As you kind of mentioned here, the thing about lowering the standards of education is that it's a spiral that just keeps getting more and more downward pressure. Not holding kids back is such a disservice to those kids in their future. We do the same here in Canada, it's very hard to fail a student. I think holding a kid back a grade earlier would actually be better than just punting them forward when they're not prepared already. One repeat is usually all it takes if you do it early in their school career.
I agree but this truth is kind of hard to swallow for parents that just want nice things for their kids. The pressure is shifted towards educators like it's their fault for failing the children. If I had to blame someone, it's the higher ups that call the shots than footmen who just do what they are told and are being punished for it.
There are a lot of children that have special needs, absent parenting, poor environment to live with, and lack of access to educational materials (internet at home), that could change the course of their academic performance way outside the control of teachers.
I see a future where the younger generation make up the majority and do stupid decisions on voting. That's probably why politicians don't want to have smart voters.