> She frequently gets irate phone calls from parents saying that she has crushed their daughter's (in a few cases, their son's) dreams. More like they abandone

> She frequently gets irate phone calls from parents saying that she has crushed their daughter's (in a few cases, their son's) dreams. More like they abandoned their "dreams" because they learned they value other things in life even more. It sounds like your wife is doing the right thing. A little pain now to save those students years of hurt down the road.