I agree about special needs kids. No one wants to have to do any extra work if the grades are not good and someone calls a meeting.

In my experience (and those of a few friends) I have seen grade inflation in MCPS (special needs students in particular). I think this has to do with a) the desire to keep kids moving towards graduation (social promotion) regardless if they are truly ready so they can get them out of the system, and b) make MCPS look good.