So, to make a long story short... The Kern High School District has decided to reclassify the lowest-performing sophmores as freshmen for their 10th grade year.  After that, they jump directly to being juniors, then seniors... completely skipping their "sophomore" year.  It is not a 5 year program, it does not change ANYTHING about their class schedules or their graduation prospects.

Why would they do such a seemingly ridiculous thing?  Because if they are never sophomores, they never take the "census" CAHSEE, one of the main factors in calculating the district's API. 

In other words, it's a shell game.  It masqurades as a hard-line approach to slacking teens but it's really about hiding them when test day comes.  The students have figured it out, they laugh about it in class.  The public backs it because like many of us educators, it fools them at first.  On the surface it sounds like something it is not. 

Fortunately, the public is not stupid and they will figure this sham out eventually.  Tell a friend.  Tell two.