News Flash: Horne Says OK to More Dropouts

by David Safier

You be the judge.

As I write this, Tom Horne is conducting a live chat on the Star’s website about social promotion. As you know if you read my earlier post on the topic, he’s against social promotion. So I decided to ask a question, and Horne decided to answer.

See if you read this the same way I do:

David S (daves): Aren’t you concerned about the potential for raising the dropout rate if we hold students back on a regular basis? The Star article mentioned that as a probable outcome.

Tom H (tomhorneaz): No. It doesn’t do any good to keep students in school if they aren’t learning. Fear of dropouts is sometimes used as an excuse for mediocrity. I categorically reject that.

“It doesn’t do any good to keep students in school if they aren’t learning.” To me, that means, if they can’t cut it, get rid of them! If ending social promotion increases the dropout rate, that’s OK with Horne. Zero tolerance for failure!