A popular former Florida governor thinks high expectations should come before self-esteem concerns.

Jeb Bush is touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2016. In a speech at the National Summit on Education Reform last month, Bush criticized the Orange County school district, claiming:

    "This morning, over 213 million Chinese students went to school and nobody debated whether academic expectations should be lowered in order to protect their students’ self-esteem. Yet in Orange County, Fla., last week, I read that debate actually did occur at a school board meeting. The school board voted to make it impossible for a student to receive a grade below 50. You get 50 out of 100 just for showing up and signing your name. This was done -- and I quote here from a local official -- ‘so that the students do not lose all hope.’"

PolitiFact Florida rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Joshua Gillin says it rates MOSTLY TRUE. According to Gillin, the grading policy still allows students to score lower than 50 in some instances.

“You can still get a zero if you get a zero on a test or on an assignment,” Gillin said. “But the idea behind that is once you have that zero after a certain amount of time it's almost impossible to come back up from it. They moved it up to 50, which is still a failing grade if you don't improve, you'll still fail. But it gives kids a chance.”

Not everyone was in favor of the grading policy. In fact, some teachers told the school board they opposed the policy. Teachers said it could condition students not to work as hard. But ultimately, most of the board members supported the plan as a way to give students one last chance to pull their grades out of a failing mark.

Because the new Orange County school policy applies to quarter and semester grades and not individual assignments or tests, PolitiFact rated the claim MOSTLY TRUE.

SOURCES: ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT GRADING MINIMUMS