Education

And secondarily are cases, as you've mentioned, of kids flunking the first semester of a math class and being automatically enrolled in the second semester.

If I were Dictator of North America, and radically re-do the school year. I'd divide it up into six week segments. There would be a lot of segments that would be self contained or would not have any particular pre-requisites, such as literature segments, or
English grammar segments, or certain science segments. Others, such as math or foreign languages, would require that you successfully complete the earlier segments. So if, for instance, you're enrolled in beginning Algebra and you fail that first six weeks, you repeat it. No need to fail an entire semester, and you do the repeat immediately. Or at least before you can go on in algebra.

Think about how much less wasted time there would be. Think about not being stuck for an entire semester -- or worse yet, an entire year -- in a class you just don't understand.

I really wish I were Dictator of North America.