The 10 Worst Teachers and Principals From Pop Culture
From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to Mean Girls, on-screen educators have a talent for causing trouble. Here are the worst offenders.
- By Eleanor Barkhorn
- Smithsonian.com, April 15, 2013
Most schools have some sort of formula for calculating students’ final grades every semester. Exams, papers, homework, and class participation all get a percentage weight; teachers plug in the numbers for each category and come up with a grade that goes on the report card. But at the school in Clueless, the system seems a bit more subjective. When Cher receives her report card at the beginning of the movie, she’s horrified--but then declares that the grades are “just a jumping-off point to start negotiations.” Her gym teacher boosts her grade after Cher tells her she’s going through a break up; her world history teacher also gives her more points for promising to start a letter-writing campaign; her debate grade goes up after she finds the teacher a girlfriend. Cher’s father’s incredulousness when he sees the revised report card speaks for itself: “What’d you do, turn in some extra credit reports? Take the midterms over?” When Cher answers no to both questions, it dawns on him, “You mean to tell me you argued your way from a C-plus to an A-minus?”
Movie-world consequences: None
Real-world consequences: “I suspect there would be a reprimand,” Uchacz said. Every state has different laws regarding grades, but most require a student to meet certain criteria (beyond having good arguing skills) to get their grades changed.
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