I have been teaching 5th and 6th grade for nine years in Phoenix. This is the first year I have been told to give grades. When I was in school you earned it.

Today teachers are not supposed to fail students, especially special-ed students, even if their lack of ability or effort warrants it. The new "inclusion" policy dictates they are placed with regular-ed students and expected to score as well. Sometimes they do, as many regular-ed students are lazy.

Not wild about handing out grades for nothing, I, in protest, gave some of the less capable special-ed students 100 percent on every assignment. This didn't sit well with the special-ed teachers, who told me these students should get C's.

I figured that failure to comply would earn me a visit to the principal's office and a half-hour tongue lashing during my prep period, so I gave them all 75 percent on every assignment, even if they didn't do it. The special-ed teachers liked this just fine.The underlying reality for teachers is that even if a student deserved to get a failing grade for lack of effort, you're not supposed to give an "F" on the report card.

The driving force behind all of this is that the principal's office doesn't want phone calls from parents complaining about their kid's failing grades. As long as I pass everybody, I won't have problems from the front office, or so I thought.

My latest visit to the principal's office resulted in a directive to make my class easier. Aparent or two complained my class was too hard for their kids. These are probably the same kids that don't do their work. So how to stay out of the principal's office?

I give credit where none is due, and pass students on to the next grade at the end of the year whether they've mastered the skills necessary for them to be successful or not.

-- Jim Hull, Glendale