By the way I posted the requested video clip of Fenty under the video section above the header. Click on the video link.
I received an email which indicates that the Office of the Inspector General School is investigating allegations that a DC public high school administrative team fixed grades so that students could graduate. ( I have removed the name of the school for purposes of this story). The grade-fixing allegations were made this month by teachers at the high school in question. I think this email from a DC insider is very telling and worth sharing. Some employees feel they have to resort to 'cooking the books' just to keep their jobs under the current regime. There is a push to make the statistics look good at any cost. Grade changing is unethical, illegal and a disservice to our students. Back in the October 2009, I heard of a similar story at a DC City Council hearing in which a school counselor accused David Pinder, principal of McKinley Technology Senior High School of altering students transcripts. Other staff at McKinley also confirmed this story at the hearing. Later the Office of Inspector General became involved in this case and to my knowledge is still investigating.
I have to give 2 thumbs up to the DC teachers who decided not to look the other way and report these violations of grade tampering to the Office of the Inspector General. Here's to you !
The Washington Teacher
"Some of the teachers at a DC public high school called the DC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and reported they have failed students only to find the grades were changed by the school's administrative team later. The OIG called the principal yesterday and told her they want to conduct an investigation and see her books which is why she was seen crying by some of the staff. The bldg. rep. held a union meeting this morning and laid into the teachers who called the OIG rather than coming to her first so she could schedule a proper meeting between them and the principal. She basically called the teachers a 'bunch of cowards for going outside the building' by calling the OIG and she said thats why Chad Ferguson wants to fire the whole bunch of them!! Wow, what a way to boost morale, loyalty and support from the teachers!! Next the building rep said that the teachers cannot fail students based on poor attendance alone according to the DCMR. I know that the DCPS attendance policy states that if a students misses so many days of school they can fail a class.
Since I was not familiar with the DC Municipal Regulations, I did as you suggested and looked up the code for attendance in the DCMR and it says the same thing as DCPS attendance policy; that a student shall receive an F if they have 10 unexcused absences during an advisory and they shall receive an F for the course if they have 30 unexcused absences. There is nothing different between DCMR and DCPS attendance policy so I don't know why the building rep. would tell teachers that they cannot fail a student based on attendance alone when its in writing that they can!!
Besides, the teachers didn't just fail their students based on poor attendance alone; they failed them because they didn't do their class work, missed tests, quizzes, book reports, and did not turn in research projects. Even when given a work packet to make up for all the work they missed during the semester/school year many students still didn't complete it. The principal did not like this because it makes her graduation and promotion numbers look very bad. What ever happened to the Chancellor's standard for more rigor in the classroom? How is giving a work packet at the end of the class to a no-show student just as rigorous as attending school regularly and doing all the required work for a passing grade? Sounds like a double standard to me. If that's the case teachers should just pass students regardless of attendance, quality and accuracy of work if the principal is just going to change their grades from fail to pass anyway."
Besides, the teachers didn't just fail their students based on poor attendance alone; they failed them because they didn't do their class work, missed tests, quizzes, book reports, and did not turn in research projects. Even when given a work packet to make up for all the work they missed during the semester/school year many students still didn't complete it. The principal did not like this because it makes her graduation and promotion numbers look very bad. What ever happened to the Chancellor's standard for more rigor in the classroom? How is giving a work packet at the end of the class to a no-show student just as rigorous as attending school regularly and doing all the required work for a passing grade? Sounds like a double standard to me. If that's the case teachers should just pass students regardless of attendance, quality and accuracy of work if the principal is just going to change their grades from fail to pass anyway."
Signed,
Anonymous
