Is More School Really the Answer for Everyone?

This past year, I had students in my classroom who could neither read nor write. these were not 1st grade students; these were seniors in high school. I did not teach in a low socio-economic district, I taught in one of the more affluent districts in my area which had a number of transient students (because of a large military population). These kids never had to master anything, they were simply promoted because it might cause their self-esteem to fall if they failed. Because I demanded at least competency in order to passy my classes, I had 18 students who failed...and was told that my services were no longer needed because I wouldn't give passing grades to those kids who did little to no work, wouldn't show up to tutoring...