This is right up there with "Everyone makes the team!"

From USA Today, At some schools, failure goes from zero to 50.

I've been struggling lately with this idea of coddling children and here we go with the notion to continue doing so.  Not only does every kid make the team, but now, for some, there's no such thing as a zero.  Don't turn in your homework?  Fine.  That's 50 points.  Why?  Because evidently it's too difficult to recover from a zero with a 59 point spread between an F and a D.  Want to know my solution?  Turn in your damned homework!

Do you know what happened to me in school if I chose not to turn in an assignment?  I got a zero.  Sometimes I managed to recover nicely from the zeros, sometimes it was a little harder.  But there was a true consequence for my actions then.  Now, if a kid decides he doesn't want to do his homework, not to worry!  He'll still get a 50.  Because isn't that the way the real world works?

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I don't show up for work - no call, no show - that's no pay.  Zero.  Not half.  If I don't complete a bid for submittal on time and it doesn't get turned in I don't get awarded any of the project.  Not just half of it. 

Isn't part of the school system's job to teach kids about life as well as about academics?  This is setting a bad and dangerous precedent.