Other districts like San Diego Unified are actively discussing similar proposals. I don't think children are horses. You don't need to break them before you train them. And retaining them in middle school is equivalent to psychologically breaking them. PE teacher Reyna Rosas tutors Eric Trevino in math at Long Beach Preparatory Academy.
Politicians are quick to blame teachers for the high numbers of students who are socially promoted.
Others say teachers cannot compensate for all of society's problems, including rising rates of poverty and crime, mothers who use drugs while pregnant and the absence of parents in the home. Those who fail the standards test at the end of summer school would be held back. Some gubernatorial candidates have reacted with variations on the same theme, but with different ideas on what it would cost and how to pay for it. But it would be far more encouraging to know that they'd thought through a little more thoroughly an issue that, while it makes for great speeches, is far more complicated than it appears on the surface. Indeed, the issue is more complicated.