Carl Singleton suggests that the solution to America’s ailing educational system is to administer a significantly greater number of failing grades in his essay, “What our Education System Needs is More F’s.” Singleton recommends failing students across all academic levels, “The immediate need for our educational system from prekindergarten through post-Ph.D. is not more money or better teaching but simply a widespread giving of F’s.”

Most people would immediately ignore such a preposterous concept, so Singleton attempts to reassure the reader: “Let me make it clear hat I recommend giving those F’s—by the hundreds, thousands, even millions—only to students who haven’t learned the required material.” It is a well-known fact that the American educational system, most specifically the grade schools and high schools, have been progressively declining. Standardized test scores have significantly decreased, as has the occurrence of illiterate or semiliterate high school students and graduates. Singleton places quite a bit of blame on the teachers stating that over the past twenty years, students who were not learning the required material originally got an F and now there is “total accommodation” where merely coming to class everyday earned a C, and laughing at the instructor’s jokes qualifies the student for a B. He also tries to pin the blame on the parents: “Giving an F where it is deserved would force concerned parents to get themselves away from the TV set, too, and take an active part in their children’s education… However, Johnny does not deserve to pass just because Daddy doesn’t care or is ignorant. Johnny should pass only when and if he knows the required material.” Singleton realizes that most instructors cannot, with a clean conscious, give out a bunch of failing grades without at least attempting to get the students to do well, and he includes this into his argument. “Teaching methods, classroom preparations, and testing procedures would have to be of a very high standard…”

Parents are not always able to assist with their child’s education. Unfortunately, it is a fact of many family’s lives that both parents must be wage earners in order to make ends meet, due to continued decline of the lower middle class. Not only must both parents work, they must both work many more hours than previously lest they risk not eating, or being thrown out on the street. If this is not the case, if one or both parents do have time available to assist their children with homework, then many of these parent cannot because of their own limited education. It is a reality that the lower middle class lack much education beyond grade school, and if by some luck the children make it to high school, there is little chance that the parents will be able to help with homework in any way.

Singleton’s essay is nothing more than tripe, the nonsensical ramblings of a fool. To propose that a extensive distribution of failing grades will force students to do better is ignorant to what is actually occurring in most of the schools, and what is happening to the students who would be affected by his idea. Simply failing the underperforming students would do little more than discourage those who need the most encouragement to quit. Should teachers be expected to do more to discourage these fragile students? Of course not. It is absurd to consciously injure these young students more than they already are. I am not suggesting that passing grades are given where they are not deserved, but other assistance must be offered to those who require extra help to pass the classes. If a student cannot understand the required material for a course, instead of failing him or her, the teacher should give extra help or assist in finding a tutor, anything which will help the student to learn what is needed to excel in the course.

Singleton suggests sweeping reform to heal a damaged system, but he is way off the mark. Giving lots of failing grades will do nothing positive for the poorly performing students and should not become a normal practice. Not only would it stop those students from doing well, it would likely cause most to never succeed, ending up the dregs of society as gang members or drug dealers.