Troubles in Teacher Town

So, I've been in my teaching position for a month. I have five preps - Civics, World History, US History, Religion, and Geography. I've been given a great deal of independence with my Religion course, so its official name has become "World Religions and Christian Theology." The first semester is devoted to a comparative survey of world religions, while the second semester is a study in the history of Christianity and the beliefs thereof. I've the same group of students for World History that I have for the Religion course, so it works out well.

The trouble, you ask? The fact that these students are not prepared for any sort of academic rigor at all. Progress reports go out tomorrow morning, and save for a scant handful of exceptions, every single one of my students has lower than a C in their respective courses, with most in the D range. While not unusual, it still bugs a bit. Most have the potential to understand the material; the cause of almost all of their poor grades is a lack of study skills. I've given them suggestions, I've given them lists. I'm not there with them at home, so I've done all I can do.

However, when every single student in a class fails a test...fails it in a big way, not just barely fail, I become a bit troubled. Well, maybe not troubled. Just pissed off.