Sometimes People Do Things That... Well, Just Don't Make No Sense

So this weekend I went to a holiday party at an apartment of a math teacher I worked with while I was interning. There were several other teachers from that school there, and at some point they brought up the fact that they were all having trouble implementing the new "No Homework" policy. At that point, I inserted myself into the conversation with a type of WTF look on my face. We all seemed to be on the same page-- we didn't see the point of the policy and thought it was completely counter-intuitive. The math teacher said she could encourage students to practice their skills, but since the new policy disallows teachers to grade homework, students won't practice and thus will fail the tests. The English teacher said the students couldn't discuss the books in class since they are not motivated to read them at home. Evidently, this trend is only spreading. In a middle school, it is especially harmful since kids at that age don't understand that in order to master a skill they must practice it consistently, not just for the 40 minutes they are in class. I really hope this trend is incredibly short-lived. Yikes.