If Cincinnati Public Schools got a report card we could actually understand, it might look like this: Four A's, eight B's, 37 C's, seven D's and 24 F's. According to OnlineConversion.com, that's a GPA of 1.5, or a D-plus - improved from a D-minus last year.

Of course, the official report card from the state last week said nothing like that.

Education officials don't mind giving letter grades to kids, but for schools they prefer fuzzier "continuous improvement'' rather than an honest C, and "academic watch'' to a humble D.

But if "excellent'' equals an A, "effective'' is a B and "academic emergency'' is an F, CPS should be grounded.

Problem is, the school board "parents'' are too busy fighting to help with homework.

Melanie Bates and Rick Williams are so upset, they are opposing an operating levy this fall. Board members against a levy is about as common as teachers against raises. And that's the problem.

Bates said she and Williams won't support more spending for salaries until teachers accept accountability. She says the latest contract negotiations were undermined by board members who were pushing the teachers' union agenda.

"The teachers had a better team, and they had people from our team on their team.''

The "mole'' on the board was Harriet Russell, a former teacher in the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers union, Bates said.

Russell denied that, and said Bates and Williams are "irresponsible, and may be in violation of their legal duty'' to support a levy. She worries that a levy failure would force teacher layoffs.

"None of us on the board were totally satisfied with the results of negotiations,'' she said.

CPS made national headlines under Superintendent Steven Adamowski as one of the first urban districts to adopt merit pay and tough teacher evaluations. No more fireproof bureaucratic asbestos to protect incompetent teachers and give them routine, unearned raises. Merit pay helped pass a big levy - but then the teachers' union scrapped it, and there was no effort to restore it in the latest contract.

"The spending isn't designed to help kids,'' Bates said. "It's designed to help adults.''

She urges voters to defeat the levy to force the union to restore merit pay and teacher evaluations that were "gutted'' in the latest contract.

"I don't know why people aren't pitching a fit. I think it's a pathetic message the district is sending that it's OK'' for kids to fail.

Russell blames Superintendent Alton Frailey. "The superintendent would not develop a proposal for pay-for-performance. He has a track record of doing things only on his own time.''

She said board members need to take Frailey to the principal's office during his annual review on Sept. 10.

A spokeswoman for CPS said Frailey would not comment "because he doesn't want to be drawn into sparring between board members.''

But his poor report card - including $22 million in overspending this year - is one thing Russell and Bates agree on. Bates says there are enough votes to fire him, but the board fears backlash from the black community. Frailey is black.

Russell said, "I don't think he would leave with a failed levy on his resume.''

"There's five board members that can talk to each other. What's the matter with the other two?'' she asked.

Bates said if the levy fails, "now adult jobs are in jeopardy and they will pay attention. Children not learning doesn't get their attention.''

If a D-plus report card doesn't get attention, nothing will.

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.