Repeating The Fifth Grade: The Social Promotion Dillema

Minnesota watershed and charter schools are failing. At least this is what the Star Tribune, and the Minnesota legislature says. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, students enrolled in charter schools have fallen behind their peers attending traditional public school. The kids just are not "making the grade". The department of education is anticipating a major overhaul of the charter school program. All 153 watershed schools will be affected. More stringent regulations on alternative teaching styles, regulation of fundraising through the private sector, and overall education reform will more than likely be the proposed course of action to fix the "failing" institutions.
Government burecracies will in turn run the schools from a more centralized locale. While this looks good on paper, it is an educational nightmare waiting to happen. When a central office assumes the role of superintendent, schools and districts are left without any local control. Failure to align responsibility, accountability, and authority at the municipal level, breeds an atmosphere of excuses, not success. Blame the central office. Individual schools need flexibility and authority to promote measurable goals based upon rudementary skills and vital knowledge. If the education system becomes essentially a monopoly, who really knows what is working and what is not. Statistically, all monopolies (government) are slow to reform. With the bureocrats debating over what avenue of improvement the state should implement for best results, the kids lose.
From my experience, I see charter schools as innovative and creative environments that encourage alternative learning methods. Education is not one-size-fits-all. Charter schools consistently challenge the status quo of public education. Challenging traditional practices, at the very least, looks at different avenues to achieve success for each individual student.
The problem has less to do with the failure of charter schools, and a whole lot more with the ideals behind social promotion. Just because a child is eleven years old does not grant them the passage into the sixth grade. By promoting students to the next grade level that are not succeeding at their current level, hurts the individual student, the class, and the fabric of the U.S. educational system. Some argue that it is detramental to a child's self esteem to repeat a grade while his classmates go on to the next level. I disagree. I find it much more harmful for a child to slip through the cracks. Self esteem is not learned, it is earned. When a child masters skills, their confidence soars. Social promotion is essentially a filter of failure for kids who simply are not making the grade. Why set them up for failure from the starting gates. It is our job as citizens to ensure that each and every child has the opportunity to succeed in the classroom. Parents need to be held responsible. Teachers need to be held responsible. Schools need to be held responsible. The community needs to be held accountable. If the kids are "slipping through the cracks", measures must be implemented to foster an environment of success. Without the fundamental building blocks of education, hope dissepates. The child, in return, begins to lose faith in their abilities. Their tiny asperations and dreams become smaller. Education must be held to a first rate standard. There are no second rate children. In America, the land of opportunity, there are no second rate dreams.
aaahhhhh... I digress!