It used to be that passing a class was as simple as black or white. You either knew your stuff, or you didn't. Lately that seems to be changing however and some of the reasons behind it are frustrating.

Many schools in America receive funding based on how well their students are doing. Failure rates are tracked and reported and it may have a big impact on a school's resources. Over the years, school administrations have tried to find ways around poor grades that have nothing to do with educating children.

There are a number of news stories of teacher's actually being reprimanded for failing a student. It's not just in the US either. One teacher in Canada was actually fired for failing a student who didn't hand in any work. He sued and got his job back.

Grading isn't a universal scale and individual states have the right to change how they grade. Many colleges for instance consider anything less than 60% an F, or failing grade. When I went to school a fail was below 50%.

North Carolina is looking to adjust their bar even lower.

The North Carolina General Assembly is debating whether or not to change the grading system to make a failing grade anything below 40%. Currently anything below 60% is an F.

Forty seems a ridiculously low number. You could get the majority of answers wrong on a test and still pass it. There will be ramifications if North Carolina decides to go through with the change as students from that system will be less respected than students from other systems. That will impact college admission rates.

North Carolina has some stellar universities, but the public school system is considering below average. In a 2018 ranking of states, North Carolina placed 32nd when ranked based on a variety of metrics.

Our children are our future, but we have a job to do to make sure they're successful. Lowering the bar isn't going to get it done.