The effects of neoliberal practices have spread like a wave through Brazil. In Brazilian schools, they have materialized in a variety of forms. I will specifically address the policy that restricts options for keeping back students with learning difficulties. When students with severe learning difficulties are automatically promoted, the truth of their experience goes unrecognized and the institution communicates that they are responsible for their own suffering. I argue that this project is full of contempt for those with learning difficulties and that when the school fails to do its job, social exclusion is not only accepted but also reproduced.