I mean no disrespect to Allen when I say this, but Allen, if YOU, the guy who blogs and watches DISD, didn't seem to know about the Magic Grade of 50, then do you think the Dallas Achieves people do? Do us a favor, ask the president of the Dallas Citizens Council, EDS, SMU, The Mayor's Office and the Chamber of Commerce if any of them would accept that policy in their training or pay system? How many of the readers are aware of it? Blog back! Ask your coworkers!

Again, and again, you see postings from several DISD employees--or their spouses, actually, who are trying to let out a scream to the public. When the playing field is FAIR, then use the CEI. When parents are also held accountable for the costs of educating their kids over and over again when they repeatedly fail classes, then nail teachers for failure rates. (Yes, teachers are told to not have too many failing kids--or too many passing. Might send up a flare.)

The sheer number of posts on this subject should tell the Board that they are not being told the whole story by the DISD staff. The local media ignores this as well, for some reason. Hard to sell papers if it doesn't involve plasma tv's, gold-plated silverware or sexual misconduct. Teachers unfairly evaluated?? *Y-A-W-N*

In your spare time, ask the Catholic schools or charter schools if they do this....

[Ed Note: Still looking into this--and started thinking about it. A final grade of 50 is just as much an "F" as a final grade of 0. This doesn't bother me as much as mandating the lowest grade that can be given during a semester is "50." Again, I'm still looking at this.]