By Jake Vest

School starts next week, but there’s already plenty of talk about grades. The districts and the schools got their report cards earlier in the summer. 

For those who didn’t get high enough grades, there is still the devil to pay, but these days the teachers get the bill. If they show up for pre-planning at a “C” school, I am betting they have a big pile of worries waiting for them. Been there, done that. 

I taught at a school that, for lack of a better word, under-excelled one year. The instructional staff was put through the wringer for months, attending extra meetings on top of the already-too frequent meetings, sitting through data chats, having our noses rubbed in numbers and our lesson plans reviewed. Fingers were pointed, fists were shaken, well-paid people from the district walked up and down hallways looking sternly at teachers.  

Everybody was on the hot seat except the kids who got the numbers. And their parents. All the focus was on how much effort was being put into the teaching, none on the effort being put into the learning. Nobody was asking “what kind of kids got these grades?” Believe me, it matters. 

You can’t teach a kid to ride a bicycle if he doesn’t want to ride a bicycle. You can put him on the seat, tie his feet to the pedals and push him down a hill, but the rest is up to him. This situation is further complicated by parents who don’t want their kids getting their knees skinned.  

That’s a metaphor, by the way. Have you ever discussed metaphors with your child, maybe while reading regularly with him or her? If so, you probably don’t have to worry about whether the school is an “A” or a “C.” Your kids are going to turn out fine. 

Or are you more likely to go down to the school and holler at the teacher and the principal because your child got a “C,” while not even being aware that the test was about metaphors? Some parents do that. They think the learning is none of their business and only care about the grade. Some don’t care about either part. 

If you get enough of that kind of parents sending you that kind of students, you might be getting to the reason why some schools don’t get an “A.” Teachers matter, but there’s only so much they can do. 

The way it works was explained to me over 60 years ago by Principal Stanley Underwood. I think he finally got tired of beating some of us with a board, so he tried to talk a little sense into us.  

He told a story about a country store where the local loafers hung out. They sat on the porch and whittled and played checkers and got in the way, but they never bought anything. 

One day the storekeeper got fed up with the situation and came out and started giving them bills. “Seth, you owe $2.39 for canned goods. Farley, I’m charging you $4 for a sack of grain. You need to pay two bucks for produce, George…” 

All the loafers started protesting. “Hey, wait a minute…we didn’t get any of this stuff!” 

The storekeeper said, “well, it’s all in there for you. It ain’t my fault if you don’t pick it up!” 

The school is like a grocery store. You drop your kids off, teachers show them which aisles the goods are on and help them get to stuff on shelves they can’t reach. Those shelves are well stocked. 

If you’re not checking what your little shoppers put in their cart, don’t blame the grocer.