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Speak Out: Should a Student Be Able to Sue Over a Bad Grade?
A recent story out of Albany Patch has parents across the country talking. What do you think of the situation?
A 2011 photo at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of Peggy Carlock (center) with Albany High's regional winning team for the National Science Bowl competition. http://www.albanyhighcougar.com/articles/the-science-bowl-saga
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According to Albany Patch in New York, a former Albany High student and his mother are suing the school district over a C+ grade the student received in 2011.
Bowen Bethards, 17, and his mother, Laureen, filed a lawsuit last month against former chemistry teacher Peggy Carlock, who stepped down from her position in March amid much speculation.
The grade, they said, did not reflect the student's academic achievements and, instead, was the result of intentional efforts by the teacher to ruin the boy's future.
What do you think of a student suing a teacher over a grade? Would you or your child ever consider it?
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Christine
9:48 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
If I didn’t have any firsthand knowledge of this teacher, I would say it was ridiculous. However, not only am I from Albany, but I had the unfortunate experience of being in a class with this teacher. She thrived on wielding her ‘power’ over students, showing preference to some students while blatantly embarrassing others in public. It was like being taught by your worst vision of a class bully, right down to taking your lunch money. Yes, she actually took money from her students. And yes, I know this because it happened to me personally. She used and abused her students and, if at any point they pushed back, it was either their grade that suffered or their pocket book. In some cases, it was both. If I was still in California, I would sit front row at her trial, on the side of the prosecution.