‘ Grade fix’ ax falls
B'klyn principal bounced
City investigators dropped the hammer on a Brooklyn highschool principal who masterminded a massive gradefixing scandal designed to boost graduation rates.
The sham “credit recovery” program at John Dewey HS — which the students called “easy pass” — was first exposed by The Post in March.
In a 22page report released on Wednesday, the Department of Education’s Office of Special Investigations said Principal Kathleen Elvin orchestrated the grade scam.
Elvin was removed from the school and will soon be fired, officials said.
“The results of the investigation are disturbing and show there was a failure to follow the DOE’s protocol during the 20132014 school year,” Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said.
“We have begun the process to have Ms. Elvin’s employment terminated, and she will be removed from payroll shortly.”
Connie Hamilton, principal of Kingsborough Early College School, was appointed Dewey’s new interim leader.
An assistant principal, Andrew Kenney, also engaged in misconduct in the credit-recovery scheme by programming bogus classes, the report said.
No immediate action was taken against him.
“As principal, Ms. Elvin was responsible for the conception and implementation of the . . . courses. Ms. Elvin failed to supervise Mr. Kenney and the teachers at her school by allowing the courses to be programmed in a way that instruction could not be provided,” investigators said.
Their report found that many students did not receive any instruction struction as required for the credit-recovery cred-B’klyn courses offered during the 20132014 school year.
Students trying to add credits in a variety of subject areas — ranging from math to science and English — were lumped into a single class and received little or no instruction, the report said.
The scathing probe said it was teachers who blew the whistle, with anonymous complaints initially made between April 17 and Oct. 22, 2014.
In one case, teacher KaiMing Wu secretly recorded an assistant principal instructing her to give grades to students based simply on attendance.
Science teacher Michael Klimetz said that when he refused to enter grades of students outside his subject area, the students were transferred to someone willing to assign the grades.
Investigators interviewed at least 13 educators at the school, including administrators, teachers and guidance counselors.
Damning evidence was also found in student and school records. Among the findings:
Cases where no teachers were listed on student transcripts to prove they earned credit or passing grades.
Two students failed a teacher’s history course with a grade of 55. But then their scores were changed to passing without the teacher’s knowledge.
One teacher was scheduled to teach nine different subjects in one class without the proper licensing or expertise.
“It’s a bogus way of improving the graduation rate,” Martin Haber, a former teachers union rep at Dewey, said in March.
Nowit’s official: John Dewey HS in Brooklyn passed kids who didn’t deserve it. And it may be just the tip of the iceberg for a problem that plagues the schools — and hides the truth from the public.
A bombshell report by the city Department of Education’s special investigator just confirmed what The Post’s Carl Campanile was first to report: Dewey students in “credit recovery” programs to make up for failed courses barely had to lift a finger to pass.
“Students were not required to receive instruction to obtain credit,” said the report. “No instruction was provided” in the classes, and at least one school official urged grading based on students’ attendance.
The culture of gradefixing is alive and kicking. Top staff find ways to move kids along, ready or not— and so make their schools look better. But do the kids no favors.
The Post has been reporting on gradefixing schemes in city schools for years. Officials have promised to end the practice — and even changed the rules. But the temptation to cheat, giving kids unearned credits to help them graduate, is plainly too great.
Just last month, The Post reported on “scrubbing” test scores — awarding extra points to help kids pass— including at some of the city’s worst schools.
All this not only cheats students, it also lets the schools off the hook for failing to teach their students adequately.
Yes, Chancellor Carmen Fariña has begun the process of firing John Dewey HS Principal Kathleen Elvin and promises extra training at the school to “ensure this does not occur again.” It’s a start.
But as we’ve always said, the best way to prevent rotten schools from escaping accountability — by cheating or any other scam— is to give kids away out. That means other choices, whether parochial and private schools, or charter and other public ones.
Until then, expect more cheating scandals — and more cheated kids.