ARE YOU READY FOR OPERATION GRADUATION?

Standards in NYC schools have been lacking for years in many schools according to so many readers here and press reports. Well, now having virtually no standards is about to become policy and it is somewhat understandable during a pandemic but still, some of this is rather troubling.

From Sue Edelman in the NY Post:

They call it “Operation Graduation:” NYC educrats thinking up creative ways to graduate as many high school seniors as possible in a school year fractured by the coronavirus crisis.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday he will shutter all school buildings through June, a decision immediately challenged by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who insists he makes such decisions under a state of emergency.

But Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has already begun rallying his troops to salvage the graduation rate, which was 77.3 percent through August last year, and to pass younger students on to the next grade.

“We’re going to have to make big decisions in the upcoming weeks regarding promotions and graduations,” Carranza told a webinar for Brooklyn principals last week, one note-taking attendee told The Post. “We need to start to think how are we going to justify promotions and graduations.”

“Never waste a good crisis,” the chancellor told the school leaders.

“We need to rethink the way we grade students. Maybe we should grade them on a pass/fail basis, whether they master the material or not, instead of with traditional grades.”

Carranza kept repeating this mantra: “Flexibility and patience.”

A Bronx elementary school teacher said the writing is on the wall: “We’re under the impression that we’re passing everyone if schools are going to be closed for the rest of the year.”

That means letting some students — those who don’t log on for remote instruction, don’t pay attention or don’t do the work — off the hook, teachers told The Post.

The city Department of Education has Fed-exed about 70,000 iPads to students, leaving some  200,000 kids still lacking devices and/or Wifi, spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said Saturday. The DOE aims to deliver the rest “by the end of the month,” she said.

With many students still without online access, others playing online hooky, state standardized exams canceled and the Regents exams waived, the pass rates are likely to soar.

High school administrators have begun citing “Operation Graduation” in emails to colleagues.

The rules are loose at some schools. If a student and his or her parent cannot be reached online or by phone, the kid gets a pass, a Brooklyn high-school teacher said staff was told.

“There’s no justification to fail the student if you haven’t done successful outreach to the parent. The kids and their parents just have to not answer the phone and, voila, they pass,” the teacher said.


“We are getting reports of groups of our most troubled kids hanging out in the streets, drinking, smoking weed, fighting. But these kids are going on the ‘Operation Graduation’ lists.”

There's more but you get the picture. How can we possibly be fair here? There are great kids that are trying and there are truly needy students who are undergoing tragedies at home and school could not possibly be a priority. However, there are others are taking advantage of the situatipon and are doing nothing.