If you want a perfect example of why the system doesn’t need to be fixed, but instead abandoned, look no further than San Francisco’s latest educational reform.
This fall, San Francisco public high schools will let students pass with as little as 41%. That’s right. F’s will be turned into C’s. B’s will be turned into A’s. Homework, attendance, class participation—all officially irrelevant.
Because, apparently, the fairest way to help struggling kids is to erase all standards of achievement, or incentives to achieve.
What could go wrong?
Of course this isn’t just a local experiment; it’s part of a national trend that’s been gathering steam for years.
https://www.newsweek.com/san-francisco-public-schools-equity-homework-2078003
San Francisco’s schools are paying consultants who specialize in “grading for equity”—a philosophy that says that requiring students to complete assignments on time or penalizing missed work is unfair. Under the new system, a final exam (one which can be retaken over and over) will determine the majority of a student’s grade.
It’s hard to overstate how much this hurts kids, not just for academic preparedness, but for lifetime preparedness.
Look, I’m all for ending rote memorization and cancelling homework altogether. I also happen to think that open-book tests are actually not a terrible way to go about it—at least they encourage kids to learn how to look for information rather than just memorize it.
But that’s not what this is.
You don’t make people strong by removing all challenge. You don’t cultivate growth by pretending failure is success. You don’t prepare someone for the real world by telling them their “reasonable attempt” counts as a pass, even when they fail to show up.
None of this is about preparing kids for a lifetime of success. Schools like these aren’t closing achievement gaps; they’re hiding them.
And the only people who ultimately pay the price are the kids.
The truth is, government schools aren’t just useless—they are actively harmful. They are working against the values and habits kids need to thrive: responsibility, initiative, perseverance, integrity.
This should light a fire in every parent.
But here’s the good news: the outcomes for homeschooled kids or those in alternative education models are coming up roses.
Research consistently shows that homeschooled students score 15 to 30 percentile points higher on standardized academic achievement tests than their public school peers. They also tend to have stronger social, emotional, and psychological development, despite what the critics claim.
“But socialization!” eyeroll.
Look, I know a lot of people simply have to make do with what they have to work with. Homeschool or an education alternative isn’t always an option for everyone. But even if you can’t homeschool or switch schools right now, you can supplement what your kids are getting—or rather, not getting—at school.
This is why we created the Tuttle Twins series: to give parents practical tools to fill in the massive gaps left by a crumbling system.
With books on economics, personal responsibility, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and history, we help you teach your kids the ideas that matter most—the ideas they’ll never get from a school that thinks a 41% is a C.
And right now, we’re in the final days of our summer sale:
✅ 14 original Tuttle Twins kids’ books
✅ Audiobooks
✅ Parent guides
✅ Activity workbooks
All at 75% off — just $104.86 for a $419.44 value.
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to reclaim your kids’ education, this is it. The schools are making their move—we need to make ours.
Stock up now before the sale ends.
👉 Get the Summer Sale Bundle Now
The good news is, the more schools make insane policies like this, the more parents wake up to the reality that this system is simply no good and needs to be replaced entirely.
And that’s actually something to get excited about.
We’re gonna make it.
— Connor
