By: Jasmine Bechet
Some people already say public education has been dumbed down. So what will they say when they hear that students are not required to attend class in order to receive a diploma?
“It’s not widely advertised, but under Department of Education rules, students cannot be denied credit or graduation “based on lack of seat time alone,” reported the New York Post. “Under state law, school districts may adopt a “minimum attendance standard.” New York City does not. While city schools must take attendance, kids can still pass or be promoted even if chronically absent, which is missing more than 10 percent of days.”
The rules continue by pointing out that kids who “meet class expectations” must receive credit, and “are not required to make up the exact hours of missed class time.”
“The loose policy — each school defines its own “expectations” — leaves room for dishonest educators to let truants skate by with minimal make-up work in English, math and other core subjects, experts say,” noted the Post.
In a piece headlined “NYC kids do not have to go to school to get diplomas,” asumetech.com wrote that the Maspeth High School, which is being investigated by Queens Public Prosecutor and the DOE, “has taken advantage of this gap by distributing worksheets to teenagers who have missed months of lessons. The expectations are low. “If students give anything, whether it’s correct or not, they have to insist,” said one of several Maspeth informants who described the pressure of administrators to overtake children who did not deserve it.”
A quartet of Maspeth students, “who were absent four to five months in a row that year, completed their studies after having appeared once a week to hand over worksheets to a Dean. They all received Regent Diplomas and were invited to attend the June Opening Ceremony, records show,” added the web site.
Weeks ago, it was reported that acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan was conducting his own inquiry into “allegations that Maspeth High School was boosting the grades of students to reap the benefits of a high graduation rate,” reported qns.com. “This coincides with another investigation that is underway by the city Department of Education after the claims from former teachers came to their attention recently as well.
“The matter is under review by our Public Integrity Bureau,” a spokeperson for the acting DA said on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the DOE said the agency insists its staffers go through tough training to give tests as well as “mandatory procedures for allegations of academic dishonesty and misconduct. We take any allegation of academic misconduct very seriously, and there are strict protocols in place to ensure complaints are reported, investigated and addressed. These allegations are currently under investigation.”
