Minneapolis Teachers in the Pandemic: “No Student Should Receive a Failing Grade”

The following letter was written by Minneapolis educators in January 2022 as teachers were entering grades for students for the Fall semester. In it, teachers call on others to not give any student a failing grade and makes a broader argument about the role of educators as political actors. The letter was circulated among the staff at Patrick Henry High School, as well as in a facebook group by Minneapolis Public School staff.

We republish the letter to highlight the discussions that were taking place amongst educators before the Minneapolis teacher’s strike which is in its second week.

To Our Fellow Workers,

There comes a time when one can no longer remain silent, when the act of staying silent not only reinforces complicity, but also betrays the very beings we’ve claimed we care for. We’re writing to you today because we believe that time is now, the time to speak, and the time to act. Before you continue reading, we ask that you do so with an open heart of humility and attempt to envision what a learning experience built not on competition amongst fellow learners but one based in true community could be.

For the past two years, we’ve grappled with the task of educating our students in the midst of a global pandemic. This time has revealed so much, from further unveiling deep social and economic disparities, to highlighting the invaluable role schools play in caring for our students and our communities. This pandemic continues to bring to surface the business model of public education, in which we continue to reproduce inequalities and are forced by any means to produce the next generation of workers.

It is because of this that we are calling upon our fellow educators to consider the following argument. This stance acknowledges the difficulty of this time and the impact it’s had on all of us, but most notably on our most marginalized communities; communities we hold so dear. We take a stand to collectively agree that failing a child during a national pandemic is an act we simply cannot consent to. If you agree, please show your support in your grading practices. By doing so you are agreeing for at least the duration of this pandemic, you stand in solidarity with your students and with other educators in your conscious act to give every student a passing grade.

As educators, we play an active role in a system that standardizes and reinforces the status quo, a status quo produced by and deeply rooted in cultural hegemony, which has constructed and still constructs much of our social reality and controls the narrative of achievement, success and value within our society. We are all familiar with this narrative. We were raised by systems and institutions to believe in notions of meritocracy, and cultural and economic capital. These same systems and institutions taught us “boot strap” mentalities, and through deficit ideology we were conditioned to define value based on performance. We’ve experienced the pain of tying our worth to something outside of ourselves. How tragic, to have been taught, implicity and explicity, that our worth is defined by what we produce and how well we adhere to a definition of normativity and success based on a capitalist/white supremacist/patriarichal/colonial/heteronormative dominant cultural agenda.

We’ve all felt this. Maybe you’ve been conscious of this for a long time, or maybe you’ve never realized it, but, to whatever degree, we continue to fall victim to its perceived grasp. The pressure to perform and adhere to a set of standards is palpable. We’ve felt this in our roles as teachers and educators, and when we ourselves were students. We’ve felt it as parents and partners, and in all the other roles we consciously and unconsciously subscribe to. At what point did you or any of us consent to or agree with this? How did we get here?

From birth, we’re groomed and conditioned to play into this narrative. We’re given titles and roles upon entering this world, and we’re taught the rules and “shoulds” to perform these roles well. We’re conditioned to accept the belief that in order to be seen as worthy and of value, we must adhere to the rules that govern the systems and institutions in which we operate, often times shedding, to whatever degree, the truth of who we really are, and the values inherent in our human existence and deeper consciousness. This could very well be the greatest tragedy of humankind, to shed our humanity and turn our backs on our intuitive morality in order to abide by some arbitrary narrative. Is it not this betrayal which paves the way for all other tragedies?

As educators, we must recognize the current state of our schools, the consequential practices we maintain, and the significant role we play in the lives of the young people with and for whom we work. How we move in this role matters, and with each day, with every decision we make and interaction we have, we have an opportunity to either dismantle the oppressive practices inherent in this system, or to perpetuate a status quo that deprives us of our humanity.

To varying degrees within our role as educators, we have all fallen victim to internalizing the status quo and in turn unknowingly engaged in inequitable and oppressive practices we claim to reject. Through traditional educational pedagogy and standard professional training practices we’ve come to internalize much of the messaging that perpetuates hegemonic narratives. Narratives such as meritocracy which claims that if you simply work hard enough, you will be rewarded, seep deeply into the foundation of this system and we pass the message on to our youth even though we may very well be living it’s contradiction. Where did this ideology, which has led us to normalize terms and practices like “accountability”, “measures” and “standards” come from?

We are asking us all to think very, very deeply about a few questions. Where did that message come from, and why do we all blindly repeat it, even when our own lived experiences and countless others contradict it. What does it even mean? To what degree is it true or not true? Is it a value worth upholding? If you answer yes, where did your rationale come from? What are you being accountable for upholding? Whose standards are you upholding? What are all of the self-identities that might be operating and are at risk in this situation (e.g., competent teacher, understanding parent, “good” person, anti-racist ally, etc.)? Are there competing or contradicting values or identities involved? Where do I feel threatened? What am I scared about? To what extent is my purpose aligning with or threatening my self-identity(ies)? How might I be perpetuating the phenomenon I wish to change? What is the privilege operating in this situation? In what ways am I resisting placing myself in a dominant position? What is the identity label I seek to avoid, and what is the identity label to which I aspire?

We don’t have the luxury of shying away from politics in the classroom. As far as we’re concerned school and politics are synonymous. It is also our belief that the answers to combating all forms of oppression cannot be found outside of ourselves. No administrator, no district leader, no politician within the dominant political canons, can lead us to a more humane and dignified existence. As Caregivers we must all refuse to adopt the traditional framing of the “strict father morality,” which serves not only to perpetuate sexism and heteronormative ideals, but also threatens attempts to cultivate an educational experience for all built on empathy and inherent dignity. Furthermore, we reject traditional and political rationales founded on notions of meritocracy and self-sufficiency, solely on the ground that these become the main mechanisms of reproducing inequitable social order.

A two year long pandemic has highlighted several truths: nothing happens without working class labor; unconscious consent is the lifeblood of oppression; solidarity is ESSENTIAL.

It is with these understandings, that no student will receive a failing grade.

Strike

Teachers

Labor Movement