I think that the school takes a defensive posture when a parent provides feedback. My intent in writing to the teacher was to request that she help my son with some strategies to interpret written directions (he's six and has no experience completing a school task without direct instruction), and consider that he gets anxious and easily frustrated when he doesn't understand something immediately. So helping him manage his feelings is key to getting the most out of him.
Instead, I got a response that he has maturity and comprehension issues (unsupported by previous teacher feedback, grades, and standardized testing)- and he got demoted down to the regular math. Now, for some reason he is required to read an extra book for class and report on it by Friday. *And* my son told me that when he told the teacher that the books were boring she responded by saying, "if he was bored to was because he was too lazy to make something good out of it." My son is many things, but when he is engaged and excited, lazy is not one of them.
Honestly, if he didn't have some issues with anxiety, I would move him at mid year-- unfortunately, given that he's high strung, it would probably backfire.
