don't ask me to change your grade

Especially if you're a principal, superintendent, or board member in Louisiana. For that matter, don't harass or intimidate me when too many students flunk my class--or I'll walk away with $1.4 million.

The jury of four men and five women deliberated almost four hours before finding that the school board, superintendent and the principal at West Feliciana High School had harassed Paula Payne, violated her First Amendment rights and retaliated against her.

The backstory, from an earlier piece:

In court Wednesday, and on the stand, was the West Feliciana principal Michael Thornhill. Thornhill testified that he asked his English teachers to, quote, "adjust" the scores of the students, 70% of which failed a standardized test back in 2004. Payne maintains in her civil suit that changing the grades is illegal and she was fired for refusing to do so.

Obviously, something's horribly wrong when 70% of a class fails a subject. But accountability isn't just a buzzword or a mask for lower expectations. Kudos to Payne for sticking it out and ultimately proving to the federal courts that teachers, like students, don't doff their rights at the schoolhouse door.