning what they called intolerable conditions at the school, and unprofessional treatment by Principal Dixon.
Teachers Union representative Jeff Sherels said teachers have been begging district officials to investigate.
"Teachers are frustrated," Sherels said. "Teachers have forwarded complaints and concerns to various individuals in administration and nothing has been done."
Principal Dixon did not respond to News 8 calls.
"The district is aware of the issues raised by this group of teachers at Roosevelt and is continuing to work to address them," said DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander in a statement.
The grade-changing issue at Roosevelt is expected to come to a head at DISD's board meeting Thursday. Teachers said they will demand action until the grade-changing policy is reversed.
E-mail bshipp@wfaa.com
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080130_mo_teacherrevolt.74dc8d3b.html
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV DALLAS - A teacher revolt at a Dallas High School has reached a fever pitch, and the fallout could get messy.
Teachers at Roosevelt High School are providing News 8 with evidence that they said shows failing students are being awarded passing grades.
The uproar began last October when the new school principal issued an edict instructing teachers to give students grades they didn't deserve.
One notable case involved one of Roosevelt's star football players, whose grade was evidently changed in the wake of the principal's new grading policy.
Roosevelt's football team made it to the playoffs this year with the help of several talented players. But the eligibility of at least one of those players is in question following revelations from some high school teachers who say they were instructed to change grades of failing students as part of a policy implemented last December by first-year principal Myrtle Jean Dixon.
"We have agreed to provide students a grade of 65 as the lowest grade for a grading period," read one edict allegedly made by Dixon.
One apparent example provided to News 8 was a grade change form for one of the football team's star players in which his failing six-weeks grade of 60 was changed to a passing grade of 70. Principal Dixon authorized the change.
However, Melinda Johnson, an English teacher at the school, said that is nothing new. She said she has been approached and asked to change a failing athlete's grades by four coaches and the vice principal.
"... I refused and I said, 'Nope,' and, 'I'm not going to change the grade,'" she said.
Johnson said she has been repeatedly harassed for standing up to the principal and her administration. In fact, she said it got so bad this week, she quit.
"But, I told those administrators at the building yesterday, 'You will see me on the media because there are things going on at this building that are illegal and unethical,'" she said.
But Johnson is not the only one who has come forward.
Thirty-five teachers and school employees have signed a petition questioning what they called intolerable conditions at the school, and unprofessional treatment by Principal Dixon.
Teachers Union representative Jeff Sherels said teachers have been begging district officials to investigate.
"Teachers are frustrated," Sherels said. "Teachers have forwarded complaints and concerns to various individuals in administration and nothing has been done."
Principal Dixon did not respond to News 8 calls.
"The district is aware of the issues raised by this group of teachers at Roosevelt and is continuing to work to address them," said DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander in a statement.
The grade-changing issue at Roosevelt is expected to come to a head at DISD's board meeting Thursday. Teachers said they will demand action until the grade-changing policy is reversed.
E-mail bshipp@wfaa.com