Can Children be Allowed to Choose Failure?

Old school: If children choose to fail, then it's their fault.
Emerson today: If a child leaves Emerson without successfully meeting grade level standards (or his/her IEP goals), then we have failed him/her.

Who is "we?"
Parents may point to the teacher.
Teachers may blame the parents.
A Board of Education may lay liability on a principal.
Some may condemn the curriculum (the work is boring or too difficult).
Universities may indict the school system.
The wealthy may point the finger at poverty.
The poor may blame the greedy.
Descendants of immigrants may blame today's immigrants.
Business leaders may incriminate the State's school funding formulas.
Republicans may find fault with excessive government.
Democrats may decry the lack of programs.
Maybe everyone,in part, tacitly accuses the children themselves.

While everyone is playing a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, we have real children who are really failing. They are failing in our beloved school. When even one child fails (consistently earning a Basic or Below Basic in either Math or Language Arts), we can't waste time looking for the guilty party. We must do everything in our power to help that child learn successfully, even if it seems as if they themselves don't care.

Children rely on us to engineer their success. We can inspire them if they are uninspired. Collectively, we have the experience, training, time and expertise. We can't allow even one child to fail. When a child fails, it means that all of us have defaulted.

Every person who has fingers to point also has a hand to help pull a child out of failure. Maybe the problem is too many fingers and not enough hands.