Teachers say they feel pressure to meet city’s ‘pass quota’
City teachers say that they are expected to pass a quota of students, and that the pressure gives rise to academic shortcuts and diplomas for the undeserving.
Considering how little learning may be going on, a common term for a teacher’s pass rate is ironic — “scholarship.”
Near the end of last school year, a Flushing HS teacher was given a list of 10 students failing her class. The assistant principal told her to come up with a “plan” to pass teens who hadn’t done any work.
The teacher prepared packets of makeup work, but only three students showed up to get them, she said. She asked them to read a book and write a paper.
One simply refused.
“This is ridiculous,” he told her. “It’s too late to do anything. It’s not fair to give me a passing mark.”
The others wrote two-page papers. They passed.
“I did what I had to do,” the teacher said. “I was scared.”
She told her story after The Post reported on a June 1 e-mail from Patricia Cuti, Flushing’s assistant principal for guidance, in which she warned that 150 students were set to flunk classes and that the school graduation rate loomed at less than 50 percent.
“Our benchmark of a 60 percent graduation rate is nonnegotiable,” it read.
Flushing is one of 94 struggling “Renewal” schools Mayor de Blasio plans to fix with $400 million over three years.
“It’s unethical to give these kids a passing grade,” the teacher said, but added, “We’re going to get a bad review if we don’t do this.”
Walter Haverstock, a teacher at New Explorers HS in Concourse Village, The Bronx, blogged about a stern letter from his principal calling him in to discuss his “scholarship report.” It suggested he bring a union rep “because this may lead to disciplinary action.”
“Cops have to give out X amount of citations. Teachers have to give out X number of free passes,” Haverstock wrote.
Department of Education rep Harry Hartfield called scholarship reports “an internal data tool” that has been in use for a decade.
“Schools cannot have quotas of any kind,” he said.
Credit-and grade-boosting schemes went into full swing under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who boasted of raising the citywide graduation rate to 64.2 percent in 2014. Last year, the rate rose to 68.4 percent.
But both years only 38 percent of the grads had test scores high enough to enroll in CUNY without remedial help.
Leonie Haimson, executive director of the non-profit Class Size Matters, blamed both Bloomberg and de Blasio for failing to reduce overcrowding and large class sizes in the low-performing schools.
“What real chance are we giving these kids to learn and teachers to teach?” she asked.
Under de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, cheating and gimmicks such as quickie online courses have continued — and possibly worsened, experts say.
“We all believe this is the tip of the iceberg,” said David Bloomfield, an education professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. “There’s increased pressure on Renewal schools, and increased pressure on other schools not to become Renewal schools.”
Looking for schools to investigate? We suggest:
Flushing HS
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Administrators put 150 flunking students into quickie online credit programs and pressured teachers to devise last-minute “plans” to pass them in a effort to hand out more diplomas. “Our benchmark of a 60 percent graduation rate in June is nonnegotiable,” Patricia Cuti, assistant principal for guidance, said in a June 1 e-mail to staff.
William Cullen Bryant HS
Long Island City, Queens
Long Island City, Queens
Student Melissa Mejia, 18, confessed she hardly attended class, didn’t turn in homework and missed the final exam. But when she asked to make it up, she learned that teacher Andrea McHale had given her a passing grade to graduate. “If we set the bar higher, we would be a failing school,” McHale said. Other students said they earned credits in online programs and cheated by cutting-and-pasting answers from the Internet.
Teachers College Community School
Harlem
Harlem
Founding Principal Jeanene Worrell-Breeden, 49, killed herself the morning after her third-graders finished state Common Core English exams for the first time. A co-worker said Worrell-Breeden had filled in answers that students left blank. Investigators closed the case because of her death, and no changes were instituted to prevent future cheating.
Dewey HS
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Modal Trigger
Photo: Paul Martinka
In a program administrators called “Project Graduation” — and nicknamed “Easy Pass” — many students who failed or needed classes in various subjects were given “packets of work” and placed in rooms with no instruction. Teachers blew the whistle on the scheme. It took the Department of Education 14 months to issue a report and remove Principal Kathleen Elvin.
Automotive HS
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
The failing scores of five students who took Regents exams in January were switched to passing scores on their June transcripts. Some of the students had failed courses that preceded the exams. The rescoring helped put the sophomores and juniors on track to graduate. Automotive is a state-designated “out of time” school that must show improvement next year or face drastic action such as closure or a takeover.
Richmond Hill HS
Richmond Hill, Queens
Richmond Hill, Queens
Assistant Principal Christine Jordan assembled a team of three teachers in April to look at January Regents English exams “in need of rescoring.” “It’s important that this is done quickly so that students will be able to graduate in June if more points are found,” Jordan e-mailed staff. The DOE said scores were raised for five January Regents exams. Richmond Hill is one of 94 struggling “Renewal” schools that Mayor de Blasio hopes to fix with an extra $400 million over three years.
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