tmetrvl

Did you tell them they had the amount wrong specifically to get someone in trouble? If not, why?

Yes. Why do so few people understand this?

When you say "parents", it made me wonder if most of these kids have two parents at home. And if not, then it's probably one parent trying to bring in income and/or keep the household running, which is no small feat in and of itself. Schools seem to be on a pretty strict schedule now, if the student doesn't learn whatever lesson was taught that day, they either have to learn it at home with the help of a parent who might be working until whatever time and then maybe doesn't even understand the lesson themselves or just continue to fall farther and farther behind. It's unsurprising to me that a lot of students give up pretty early.