The local school board has begun the process of firing one of the most knowledgeable and caring high school teachers in the entire school district, why? Because he has a high failure rate and refuses to simply babysit students. He attempts to teach them something useful, and actually grades them on their true performance.

In his defense, I posted the following in the city forums:

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Mr. Menzel is a great asset to the district!
His physics class was the first class I ever failed…EVER!
After that, I saw him as an evil communist Nazi…or some of the other ignorant names that the high school kids came up with.

But the next semester, when he found out I decided to get my final science credit in a babysitter class the next semester, he personally tracked me down and convinced me to give his physics class another shot. He told me I would be wasting my time in that joke of a class called...Integrated Science and Physics. He had a long talk with me, and hesitantly I enrolled in his class.

Once there, he pushed me hard to meet his demands! He already knew my name, so he’d constantly ask me to answer questions, solve problems on the board, and even help out other students. I felt as though he was pushing my buttons waiting for me the break…I regretted signing up for his class.

At the end of the year, and even now, I look back and I’m glad he did that. I’m proud to say that I truly worked my ass off to pass his class. To this day, I don’t think I’ve worked as hard to meet the demands of any other teacher, and most of my classes were labeled “Advanced Placement” classes! Ha!

Yes Menzel fails people, but he doesn’t do so because he takes pleasure in it.
Menzel fails people to snap them into shape, he doesn’t sit back and allow students to pass simply because they play football, or they’re good lookin girls. He fails them because they fail themselves.

Having sat in his class a second time, I was able to better see my mistakes from the first time around.
I came in expecting an easy ride.
I came in expecting to do the minimum amount of work required…just enough to get by.
I came in expecting threats of failing grades to be bluffs, much like other “AP” teachers on campus.
Boy was I wrong!

Menzel is the kind of teacher this district needs.
Forget football, you’re son will never go pro!
Forget cheerleading, you’re daughter is just another pretty face in a world full of pretty faces.
Forget band, your mijo/mija isn’t going to be the next musical prodigy.
Take a Menzel class for some real education.

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