Thursday, May 04, 2006

 
Honoring JFK?

Everyone already knows that graduation rates for NYC high schools are scandalously low. But what are we going to say when we figure out those rates are actually higher than they should be?

Michael Winerip's column in the Times this morning is a doozie. Sounds like John F. Kennedy High School is graduating kids who haven't really finished school just to get them the hell out.

From the column:

For the last year, the city has been investigating whether long-troubled Kennedy High, which has been perilously close to landing on the state's failing school list, used several illegal methods to improve its academic standing. In February, this column raised questions about the principal's decision to change scores to passing from failing on 16 students' English Regents exams required for graduation. City officials were so concerned about grading practices at Kennedy that they issued a memorandum in March to all high school principals, announcing a new citywide policy aimed at closing loopholes in graduation requirements.

What a mess.
 

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