It's gotten to the point in my district when I am listening to parents of these redshirted kids complain when they don't make the cut. It's gross listening to it.
What is really gross is listening to the parent of a red-shirted child bitching that all those immature kids (kids 16-17 months younger that hers but, you know, supposedly age-appropriate for grade) are ruining school for her child, what were their parents thinking!
You get enough of those (I also live in an area where red-shirting is very popular amongst higher socio-economic categories), and they do make the younger kids look immature, skew the perspective of teachers and parents on what age appropriate development looks like (hint: ADHD diagnosis rates amongst young for grade kids), and increase the pressure on other parents to red-shirt too (HK is totally right about this being strike one in the college admission wars).
This leaves the age appropriate kids whose parents can ill afford to keep them at home in an even worse position in their grade cohort, as they are now starting behind even more.
And then some @&#^% actually change public policy based on this... because having as early a cut-off as possible gives a state an edge in NCLB results. Another 100 years of this and kids will have to turn 18 by July 1st in order to start K
.
Put me in the "seeing red" category.
