The Fairfax County school board in suburban Washington recently voted unanimously to change its grading system, lowering the points needed to achieve each grade and adding bonus points for advanced and honors courses. Parents in Fairfax, one of the most affluent school districts in the nation, waged a well-researched campaign for the changes, arguing that the existing grading scale hurts their children's chances for college admissions, merit scholarships and honors programs. The evidence showed that Fairfax students earned lower GPAs than their counterparts with the same SAT scores both nationally and in the state.

Maybe the changes were justified, maybe not. But the decision was made without any real consultation with teachers. No teacher committee was formed, no union opinion was solicited. Nor was there any public discussion of how teachers will accommodate the new grading policy. Given teachers rather critical role in the process of grading, shouldn't they have been heard from?