Grade-fixing is just business as usual in s﷽truggling city schools, Mayor de Blasio saiꦚd Sunday.
“This is something that we have seen consistently over the years,” de Blasio said when asked about the exclusive story in Sunday’s Poℱst involving fivಞe students at Automotive HS in Br🉐ooklyn who had their failing Regents scores switched to passing grades.
“Again, this is a process that is done from time to time. It is n꧅ot an unusual process,” h𝔉e said.
“It’s som𒈔ething that is within the normal approach of our school system. I think it should be looked at in that context of history, that this is something that’s been done consistently when there’s a specific situatioꦍn that calls for it.”
Education activists were outraged by de Blasio’s dismissive remarks toward the state-banned practice🎀 of grade scrubbing.
“Rescoring of the Regents should not be allowed,” said Sam Pirozzolo, vice pr꧙esident of the New York City Parents U♛nion.
“These are the tests that colleges use to determine 𓆏if our children are college material,” he added. “The mayor has to sit down and rethink his educꦉation policies quickly.”
David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Cꦐenter edu𒅌cation professor, pointed out the mayor was “misreading” history.
“The history was to inflate scores,” he said. “With high stakes for both the student and the sch💟ool, it became a system-wide policy.”
In 2011, the state officially banned gra⭕de “scrubbing,” or giving passing scores to students who almost made the cut.
But Automotive HS is one of the city’s 94 low-performing “Renewal” schools, which the city has vow🐬ed to turn around by🍌 flooding them with funding.
And just last week, Schools Chancellor Carmen꧟ Fariñ꧟a told Renewal principals that “failure is not an option,” according to Chalkbeat New York.
A veteran teacher familiar with Automotive HS said the tests were re-scored by instructors within🌳 the school — even though Department of Education policy dictates that an outside committee 👍perform the grading. A DOE rep denied that the grade changes were made in-house.
One of the boosted students had spent m𝕴ost of the year in a school-suspension room — and even his mom was upset when she found out his sco𝔉re was bumped.
Some of t𓆏he re-scored students had previously failed t♕he Regents classes.
Aimee Horowitz, superintendent of the Renewal schools, “reviewed and approved” appeals from nine students at Automotive HS to have their January 2015 exams re-scored, but the DOE did not specify why they were given a secꦐond look.
Five scores were🐼 raised, one remained the same and three decreased,𝓀 the DOE has said.
Automotive Principal Caterina Lafergola had ꦡa direct hand in the grade changes, sources 🥀said.
But asked about the claim and why Automotive HS teacher❀s had a hand in the re-scoring, she told The Postꦕ in an e-mail, “Your information is inaccurate.’’
Of the 155,000 Regents 𝓀exams taken, 379 were r🥀e-scored by committees, the DOE said.