Every teacher is saying, ‘How did he graduate? He didn’t do anything’

Joanne Jacobs summary

In 2025, South Carolina’s high school graduation rate hit a high of 87 percent, reports Hechinger’s Ariel Gilreath. But only a third of seniors were college ready by graduation, based on their test scores and classwork. “More than 1 in 5 students in the state were chronically absent from school — nearly double the rate of chronic absenteeism in the state prior to the pandemic.”

South Carolina is trying to raise expectations. A new state law bans schools from setting “grade floors,” which set a minimum of 40 or 50 out of 100 instead of zero, even if no work is turned in. The idea is to persuade students who get a slow start not to give up on a passing grade.

But students have figured out they can pass with very little work, says Patrick Kelly, director of governmental affairs with the Palmetto State Teachers Association and a high school history teacher.

“At any high school graduation, I promise you, there will be a child who walks across the stage where every teacher in the room is going to go, ‘Wait, how did they graduate? They didn’t do anything,’” said Kelly.