D-minus? That's Going on the Fridge!

From Opinion Journal:

Right now, students in Atchison County, Kan., need a C average in order to participate in extracurricular activities. As of next year, however, even a D-minus average will be good enough. A district school board in northeastern Kansas voted last week to lower its threshold after asserting that efforts to determine eligibility under the C rule were distracting teachers from their job of helping pupils learn.

I'm sorry -- distracting how? Are the distractions coming from coaches pressuring teachers to give their star athletes a C? This seems inexcusable to me. Students go to high school to learn, and if they are lucky, to participate in extracurricular activities. Lowering the bar like this is just another step towards a culture where children get whatever they want and never are told they are wrong. What a grave disservice this is to both America's youth and the future of society. Even the NCAA is implementing stricter academic requirements. High schools should follow suit and remind students that they must at least be average in the classroom (if not above-average) before they can worry about sports.