In the past few years, reformers have embraced a disarmingly simple idea for fixing schools: Why not actually flunk those students who don't earn passing grades? Both Democrats and Republicans have begun attacking the practice of "social promotion"—shuttling bad students to the next grade, advancing them with peers even if they are failing. Make F truly mean failure, the movement says.

过去几年，改革派一直坚持用一种令人毫无怀疑的简单想法解决学校的问题：对于那些成绩不达标的学生，为什么不让他们留级？民主党和共和党已经开始抨击自动升级的做法—-按照这种做法，就算差生考试不及格，他们照样可以和其他同学一起进入下一年级。这场运动主张要让F这个成绩真的意味着不及格。

Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars—and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year—a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.

过去几年，改革派一直坚持用一种令人毫无怀疑的简单想法解决学校的问题：对于那些成绩不达标的学生，为什么不让他们留级？民主党和共和党已经开始抨击自动升级的做法—-按照这种做法，就算差生考试不及格，他们照样可以和其他同学一起进入下一年级。这场运动主张要让F这个成绩真的意味着不及格。

At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough—the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle—but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades (second and eighth), and it will begin next year.

扎卡雷斯承认他的目标在当时很难实现。他估计如果按照成绩升级的话，十个学生中将有六个过不了关。仅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花费1.4亿美元来帮助这些孩子。为什么要花这么多钱呢？因为众多研究表明如果取消自动升级仅仅意味着有更多学生无法升级的话，那么它就失去了意义。那些被迫一遍又一遍地复读的孩子成绩并没有提高，甚至还经常会退学。扎卡雷斯希望学生们能得到更多的指导，开设更多的夏季班和强化学习班。不合格的学生不会进入下一年级，但也不必把功课重学一遍。他提出的这一计划很有远见，但70高龄的扎卡雷斯本人并没有足够的影响力将其付诸实施—-他还不够受欢迎—-在一场激烈的权力斗争之后，该校董事会最近买断了他的合同—-但就连其他改革派也认为他的计划太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事会成员大卫·托科夫斯基说：工会想要有发言权。当然，还有设施的问题：如果不能把八年级学生送入中学，那该把他们送往哪里呢？现在，该教育区宣布它将只在两个年级（二年级和八年级）对成绩较差的学生取消升级，并将从明年起实施。

Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.

洛杉矶并不是唯一一个在取消自动升级工作中遇到困难的地方。在纽约市，一些辩护律师在诉讼中称家长没有及时被告知他们的孩子会留级。在芝加哥，一个家长团体提出了民权控诉，宣称取消自动升级使相当比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了级。

Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.

然而，这场关于自动升级的战争还是会带来一个有益的结果：如果每个教育区采用洛杉矶的做法，那些学习吃力的学生就会得到学习帮助，而不仅仅是在学完一年毫无收获之外再被踢上一脚。