The counter against retention?

Teachers foresee `retention time bomb'

The state's new plan to ensure that third-graders can read before they are promoted will have a dramatic consequence: An explosion of older students in elementary and middle school classrooms.

Educators say they are bracing for a 'retention time bomb'' stemming from the state's clampdown on social promotion that took effect this school year. A few years from now, the 16-year-old who lingers in eighth grade while his peers study for the SAT and worry about a junior prom date is likely to be a bundle of disruptions.

This is a stupid reason to promote/pass a student:

``You will have a 16-year-old in your classroom and outside of school he may be hanging out with kids who are 18. And he's next to a 13-year-old in class. . . . If they are disruptive, they can destroy a class. Some of the other kids will really look up to them.''

Key word: IF

So, promote a kid who cannot read because he may be disruptive?

There has to be a middle ground between retention and promotion. Maybe its the (outdated) system that needs changing?