it's a failing of his teachers and perhaps his parents.
I went to public school and I understand English grammar extremely well.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that all public schools fail at this. It just seems that several in St. Louis have so far, so maybe I should have said it seems to be a failing of our local schools.
NB - the best way to improve one's grammar (and spelling, and punctuation) is to read a lot of books.
I used to read all the time and still do, which is probably why I had a college level spelling and vocabulary in 8th grade. :) I agree, that really helps.
Nightowl >8#