Minnesota Middle School Removes ‘F’ Mark From Grading Scale Citing Systemic Racism

It’s hard to imagine a world where students cannot receive failing grades in school. For Sunrise Park middle school this world has become a reality.

The school has eliminated the “F” mark from their grading scale in an effort to combat “systemic racism.” 

When a student does not complete an assignment, or receives anything less than a 50% it will go down as an “I” in the grade book representing a fixed 50%. No grade below 49% will be recorded as such. 

This disincentivizes students to actually complete their coursework, and makes it nearly impossible for them to receive an outright failing grade in any class. 

“Grading can be one of the largest areas in which systemic racism and inequities are perpetuated. Dr. Kazmierczak and WBLAS believe grades should be a measure of what a student knows and has mastered in a given course. Grading should not be a behavior punishment and should not be a measure of how well a student can survive stress at home,” the schools website stated. 

The school will also not lower a students grade as a result of tardiness to class, engagement, behaviour, or attitudes. This disincentivizes students to participate in class, show up on time or even to simply behave. 

After all, why would they come to class on time, or even come at all, when as long as they simply receive higher than a 65% on a few tests, they’ll skate through. 

This battle against the phantom of systemic racism is also being waged in Oregonian schools.  Oregon Governor Kate Brown entirely removed literacy and math requirements for high-school graduates. 

Here we are. Oregon just dropped math/reading test minimum proficiency as a HS graduation requirement, deeming numeracy and literacy "non-essential," yet folks are applauding the notion that wearing a mask in school bolsters learning. A shadow thus falls over civilization…

— Tyler Bonin (@TylerMBonin) August 18, 2021

She cited the fact that students of color tend to preform worse than white students. 

In reality, preventing students from receiving bad marks when they otherwise would, does not help students, it makes them worse off. 

If a student is able to skate through high-school without being proficient in reading, writing or math, they will have graduated but will be left powerless in the world. 

No college will accept students  who can’t do basic math, nor will an employer hire an applicant who is illiterate.