Is it all about $ and butts in seats? Schools don’t fail any children anymore it seems. They are passed onto the next grade when they shouldn’t be. I would like to hear from some teachers and administrators and get their take on it. When I was in school, kids would fail grades left and right. It doesn’t happen anymore it seems. You have kids who don’t even speak English that are passing onto the next grade. Can someone explain that to me?
May 01, 2026, 01:52 PM
229DAK
Simply place your post title in a google search and you'll get a decent answer.
_________________________________________________________________________ “A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.” -- Mark Twain, 1902
May 01, 2026, 01:58 PM
Vgex
Money per student. Expelled students don't generate money.
May 01, 2026, 02:09 PM
architect
quote:
Why Don’t Schools Fail Students Anymore?
It's another result of DEI. You see, students of certain ethnic groups were found to statistically be more likely to "under achieve" and get lower grades. Whether this can be ascribed to racism, inherently lower ability to learn, lower family incomes, unstable family environments, a dearth of role models, or some other factor have all been put forth as possible reasons.
So, in order to make outcomes even for all ethnicities, grade inflation, allowing failing students to pass, etc. has become routine. They tried giving poor performers additional class time and remedial instruction, but that didn't work, they kept right on failing. The practice of accepting failure quickly led to all students becoming aware that they too didn't have to work hard for an education (it seems they were able to learn that very well indeed).
As a consequence, expectations were lowered, standards eliminated, and curriculums "dumbed down." As teaching successes dwindled, educators expanded the trend so that we now have a generation or two of high school graduates who cannot read or write, can't do simple math, and cannot think critically.
May 01, 2026, 02:48 PM
Edmond
This video is 5 years old but I can guarantee things haven't gotten any better:
Pass them and let them be someone else's problem.
In many cases, they end up being the problem of society and the criminal justice system.
_____________
May 01, 2026, 02:51 PM
cajunmuscle
quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
Why Don’t Schools Fail Students Anymore?
It's another result of DEI. You see, students of certain ethnic groups were found to statistically be more likely to "under achieve" and get lower grades. Whether this can be ascribed to racism, inherently lower ability to learn, lower family incomes, unstable family environments, a dearth of role models, or some other factor have all been put forth as possible reasons.
So, in order to make outcomes even for all ethnicities, grade inflation, allowing failing students to pass, etc. has become routine. They tried giving poor performers additional class time and remedial instruction, but that didn't work, they kept right on failing. The practice of accepting failure quickly led to all students becoming aware that they too didn't have to work hard for an education (it seems they were able to learn that very well indeed).
As a consequence, expectations were lowered, standards eliminated, and curriculums "dumbed down." As teaching successes dwindled, educators expanded the trend so that we now have a generation or two of high school graduates who cannot read or write, can't do simple math, and cannot think critically.
Ah. Just another example of standards always being lowered and never raised. Is there anything now where standards have been raised and not lowered? Everything has gone toward assisting the softer, dumber, slower, fatter new generation
May 01, 2026, 03:05 PM
KevH
Money
In California, the district only gets paid if the student attends and passes.
Proverbs 28:1
May 01, 2026, 03:18 PM
Russ59
Summer school in my area has essentially disappeared. Students needing remedial help over summer to catch up, don't get it. So they get advanced instead?
P229
May 01, 2026, 03:23 PM
tatortodd
quote:
Originally posted by Edmond: This video is 5 years old but I can guarantee things haven't gotten any better:
0.13 reminds me of the Dean Wormer office scene from Animal House
"Mr Dorfman ..... 0.2 .... Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son."
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
May 01, 2026, 03:49 PM
sig2392
These DEI folks think that equal opportunity should lead to equal success.
So instead of holding people accountable they lower the standards, so there is equal success.
Everyone passes.
May 01, 2026, 04:04 PM
berto
Social promotion has been a thing for decades. The education industrial complex thinks it’s better to promote kids beyond their abilities in order to protect their self esteem. That those kids then act out and disrupt class doesn’t factor. That they can’t read or fo simple math doesn’t matter. The government will spend money to take care of them.
May 01, 2026, 04:24 PM
cajunmuscle
In other words, we just pass them because they are a minority and it would be racist or identifying them as not intelligent enough to meet the standard.
May 01, 2026, 04:27 PM
.38supersig
If they don't pass the worst of the students, they will have to put up with the same kid in their class next year.
If they 'pass', the kid will be some other teacher's problem.
May 01, 2026, 04:41 PM
229DAK
quote:
Originally posted by .38supersig: If they don't pass the worst of the students, they will have to put up with the same kid in their class next year.
If they 'pass', the kid will be some other teacher's problem.
It doesn't matter. The teacher will get the next group of duds that get passed up to them. Never-ending cycle.
_________________________________________________________________________ “A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.” -- Mark Twain, 1902
May 01, 2026, 04:45 PM
architect
quote:
Originally posted by .38supersig: If they don't pass the worst of the students, they will have to put up with the same kid in their class next year.
If they 'pass', the kid will be some other teacher's problem.
I doubt that is most teacher's motivation. I'd suggest that there is a strong tendency of the populace to blame the school for a student's failure, and that teachers somewhat logical response to such is "pass them all," undoubtedly encouraged by principals and other school administrators.
Of course, there is always a call for "more money for better schools" with little or no explanation on why they haven't done a better job of educating when costs/student are higher than ever and growing.
We are getting close to $30K per student in Fairfax County schools and the "product" being turned out has few skills they haven't absorbed from YouTube and Tik Tok.
Hurts their numbers. They just pass them on and let the outside world deal with them when they struggle and fail. Then it's the fault of others (capitalism), who they like to criticize. And demand more money.
If a kid is failing in school, there is usually a problem at home. In this era of little/zero personal responsibility, people want to blame others for their own failures and would sue if they heard from the school that their kid is failing because they're failing as parents. Addicts/alcoholics, abuse, neglect, single Mom's on the troll for the next guy to pay her bills (this exact scenario shared to me from a friend who is a teacher), single Dad's on the troll for the next woman to give half his shit to, workaholics who give all their time to work and little/no time to family, people who know more about American Idol contestant's day than their own kids school day, combination of the aforementioned, etc.
As a nod to JALLEN, he had the best solution - if you want better schools, let schools choose their students by interviewing the family. I'd wager a large sum that if you fill a school by choosing parents who are obsessed with their kid's education then test scores will soar. Of course, it'd be fought tooth and nail in courts by commie controlled boards of education, teacher's unions, AWFL's, etc.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.