The report card grade has come to serve a variety of purposes: (1) Substantiation for state funding; (2) A public relations opportunity to help generate positive feelings between a school and the community; (3) A vehicle used by the teacher to increase a student's self-esteem; (4) An opportunity to reward a student's likability; and (5) A chance for the student to garner funds for college. Although none of those reasons considered independently is particularly heinous, their combined influence has undermined the legitimacy of grades altogether. Some have gotten so caught up in issues of funding, self-esteem, and public relations that they have forgotten that a central point of schooling is a child's intellectual development. Yet when a grade becomes an indicator of something other than academic achievement, precious little remains to help gauge a student's progress. The grade is the cornerstone for communication among parents, students, administrators, and teachers. If the cornerstone is faulty, the entire structure may eventually collapse. The author proposes three steps to help legitimize grades as true measures of student success: (1) Eliminate the superfluous inflationary pressures on grades; (2) Have expert teachers offer frank assessments of student progress; and (3) Give secondary teachers genuine authority over grades and the power to dismiss students who cannot or will not do the work. This article discusses these steps in depth.