Question About Johnny

I was wondering about the Johnny articles, and the fact that students have really poor writing.  Does this mean that because many students still receive good and passing grades in their freshman writing classes or even higher level courses, that teachers’ standards of grading went down?  The article also mentioned a kind of laziness of the teachers because as the classrooms became fuller, the requirements of writing placed upon the students became much easier for the teachers to grade, so short-answer questions instead of actual essays.  Do you think the grading is reflective on the teachers standards of grading going down with the ability of students to write or rather on their laziness in grading?