A popular former Florida governor thinks high expectations should come before self-esteem concerns.
Jeb Bush is touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2016. In a speech at the National Summit on Education Reform last month, Bush criticized the Orange County school district, claiming:
"This morning, over 213 million Chinese students went to school and nobody debated whether academic expectations should be lowered in order to protect their students’ self-esteem. Yet in Orange County, Fla., last week, I read that debate actually did occur at a school board meeting. The school board voted to make it impossible for a student to receive a grade below 50. You get 50 out of 100 just for showing up and signing your name. This was done -- and I quote here from a local official -- ‘so that the students do not lose all hope.’"
PolitiFact Florida rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Joshua Gillin says it rates MOSTLY TRUE. According to Gillin, the grading policy still allows students to score lower than 50 in some instances.
“You can still get a zero if you get a zero on a test or on an assignment,” Gillin said. “But the idea behind that is once you have that zero after a certain amount of time it's almost impossible to come back up from it. They moved it up to 50, which is still a failing grade if you don't improve, you'll still fail. But it gives kids a chance.”
Not everyone was in favor of the grading policy. In fact, some teachers told the school board they opposed the policy. Teachers said it could condition students not to work as hard. But ultimately, most of the board members supported the plan as a way to give students one last chance to pull their grades out of a failing mark.
Because the new Orange County school policy applies to quarter and semester grades and not individual assignments or tests, PolitiFact rated the claim MOSTLY TRUE.
SOURCES: ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT GRADING MINIMUMS
- PolitiFact's rating
- National Summit on Education Reform, former Gov. Jeb Bush speech and prepared remarks, Nov. 20, 2014
- Orange County Public Schools, Video of School Board meeting, Nov. 11, 2014
- Orange County Public Schools, "2014-15 Student Progression Plan," Nov. 11, 2014
- Orange County Public Schools, School board agenda item 3.01, Nov. 11, 2014
- Orlando Sentinel, "Orange schools won’t let grades slip below 50," Nov. 12, 2014
- Orlando Sentinel editorial, "Zero logic. We think: something is haywire when 0 equals 50," Nov. 12, 2008
- Dallas Morning News, "Texas judge knocks down minimum grading on report cards," June 29, 2010
- USA Today, "At some schools, failure goes from 0 to 50," May 21, 2008
- Fox 35, "Orange County school board changes what qualifies for an ‘F,’" Nov. 11, 2014
- The Daily Caller, "Students in Orlando public schools now get grades of 50 percent for doing nothing," Nov. 9, 2011
- CBS, "Florida school district won’t give grades below 50," Nov. 12, 2014
- Tampa Bay Times, "Taking zero out of the equation," June 29, 2009
- Tampa Bay Times, "At education summit, Jeb Bush seeks balance on Common Core under 2016 glare," Nov. 20, 2014
- PolitiFact, "Fact-checking Jeb Bush, possible presidential contender," Nov. 18, 2014
- Education Leadership article by Professor Thomas Guskey, "The case against percentage grades," September 2013
- Florida public school chancellor Frances Haithcock, Memo on middle and high school grading scale, March 19, 2009
- Interview, Thomas Guskey, education professor University of Kentucky, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Katherine Marsh, spokeswoman Orange County Public Schools, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Cheryl Etters, spokeswoman Florida Department of Education, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Jaryn Emhof, spokesman for former Gov. Jeb Bush, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Stuart Rojstaczer, former Duke University geologist who has researched school grades, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Linda Cobbe, spokeswoman Pasco school district, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, John Schuster, spokesman Miami-Dade school district, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Stephen Hegarty, spokesman Hillsborough school district, Nov. 20, 2014
- Interview, Melanie Marquez Parra, spokeswoman Pinellas County Schools, Nov. 20, 2014