1) That boy is full of BS. They tried to teach him every day of his life and I know his type. It's someone else's fault he can't read. Oh yeah? You think you go to school and just sit there while someone else pries open your brain and shovels knowledge into it?
2) And Mom.... parents, that child is YOUR responsibility before he is society's and the tax-payers. I don't care if you're single, working two jobs, and poor as a church mouse, you can spend a half hour three times a week helping your kid to read.
Man, this BS just makes me furious.
I agree with you. This mom and kid could have solved the problem without the school. BUT - how many times have many of us been told by our kids' teachers to just "leave it to the school" and things will work out ? I know I have - until I pulled mine out to homeschool.
If she couldn't afford a couple of hundred dollars to Sylvan or a place like that, you can bet she depends on the "gubmint" to tell her how to run her life in other areas as well. This mother, and others just like her, have been conditioned over many years to sit back and someone from the government will come along and do it for them. We may be too intelligent to fall for that kind of patronization from government bureaucrats, but there are a lot of people out there who have no critical reasoning ability. (hint: many call themselves Democrats)
The school passed this kid for 12 years without this kid being able to read at even a solid 1st grade level. Regardless of whether you think the mom and kid were idiots, the fact remains that this kid was failed by everyone concerned - except ABC News.