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Teachers say they’re pushed to pass students who skipped class all year

Administrators at a Queens high school are demšŸ¦‚anding that teachers pass undeserving students ā€“ including some theyā€™ve never even seen,šŸ’« fed-up educators told The Post.

The teachers at William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City say the pressure comes as the school year is about to end and they are asked to promote students who have skipped claā™”sses and done little or no work.

“I have gotten numerous complaints from teachers that they feel forced to promote students they do not think should be promoted,” Georgia Lignou, a Bryant HS teacher and UFT chapter leader wrote last week in a letter to Principal Namita Dwarka and other faculty members. The Post obtained a copy.

“This happens when at this time of the year with less than a week of classes left, administration is reaching out to us sometimes about students we have never seen,” she wrote. ā€œWe do not feel that a student who was absent for most of the year and has failed previous marking periods can possibly achieve mastery at this time of the year.ā€

The issue of AWOL students getting a pass is not unique to Brāœ±yant High School, which has 2,100 students and boasts legendary singer Ethel Merman ašŸ§œnd ex-schools chancellor Joel Klein among alumni.

One teacher claimed to have "never seen" students that administrators asked to be passed.
One teacher reports to have “never seen” students that administrators asked him to pass. Matthew McDermott

Schools justify the laxity under a city Department of Education policy which says students canā€™t be denied credit based on a lack of ā€œseat time.ā€

Students must meet ā€œacademic expectations,ā€ but itā€™s loosely up to each schooāœ…l to decide whatā€™s expected.

ā€œAdministrators use thatā›¦ policy to push teachers to promote students whošŸ’¦ have been absent from class for the whole year,ā€ a Bryant teacher said. ā€œFailure is not an option.ā€

Among recent grade-fixing scandals, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools last year blasted Maspeth High School in Queens for creating fake classes, awarding bogus credits, and promoting truant oź¦‡r cšŸƒhronically absent students.

ā€œI donā€™t care if a kid shows up at 7:44 and you dismiss at 7:45 ā€” itā€™s your job to give that kid credit,ā€ Maspeth principal Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir was quoted as telling a teacher. The DOE removed him as a principal, but will let him stay ošŸ„€n the city payroll for seven years ź§Ÿuntil he retires.

In a massive scheme at Dewey HS in Brooklyn, a 2015 probe confirmed complaints by teacher whistleblowers that hundreds of students who were given work ā€œpacketsā€ or put in bogus classes without instruction by certified teachers received credits towaą¹Šrd graduation. Kids called it ź¦ā€œEasy Pass.ā€

The abuses at Maspeth and Dewey, while extreme, are mirrored throughout the city, with principals under pressure from DOE higher-ups to beef up graduation rates. Many high schools give minimal tasks for failing students in the final weeks to make-up for missing most of the class, The Post has reported.

In her letter, Lignou said, “Teachers are asked to ā€˜provide support,’ā€ to failing students.

That means that the studentsšŸŒ can get a few last-ditch assignments and pass ā€œwith much less work than what the teachź¦er required in class,ā€ she wrote. 

Bryant's UFT Chapter Leader Georgia Lignou reported to principal Namita Dwarka in a letter that teachers have filed complaints about being pressured to pass students.
Bryant’s UFT Chapter Leader Georgia Lignou reported to principal Namita Dwarka, pictured, that teachers have complained about being pressured to pass students. Twitter

Teachers are ā€œintimidated by the toneā€ of ā­•emails they ršŸ“eceive from higher-ups, she added.

ā€œWhat they hear is ā€˜We want you to ā™pass this student,ā€™ and they doā€ to avoid run-ins with the assistant principals who supervise them. ā€œThey do promote students who should not have been promošŸƒted,ā€ Lignou wrote.

 “Please allow the teachers without pressure to be the judge as to which students ought to be promoted. As a school and as individual teachers, we have done everything to help. Some students did not respond, and they will benefit by going to summer school,” she concluded.

ā€œGrade fraud is systemic,ā€ said City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), who sparked investigations of Maspeš“”th HS after hearing from whistleblower teachers. ā€œItā€™s  inherent in  many schools, ā™›and everybody in the DOE administration looks the other way because itā€™s in their best interest.

ā€œBut theyā€™re cheating our children out of a good education. Donā€™t show up in class? You pass. Everybody passes, and grades are meaningless. I think we need a federal monitor to come in and take over because nobodyā€™s ā›„overseeing anything.ā€ 

The DOE confirmed students cannot be failed or prevenź§™ted from promotion based on attendance.

ā€œGrading and promotion decisions are based on whether or not the student completes their work and demonstrates masteršŸ„‚y,ā€ said spokeswoman Nicole Brownstein. ā€œOur educators and school leaders know their students besą¶£t and are equipped to ensure students receive the grades they worked hard to earn.ā€ 

Regarding the open letter to Bryant principal Dwarka, a spokesman added, ā€œWe take any allegation of misconduct seriously and we ā™‹will look into thisą¹„.ā€