In Philadelphia, a city governed by Democrats, approximately 24 educators have raised significant concerns about grade inflation, asserting that they are essentially prohibited from failing students, even those lacking basic literacy skills. This situation has sparked an important discussion on educational integrity and standards within the school district.
Several teachers, in conversation with the Philadelphia Inquirer, revealed that they have had to pass students who contributed minimal effort, struggled with understanding the curriculum, or frequently missed classes. This practice raises questions about the true value of grades and the message being sent to students about academic achievement.
Moreover, some educators mentioned facing pressure from their principals to pass students, even when failing grades were justified. In instances where they did assign failing grades, these were often overturned by school administrators, undermining the authority and professional judgment of the teachers.
In contrast, a few teachers indicated that failing students is permissible but only after navigating a complex bureaucratic process to justify the decision. This requirement is particularly challenging, especially for students who seldom attend classes, adding another layer of complexity to an already challenging teaching environment.
This situation has manifested in disconcerting state test results, where only 33 percent of students meet reading standards, and fewer than 25 percent meet mathematics standards within the city’s school district. Despite these troubling statistics, the School District of Philadelphia reported an 84 percent graduation rate for the 2024-2025 school year, a notable increase from 69 percent a decade earlier. This discrepancy between standardized test scores and graduation rates underscores the ongoing debate about educational policies and their impact on student outcomes.
At the same time, the School District of Philadelphia’s four-year graduation rate in the 2024 – 25 school year was 84 percent, up from 69 percent 10 years earlier.
‘I don’t know of anyone who’s been able to keep anyone back, and we’re just setting kids up for failure,’ one middle-grades teacher told the outlet.
She added that she, too, has ‘a bunch of kids in my class that have F’s in reading, and I’m probably going to pass them – I’ll bump it up to a D and call it a day.’
Teachers across Philadelphia claim they have been pressured into passing students who can barely read or write. A teacher is seen pointing to a board during a lesson in 2015
Pennsylvania state test results show just 33 percent of students in the Philadelphia school district met standards in reading and less than a quarter met standards in mathematics
Officially, students in Philadelphia public schools can fail courses or be held back a grade as long as they are offered appropriate interventions and support, district policy states.
It says the district is ‘committed to excellence in student accomplishments and recognizes the contribution of a district-wide promotion policy moving all schools to models of achievement.’
Monique Braxton, a spokeswoman for the school district, also told the Inquirer its policies ’emphasize that student grades are meant to accurately reflect their academic performance and progress toward learning standards.
‘Schools are required to provide and document appropriate interventions and progress monitoring when students encounter academic challenges,’ she noted.
Braxton added that the school district ‘remains steadfast in its commitment to maintaining high expectations for students while ensuring they receive the necessary support to achieve success.’
But the middle-grades teacher, a veteran of district schools for three decades, told the Inquirer how it was easier to give F’s or retain students who did not meet learning standards when she was first starting out.
The unidentified teacher said a ‘subtle shift’ began in the early 2000s, with former President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act.
‘When the pressure was on the schools to show promotions and graduation rates, and the district was so focused on showing data, it’s shifted grading and now it’s a joke,’ she claimed.
One veteran teacher said there was a ‘subtle shift’ in the early 2000s, with former President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act
Philadelphia then changed its grading policy in 2017, lowering the minimum score for a D from 64 to 60.
District leaders said at the time the move was made to standardize grading procedures and prevent students from giving up if they performed poorly in the beginning of the year.
But even back then critics had worried it would water down the standards.
The school district insists that student grades should accurately reflect their work and their ability to grasp concepts. Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Tony B Watlington Sr is pictured
Now, the middle-grades teacher said she has a student ‘who’s done no work all year, and we’ve done everything and they’re just going to push him forward.’
Another teacher who works at the high school level claimed there is a ‘push right after grades are due’ at the end of the year – when administrators ask the educators: ‘Is there anything you can do to bump these up?’
The teacher said administrators will then ‘push [students] along because they want to see them graduate or pass.
‘There’s all this pressure from the district to increase the graduation rate – there are so many layers to it,’ the educator lamented.
‘I know it happens in a lot of places. It’s not just our school. But this year it was huge margins and huge numbers.’
At times, administrators themselves change the grades, the teacher said, describing how a student’s grade once shot up without any explanation.
‘This student had a 50 yesterday. How did he have an 82 today?’ the teacher asked, rhetorically. ‘This was a student who didn’t turn in any additional work and missed 63 of 84 classes.’
Another student who was moved on without doing the required coursework even admitted it, the teacher said.
‘Even he was like, “Yeah I didn’t deserve to pass. I don’t know how that happened. But I’m excited to graduate,”‘ the teacher claimed.
The School District of Philadelphia’s four-year graduation rate in the 2024 – 25 school year was 84 percent, up from 69 percent 10 years earlier
Join the discussion
How does passing students who can’t read or write impact their future and society as a whole?
A third teacher said he has failed students who do not earn passing grades, but understands why some teachers choose to give D’s instead of F’s.
He said with a full course load, teachers do not have the time to document a pattern of contacting guardians, giving extra time for work, breaking down assignments, allowing extra credit or extending deadlines.
‘Who has time to do that when you have 30 other kids?’ he asked, rhetorically. ‘And the system is inherently causing laziness from teachers also, to just shut up, pass them and you don’t get grief.’
The issue isn’t just limited to district schools either, a fourth teacher said, explaining that she most recently taught at a city charter school where some of her middle grade students were still at kindergarten reading and math levels.
‘The gap was huge,’ the teacher said, incredulously.
‘The school’s explanation is that there’s a school-to-prison pipeline and the older [the] students are, the less likely they are to graduate,’ she said. ‘But they’re not meeting standards. The gaps are huge.
‘It was very shocking to me how they would just pass the kids,’ the teacher continued, noting she is a mother and ‘I want my kids to be prepared properly.’
But the grade inflation has already affected former students who have moved into the workforce.
UC San Diego reported in November that roughly one in five pupils entering the school could not write at an entry level standard
The middle-grades teacher said she also works in the service industry, where she sees firsthand the effects of passing students who have not earned passing grades.
‘We see people who don’t come to work on time, they can’t take orders, they can’t use a computer or figure things out, and this is why,’ she said. ‘They’re not being held to standards for all their years in schools.’
The high school teacher also told how after graduation one former student ‘lost the first three jobs he had because he didn’t go to them.
‘He had to learn that lesson in a much harder, more adult way and he could have learned that in high school,’ the teacher bemoaned.
It is also affecting students as they go off to college, with UC San Diego reporting in November that roughly one in five pupils entering the school could not write at an entry level standard.
About 20 percent of incoming students to the California university had to be placed in analytical writing courses after failing to meet the requirements of a writing placement exam, which forced them into specialized courses called ‘AWP’.
Other universities across the US, including some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, have also struggled to deal with surging grades but lower standards.
Harvard has proposed capping the number of A grades, following a report warning that the university’s generous grading system was undermining its academic integrity.
A potential change in grading would see Harvard offering a select number of A+ grades, which is a mark higher than the school’s current maximum of an A grade.
At Harvard, more than 60 percent of grades awarded to undergraduate students are currently As, which university bosses called ‘too compressed and too inflated.’
However, Harvard’s report also found that its students were ‘working as hard as they ever have – if not more’ on their academics, relative to previous generations.
