A New York City education
panel is sending a message to eighth graders: If you do not pass your classes,
you will not move on to high school.

However,
Monday night’s vote to end the practice of "social promotion" is not
sitting well with some parents.

Enraged
parents**
confronted the city’s panel on educational policy before a final vote that
would determine whether failing eighth-graders would be left back or pushed
through high school anyway.

Despite the
opposition, 11 of the panel’s 12 members raised their hands in favor of Mayor
Michael Bloomberg’s demand to an end of the controversial promotion practice.

NYC Schools
Chancellor Joel Klein said there is no purpose in sending students to high
school unprepared knowing the odds against them are so small.

However,
some parents strongly disagreed.

"I’m
afraid kids are just going to drop out of school because they lose their
confidence," parent O’Cynthia Williams said.

Jane
Hirshman, an educational advocate, called the policy a "disgrace."

Under the
proposal, all eighth-graders in the city will have to achieve a Level 2 on
standardized tests and pass all of their core classes, including science, math,
English and social studies, to be promoted.

Following
the panel’s vote, Bloomberg said, "We will continue to make sure that we
provide middle school students with the targeted academic support they
need."

Critics,
however, said that will not be enough to keep failing students from giving up
and dropping out.

**
Including Make the Road New York
members