Time Fixes Everything

During the first week of February, I had the idea of giving a pop quiz to my 7th grade students when they had poor discipline. (Granted, I don't like to give academic punishments for disciplinary purposes, something my first supervisor Ana Maria taught me, but in this school it is widely and effectively used as an discipline-controlling tool and it works for my classes as well.) Since I teach both 7th grade Physics/Chemistry and Biology, I thought it appropriate to exercise the 'cross-curricular activities' preached by the administration and ask a question directly related to both Biology and Chemistry.

The students were learning about both the process of photosynthesis (in Biology) and chemical equations (in chemistry). So one of the questions on the pop quiz was: 'Name all the parts of the chemical equation for photosynthesis.' I didn't ask for the concentrations (i.e. I didn't ask that they know that there were six molecules of carbon dioxide), only the names of the molecules of the products and the reactants (carbon dioxide plus water using sunlight and energy from the sun produces oxygen and sugar). The students practically shit themselves with frustration. 'You can't ask a biology question in chemistry!' 'This is not fair!' I actually thought it was a legitimate question, seeing as how they recently learned the information (it was literally within the week prior, according to their Biology teacher).

The students complained to me, complained to my supervisor, and complained to each other. Then the supervisor and I spoke about it and concluded that the quiz was not unfair. Fast forward to yesterday when said supervisor comes up to me the day the bimester grades were to be turned in and asks me to not include the grade for the quiz. His reasoning was that the teacher of Biology for my class had not taught the topic of the chemical equation for photosynthesis. Apparently, his belief was that I wouldn't remember what the teacher told me and students themselves had said to me during class, that they had learned the information before my quiz and the quiz was fair. Rather than fight a losing battle and make his job difficult, I made a mental 'whatever' to myself and said ok.

Another, more serious, example of how time fixes everything is the case of Juan Camilo Prieto. Juan Camilo is a 6th grade student with learning difficulties. I didn't know he had learning difficulties until the first parent-teacher conference in October of last year, when his mother approached me and explained the situation. I suggested that the Head of Year (in charge of all 6th grade students) become involved so the three of us could collaborate as to what the best approach would be to teach the student (sometimes the student can do modified versions of the work in the class to best suit his abilities). I filed a report for the student and gave it to the Head of Year suggesting a meeting with the parents to discuss a fair approach to the students (the responsibility of the HoY). I have yet to attend any meeting. The HoY has completely ignored the situation. Meanwhile the student continues to underachieve and I have no choice but to treat him as an equal student, even though he has been diagnosed with a learning disorder.

Does this kind of bullshit happen often in schools in the U.S.?