Grade retention doesn't work...

I was expecting the automated call letting me know my children were not at school but I got a real phone call from Ben's teacher. She wanted to warn me that they were going to ask me to hold Ben back a year and paperwork would come home to that fact. I actually like Ben's teacher. That is really rare for me to like any of the kids' teachers. She seems to actually be trying. I quickly told her no, that retention does not statistically hold merit. Just holding a child back to repeat a grade doesn't fix any problems the child has. Ben is different. A year won't change that. I was asked if I wanted to still proceed with an IEP. I said of course. Ben needs assistance not just time. I refuse to allow him to loose a year of his life because it is the easy way out. We shall see how the second half of this year goes for him.