A teacher in Florida says she was fired for refusing to give passing marks to students who didn’t complete their coursework.

Diane Tirado had been teaching Grade 8 history at an elementary school in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

She says she was told about a “no zeros” policy at the school after several students did not hand in a project they had been given weeks to complete.

When she asked school administrators how to handle the situation, she says she was told to give each student who did not do the assignment a mark of 50. She refused.

“A grade in Mrs. Tirado’s class is earned,” she said in an interview with WPTV.

”I’m so upset. We have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live a life just for showing up – and it’s not real.”

Tirado’s teaching contract was terminated Sept. 14. No cause was given, as she was still in her probationary period as a new hire.

Before leaving the school, she left a message on the classroom’s whiteboard for her students.

“Bye kids, Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in,” she wrote.

Tirado says she hopes going public with her story will lead to the school changing its policy on marking incomplete assignments.

She elaborated on her feelings Tuesday with a Facebook post, in which she called the entire situation “ridiculous” and said she believed children should be assessed based on what they actually accomplish.

“Teaching should not be this hard. Teachers teach content, children do the assignments to the best of their ability and teachers grade that work based on a grading scale that has been around a very long time,” she said.

Tirado’s story has gone viral, with her blackboard message being shared on Facebook more than 1,500 times. It was also discussed on Toronto radio station NEWSTALK 1010, with a number of callers alleging that the “everyone’s a winner” attitude at Tirado’s school was also materializing in Canada.

“There’s definitely an attitude among students that they can hand in work whenever and it should be acceptable,” said one man, who gave his name as Rick.

Another caller, who said she was an elementary school teacher, said instructions to create unique plans for “each and every student with each and every individual need” have many teachers feeling overwhelmed.

“What we’re being told is ‘Why is that child failing? What can you do to help that child pass?’” she said.