D-minus

Another school system that doesn't know when to leave well enough alone:

MOUNT OLIVE, N.J. -- Who wants to pay for "D"-quality plumbing? Fly the skies with a "D"-rated pilot? Settle for a "D" restaurant?

Exactly.

The way the Mount Olive school district sees it, its students should not be getting by with D's on their report cards, either. This fall, there will no longer be any D's, only A's, B's, C's and F's.

"D's are simply not useful in society," said Larrie Reynolds, the Mount Olive superintendent, who led the campaign against D's as a way to raise the bar and motivate students to work harder. "It's a throwaway grade. No one wants to hire a D-anything, so why would we have D-students and give them credit for it?"

Not only are D's useful; in the current system, they're essential. When students leave the C world of "average," they just have two ways to go. If they want to excel, a B tells them they're getting there but they need to try harder. If they're in danger of flunking, a "D" tells them they're getting there so they need to try harder. Without the "D," students who want to excel are given encouragement, but those in danger of failing get no warning signal. It makes no sense.

"No one wants to hire a D-anything."