Sarah Gassen opens my world to Leonard Pitts and his editorials about plagiarism and cheating

Sarah Gassen opens my world to Leonard Pitts and his editorials about plagiarism and cheating

While I was searching for the Leonard Pitts article about plagiarism that Sarah Gassen mentioned Wednesday, I also found this article from 2002 titled “Your kid’s going to pay for cheating – eventually”. It is an article about a science teacher with a zero tolerance policy on plagiarism. She found 28 students who had copied a major project, all turning in the same “Google doc” project. She gave them all zeros. In an uproar from the parents, the school board forced her to “soften the punishment”. When she arrived at school after the school board meeting, she found the students to be in a “celebratory mood, cheering their victory.” The teacher quit her job before lunch. Before the next year started, the principal and many other teachers had resigned as well. I must applaud this teacher’s strong stance. However, as a single mom of 2, I don’t know that resigning on the spot would have been a financial option for me.

What would you do if you were in that situation? Would you have the opportunity to turn in your resignation on the spot?  Does the school board have the right to overrule a teacher’s grading decision? Unfortunately, cheating and plagiarism is not going away.

Thank you, Sarah, for educating me about editorial writing, a style of writing that has had me scared for many years. And after reading several of Leonard's articles, I'm inspired.

http://articles.ivpressonline.com/2002-06-27/angry-mothers-and-fathers_24156469

Linda Hopson

Adviser, Bellaire High School

Bellaire, Texas
Houston Independent School District