By Mark Fowler


"By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.“ —Genesis 3:19, New International Version

Let me introduce Diane Turado, formerly a U.S. History teacher with the Port St. Lucie public school system in Florida. In 2018, she was fired for refusing to implement a no-zero grading policy. Having assigned the students an explorer notebook project and given two weeks to complete it, she discovered two things: Students do not always pay attention, and the system had a no-zero grading policy, meaning that even though students turned in no work, they must receive no less than 50% on the project. Turado found that unacceptable, refused to enforce it, and was fired. No doubt her departure lowered the intellectual wattage of the St. Lucie school system considerably. In Wisconsin, there is discussion about implementing a similar policy because "giving a student zeroes is discouraging to them.”

Indeed.

Following a three-year period of improvement in math and reading scores, proficiency in 2017-2018 fell to approximately 40%, meaning that 60% of Wisconsin students are not age proficient in math or reading. There are more issues than the grading methods at play.

The author of Genesis had a profound understanding of theology, history, and life. Though Genesis is not a scientific or historical treatise, per se, it is an excellent exposition on the condition of man. Thus, we eat by the sweat of our brow. Meaning life is hard, surviving is hard, and true success is even harder. Life is less rigorous now than it was at the time the author penned those words. Nevertheless, the principle is the same. A no-zero grading policy is an excellent way to shield children from this harsh reality.

To the extent that children lack a solid foundation at home, their journey is harder. Children of single-parent homes have difficulty performing in school and succeeding at life. They need parents to feed them, clothe them, make sure they get needed sleep. But facing the multitude of handicaps now prevalent in the modern world, the last thing they need is a no-zero grading policy. They must learn that actions have consequences; that failure to perform is not acceptable. But they must also learn that hard work brings its own rewards. Mastery of a task is thrilling. Real success as a result of genuine effort feels good. Students must discover that the keys to success are truly in their hands if they will exert themselves. A quality public education must be delivered within the context of a program that rewards effort, disciplines sloth, and teaches an ethic of dedicated application.

To the extent that grades measure content knowledge, work effort, and subject mastery, they are reliable only to the extent that the student has put forth some effort. To give points for having a pulse and showing up occasionally is to betray that child and impede his future. If a child turns in no work and feels the sting of a low grade, his best path to success is to learn from his mistake and redouble his effort. This must come at the expense of playing, idleness, and the infernal slavish devotion to electronic games. It requires “sweat of the brow.” To master the lessons of the satisfaction of true success while abjuring idleness is to learn accountability, and school teaches no other skill as important as this.

Lamentably, however, we no longer live in a world where demanding work is deemed honorable. We no longer live in a world where accountability is important. What is marketed as compassion is often enabling injurious behavior. Handing out clean needles, regardless of other potential benefits, sanctions with a wink IV drug use. No-cash bail weakens the power of the criminal justice system to apprehend and punish prisoners. Forgiving student loan debt takes money away from an individual who earned it and gives it to an individual who did not earn it. It weakens the solemnity of contracts and encourages lack of discipline in terms of work and budgeting in those getting underserved loan forgiveness. On the border, unregulated immigration is not allowing the huddled masses to escape oppression so much as it burdens American citizens with loss of jobs, increased taxes to provide services, and destruction of property at the border. Unregulated immigration places the immigrants at risk of death, sexual trafficking, and exploitation. There is a right way to do things, and government at all levels should model that behavior, not reward inappropriate behavior.

Dr. Ben Carson is a living example of the benefit of hard work. Raised by a single mother who could barely read, he was kept in church and encouraged to read and do book reports by his mother. Hard work became a staple of his life. Now retired from medicine, at one time he was a world-renowned neurosurgeon, the most demanding type of physician there is. How did he do this? Effort. Disciplined, dedicated effort.

The real effect of no-zero grading is to teach a child that he need not address his schoolwork; need not obey the authority of the teacher; need not apply himself; need not dare to discover the limits of his ability. He learns, from his viewpoint, school is a waste of time. Regardless of his poor performance, he skates by. Do not imagine for a minute that his lack of performance will significantly impair his “social promotion.” The policy handicaps him. When he graduates from high school, deep in his heart he knows that he is not proficient at math or reading; that school is a joke; that the diploma he holds as he walks off the stage is a meaningless piece of paper. He achieved nothing, accomplished nothing, and is prepared for nothing. He learns that there are no real consequences for sloth.

If he can get hired, he brings the same attitude with him to work. No point in following rules. No point in following direction from his employer. No benefit to showing up on time ready for work. If he is very unfortunate, he carries this attitude with him everywhere. So he walks away from job after job thinking too much is expected of him. He walks away from his family.

He never finds the satisfaction of a task completed, a thing built well, the comradeship of co-workers. He never learns that defeat or failure, though carrying a cost, can be valuable for his growth and development. He never learns accountability.

A survey of many successful individuals would likely reveal that they learned more from failure and how to deal with it than they did with success too easily obtained. It would reflect that after some stumbles, they could get back up and they could overcome.

It would be a shame for the educators in Wisconsin who are already failing to instill math and reading proficiency to make it any worse.

And to you, Mrs. Turado, best of luck and success in all you endeavor to do. Thank you for standing up to insanity.

Mark Fowler is a former attorney and board-certified physician in Tennessee. He can be reached at [email protected].