MASPETH HIGH SCHOOL PARENTS AND MAYOR LOOK TO BE IN DENIAL ON GRADE FRAUD

When you are going to go up against an administration of a school, make sure you have the parents with you or it will be much tougher. There is an article in this week's Queens Chronicle where the parents are standing behind the administration at Maspeth High School, even with substantial evidence of grade fraud that has been reported by Sue Edelman in the NY Post and here and here. I fully understand parents supporting a school as they don't want their own children's diplomas devalued but the evidence here is very strong.

For anyone who may have forgotten the original NY Post piece:
At highly rated Maspeth High School in Queens, students know they can play hooky, skip course work, flunk tests — and still pass.

They call it the “Maspeth Minimum,” meaning everyone gets at least the minimum grade or score needed to pass or graduate, no matter what.

Whistleblowers call it fraud. The secret to the school’s 98% graduation and 90% Regents pass rate, they say, is simple: “Cheat!”

Four teachers told The Post that the 2,100-student high school — awarded a prestigious National Blue Ribbon in 2018 by the federal secretary of education — has an unwritten but iron-clad “no-fail policy,” even for kids who repeatedly don’t do the work or even show up.

“Teachers are not allowed to fail students,” a staffer said.

One recent Maspeth graduate posted on Instagram about taking Mandarin in 11th grade, writing, “there was no way I should of passed that class.”

But in the end, someone raised the student’s failing grade just high enough to earn a credit.

“At the time, I didn’t believe in the ‘maspeth minimum’ thing but I almost never showed up to class and vividly remember having multiple 0’s on quizzes I never took,” the student wrote. “My average was a 45 and then magically turned into a 65 when my report card came in.”

Mayor de Blasio knew about this halfway through the summer. From another NY Post Sue Edelman piece:
The stunning allegations surfaced on July 30, when (Councilman Robert) Holden first met a Maspeth teacher who brought him a binder full of evidence, including schedules with non-existent classes, records of no-show students who graduated, and statements by students who said they received passing grades or test scores they didn’t deserve.

Holden called the mayor’s office immediately. On Friday, Aug. 2, he met with Lydon Sleeper, the mayor’s intergovernmental affairs director, asking him to bring in the city’s Department of Investigation.

Holden then forwarded the evidence to DOI, which sent it to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, Anastasia Coleman.

The next week, four ex-Maspeth teachers came to Holden’s office to speak with investigators, but SCI said it had no one to send.

To update the story, the Queens Chronicle sent a reporter to the September meeting of the Maspeth HS PTA and parents were not at all upset with the school but instead blamed the whistle-blowers.
As allegations about widespread cheating at Maspeth High School swirl, the September meeting of the Parent Teacher Association saw support for the school last Wednesday.

One mother, whose son who is a junior, said, “I’ve never seen a school so well run,” to applause from other parents.

Another mother said, “I know that this school will succeed even though there was some negative press and will be investigated. And I’m sure that everything will be null and void.”

Her husband noted that their son has improved since coming to the school.

“Every teacher has put that extra effort in,” he said. “So please don’t believe what you hear.”

Accusations from former teachers who came forward to the New York Post include math teachers changing incorrect answers on Scantron exam forms, truant students passing classes and an assistant principal teaching a course where attendance is not required. Two official investigations into the allegations are underway.

Mayor de Blasio's office is also attacking Councilman Holden. Back to the Chronicle: 

Mayor de Blasio’s senior communications advisor, Wiley Norvell, criticized Holden on Twitter last Sunday, saying the councilman’s “conduct here is irresponsible. He is playing fast and loose with the facts.”

“When he learned of complaints, Holden didn’t do the ONE thing all City employees and elected officials are required to do — report these issues directly to the appropriate investigators,” Wiley tweeted.

He added that Holden initially refused to provide details, including the name of the school. The Mayor’s Office contacted the SCI and a few days later Holden disclosed the school in question, which the office passed on to the SCI, according to Wiley.

“Rather than let SCI do its work and investigate, Holden has been trying to score points in the press, repeatedly jeopardizing the investigation,” Wiley tweeted.

Holden shot back on Twitter, saying “Like grade fraud, incompetence is systemic in the @NYCMayor’s administration. @BilldeBlasio cares more about the press than the children affected by this corruption. As is evidenced by him sending his lapdogs to do his spinning.”

I am not sure how contacting the press jeopardizes an investigation. In my experience and I am certain with many others too, when it comes to the Department of Education if the press is not involved, incidents are swept under the rug.

At Jamaica High School in 2010, the DOE initially said there wasn't any transcript fixing when insiders reported it to the NY Post and provided substantial evidence to investigators. The DOE comment on Sue Edelman's October 31, 2010 article:
"Jamaica High School took the proper steps to review documentation and grant credit appropriately,” (a DOE Spokesperson) said. 

Then a week later after the story hit the paper the DOE was singing a different tune:
The DOE at first denied any wrongdoing but "took a closer look at the school’s data' after The Post’s report," said a spokesman.

It found that the school had recently erased some 1,100 credits to about 150 students for 606 “foreign transfer courses.”

Stay quiet at your own peril ladies and gentlemen.

I will be emailing support to Councilman Holden. If you want to also, his email is District30@council.nyc.gov