Quotable:

“It might even be a reason for dismissal. We’re teaching kids something that if they were to do it later, they could get in trouble for…If a student in college were to approach a professor to buy a grade, we would be frowning on that.”
—Rebecca Garland, chief academic officer for the NC Department of Public Instruction

“District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser ,” The News Observer (NC)

Notable:

27.6:
Percentage of South Carolina 9th graders who were retained for another freshman year in 2004-5, according to a new report on the “9th grade bulge,” which refers to the uncommonly high number of students who must repeat that grade.

“Still a Freshman: Examining the Prevalence and Characteristics of Ninth-Grade Retention Across Six States ,” Everyone Graduates Center