The Derek Zoolander School for Kids Who Can’t Fail

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Chris skewers San Francisco’s latest “Grading for Equity” plan, comparing it to the fictional school from Zoolander. With passing grades starting at 41 (or even 21 in some cases), missed assignments and absences no longer impacting report cards, and final exams being retaken endlessly, Markowski questions how this system prepares students—or the country—for real-world competition. It's comedy meets tragedy in America’s education system. www.watchdogonwallstreet.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
It looks like Derek Zulander finally got his school. Now
I know, just sub reference. Youngsters may not have seen
the movie with Ben Stiller Zoolander. Yeah. Well, he wanted
to make a school and he wanted to call it
the Derek Zulander Center for kids who can't read good
and want to learn to do other stuff good too. Well,

(00:40):
he got a school, and sure enough, sure enough, it's
in San Francisco. Listen to this. Without seeking the approval
of the San Francisco Board of Education, the Superintendent of
Schools plans to unveil a new Great for Equity plan.

(01:02):
Oh boy, can hardly wait. This will go into effect
this fall at fourteen high schools and cover over ten
thousand students. They are already negotiating with an outside consultant
to train teachers and a system that awards wait a
passing C grade to as low as a score of

(01:22):
forty one on a one hundred point exam couldn't make
this one up if I wanted to. Grading for equity
eliminates homework for weekly tests from being counted in a
student's final semester grade. All that matters is how the
student scores on the final examination, which wait this which
can be taken multiple times. Students can be late turning

(01:47):
in an assignment, or showing up to class, or not
showing up at all without it affecting their academic grade. Currently,
a student needs a ninety for an A and at
least sixty one for a D. Under the new grading system. Yeah,
a student with as as low as an eighty can

(02:11):
attain an A and as low and wait wait, as
low as a twenty one and pass with a D. Oh. Yeah,
we're gonna compete with China. Watchdog on Wall Street dot
com