In response to last week’s letter to the editor, “Fayette dumbing down tests for illegal students,” I am very disheartened to read so many letters about how Fayette County public schools are failing to “secure our borders” and keep illegal students out of our public schools.

I have the perfect solution to the problem in which ALL Fayette County public school students will benefit. Fayette County public schools should increase the grading scale from our current grading system (A = 100–90; B = 89–80; C = 79–71; D = 70; and F = 69 or lower) to the grading standards of more scholarly states (A = 100–93; B = 92–85; C = 84–77; D = 76–70; and F = 69 or below).

This is the grading scale I had in Pennsylvania over 25 years ago and the grading scale my son had in New Jersey seven years ago. My mother, who is the ripe age of 80, said her grading scale (in Massachusetts) was A = 100–95; B = 94-89; C = 88–83; D = 82–77; and F = 76 or lower.

It appears that Fayette County public schools (as well as many other Georgia school districts) are dumbing our grading standards to create the appearance of excellence.

Our family moved from Clayton County over two years ago and my children (elementary, middle, and high school level) adjusted to the move academically without any marked differences.

If Fayette County raises our current grading scale, I realize that my straight-A children may obtain B’s; but, I will have the assurance that my children’s grades are equivalent to some of the best schools in the country, not the state.

We must ask ourselves, are our Fayette County children academically equipped to compete globally?

If Fayette County public schools are serious about education, let’s not have our resource officers patrol our student parking lots and drop-off lanes for non-Fayette tags. But, let’s attack the problem intellectually.

With elevated grading standards, illegal students who cross our borders to attend our public schools will know that our grading criterion is more rigorous, and therefore, they must meet the challenge to remain in our schools, not go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and change their license plate tag.

Really, we are all dancing around the white elephant in the room, which is not a long academic history in Fayette County schools, or athletic recruitment, or school test scores, or real estate taxes, or home resale values. It’s plain and simple racism.

It’s not us (wealthy, Caucasian, law-abider) against them (poor, black, delinquent), but we are all in this together for the success of not only Fayette County’s public school students, but our nation’s children as a whole. They are our future.

Wendy Johnson
Fayetteville, Ga.