pass ’em all

Teacher: It’s just about schools looking good

The Queens high-school teacher who passed Melissa Mejia (above), despite the student all but begging to be failed, admitted yesterday, “If we don’t meet our academic goals, we are deemed failures as teachers. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on us . . . If we set the bar higher, we would be a failing school.”

I think she felt a sense of, ‘Why isn’t the standard higher?’ But if we set the bar higher, we would be a failing school.

Teacher Andrea McHale

The Queens teacher who passed a highschool student practically begging to be failed made a stunning admission Sunday — she did it because of the “tremendous amount of pressure” to just graduate kids.

William Cullen Bryant HS instructor Andrea McHale copped to the move the same day that The Post published a frontpage essay by guiltridden teen Melissa Mejia lamenting how she received a passing grade in the teacher’s government class — even though she rarely showed up, didn’t turn in homework, and missed the f inal.

The minimum passing grade of 65 allowed her to graduate.

“It was not an ideal situation,” McHale acknowledged to The Post at her Queens home. “If we don’t meet our academic goals, we are deemed failures as teachers. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on us as teachers.”

“I thought it was in her best interest and the school’s best interest to pass her.”

In her essay, Mejia said: “I don’t like receiving what I would call a handout, but that’s what happened. New York City gave me a di ploma I didn’t deserve.”

McHale’s acknowledgment that she pushed Mejia through appeared to confirm the worst fears about the city’s public schools — that even unsatisfactory students are routinely handed diplomas.

The teacher said she believes that her student spoke out because “I think she felt a sense of, ‘Why isn’t the standard higher?’ But if we set the bar higher, we would be a failing school.”

She explained that Mejia passed all her state Regents tests and had strong scores in the history exams.

“Her attendance was extremely poor, but she was a very intelligent student,” McHale i ns i s ted.

“There is a fairly consistent policy that if they pass their Regents, it is strongly suggested that they pass in the class,” the teacher said.

“She did pass her Regents exam, and it’s generally accepted that if a student passes their Regents exam, it suggests some kind of readiness for college.”

Mejia confirmed that she passed all f ive parts of her Regents exams by her sophomore year.

McHale missed the last month of school with a broken ankle but said she kept her bosses in the loop about passing the student.

“I did bring it to the attention of my supervisor, the assistant principal,” McHale said.

“The substitute teacher was also undecided in her case. I actually passed [Mejia], and her grade was not changed [afterward].”

Bryant HS Principal Namita Dwarka declined to comment Sunday.

Department of Education spokesman Harry Hartfield said the situation will be investigated.