In the American education system, there were formerly many drop-outs. However, recently those numbers have become drastically lower. The reason is not because more students are doing well, but because teachers can no longer allow students to fail for the sake of their career and the government. Moreover, because of the no child left behind grant and other reforms, any person who has “disabilities” or has claimed any number of “disabilities” can retake classes as needed until they pass. This system is abused. Thus teachers are tempted to give what are called the unforgivable grades: the pity grade, given out of the dearth of motivation from the student; the “get-out”, where the student retakes a class so many times the teacher finds their presence so utterly annoying and therefore makes them pass; and government intervention, to which should not have a hand in the educational system except for funding.
The first of these grades is most widely known as the pity grade. The pity grade is a grade given by the teacher’s discretion to a certain student because of circumstance. Most of the time, teachers are used by the students as tools for …show more content…
I was tired and had a headache. I realized that my face was hurting from keeping a smile on it and that the noise the kids were making was really "below my line." I decided to stop smiling and tell them how I was feeling. I said "I 'm tired, my head hurts, and I 'm sick of smiling and pretending that all the noise you are making doesn 't bother me. It does. I don 't think I can stand it anymore." I was amazed! The children quieted down right away. One of them even brought me a glass of water! I guess I shouldn 't have been so surprised. They didn 't know how I felt until I told them. After all, I 've been smiling and acting as if I were feeling good until then. One of the boys met me on my way into the classroom the next morning. He wanted to know if I felt better." (Gordon