How about a logic primer?

Re: “School’s zero intolerance; Teacher fears losing job after giving no marks for failed work,” the Journal, June 1. Having been involved over the past 64 years in education as a student, university graduate, teacher, social studies supervisor, high school administrator, founding principal of Old Scona Academic High School, Albertans for Quality Education and more, and as a speaker and writer on educational affairs, I thought I had seen every stupidity that universities, the Department of Education and the educational establishment could inflict on our demoralized public schools.

I was wrong! The no-zero policy trumps the lot.

Apparently, teacher Lynden Dorval only assigns a zero if a student does not hand in an assignment or makes no effort at all to take advantage of opportunities to complete the work later.

Rather than assign a zero, Edmonton Public Schools policy says Dorval should enter the comment “unable to evaluate,” thus partially sharing the responsibility for a student’s complete lack of responsibility. Its proponents claim the no-zero policy helps ensure more students make it through the school system, learn course material and succeed.

Superintendent Edgar Schmidt assures us that students are not coasting to graduation without doing work. Schmidt says, “When assignments are given, the expectation is that they will be done. Really, we are actually pursuing students to try to get them to demonstrate what they know.”

That is exactly what Dorval has been doing by giving his students every possible chance to complete assignments.

Rather than allowing the superintendent to dismiss Dorval, trustees should suspend Schmidt until he has completed a year-long course in Logic 101, hopefully taught by a professor who has no qualms about assigning a zero. Leif Stolee, Edmonton