text: As regards item [2], there is no promotion policy in elementary schools. So in the vital K-3 grades where kids MUST learn the basics in order to learn at higher grade levels, the kids are promoted whether or not they have mastered the basics. Thus do many kids find themselves sentenced to a tail chase for the remaining 9 years until they either graduate or, as often, drop out. Those that do go to college most often spend a year in remediation courses to  learn what they failed to learn in high school. For a great many it takes 5 or 6 expensive years to earn a “four year” diploma.
  
  And this is EXACTLY the way the Democrat Party wants it.
  
  If these bright capable kids ever DID get a competent education, these one party political hacks would be tossed out on their plush kiesters in a New York Minute and well they know it.
  
  Conclusion: Since only four out of ten registered voters even bother to vote, don't look for any REAL improvements in public education anytime soon.