https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...ool-scandal-n2435228

Residents in Washington, D.C. are still baffled over how every single student at Ballou High School got their diploma, despite many of them not even showing up to class.

It wasn't just one school. Students across the city graduated despite having missed more than 30 days of school in a single course, findings from the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent investigation found. The investigation is still ongoing, but parents' demand for answers prompted city officials to share some initial findings.

The city wide audit came after an initial investigation by WAMU and NPR at Ballou, in which they discovered a high rate of unexcused absences.

An investigation by WAMU and NPR has found that Ballou High School's administration graduated dozens of students despite high rates of unexcused absences. We reviewed hundreds of pages of Ballou's attendance records, class rosters and emails after a district employee shared the private documents. Half of the graduates missed more than three months of school last year, unexcused. One in five students was absent more than present — missing more than 90 days of school.

To add insult to injury, the majority of Ballou’s 2017 graduates missed more than six weeks of school. One teacher recalls seeing kids in the 12th grade that couldn't read and write.

How did this happen? Personal responsibility is certainly part of it, but administrative neglect was also a factor. As NPR explains, teachers who voiced their opposition to how things were being run were threatened with poor teacher evaluations.

"It's oppressive to the kids because you're giving them a false sense of success," one anonymous teacher at Ballou told NPR.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to answer those questions at a press conference Tuesday.

“Our biggest responsibility is knowing that showing up half the time doesn’t work anywhere in life,” she said. "The huge investments we have made in our schools only work if students are sitting in the seats."

She is “not happy” knowing that the D.C. school system has problems that weren’t communicated.

They are also taking steps to shake up the school's faculty. Ballou Principal Yetunde Reeves has been placed on administrative leave following the scandal and the city is working on finding a replacement.

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adding

2015 Total Public School Expenditures, Spending Per Student

Wash DC is the third highest at

$19,396 per student

NY was highest at $21,206 per pupil, and
Alaska second highest at $20,172


DC was the highest in salaries and wages per pupil at $13,497

NY was $11,529 in salaries and wages per pupil

http://www.governing.com/gov-d...-per-pupil-data.html

quote:

How did this happen?

Oh, please.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Just pathetic.

I'll bet school administration was just as shocked as I am at this!

Dear DC Mayor. This happened as a direct result of your social justice/education policies, and the outcome was predicted.

It's not just DC. In one western state, There's a "home study" option where students can stay at home, do nothing, but somehow get credits and graduate.

It's all about numbers. They have got to keep the graduating percentages high. Even if this means graduating those who have seemingly dropped out.

Participation diplomas

Best of luck to all the graduates on those college entrance exams.

We wouldn't want certain demographics to look like they scored poorly now do we?

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Best of luck to all the graduates on those college entrance exams.

Given what I have seen take place on college campuses over the last several months (years?) they have been admitting such students for several years now.

I was in my late 20's when I decided to go to college. The stuff I had to go thru to get admitted to a community college was a bitch. Mostly because of all the "history" stuff they wanted. Entrance tests, etc etc.

The admissions counselor was about my age and we kind of hit it off. Once I had all the stuff together I was admitted, and the counselor told me that I had a real advantage over the kids coming out of high school. (Montgomery county, MD) I asked what that was, and his response? "You can read, write and do math!" That was about 1972. And nothing leads me to believe it has gotten better. The public is slowly becoming aware of the issues.

One other more recent example: My oldest grandson was in high school, got written up for skipping his math class. He told his mom that few people bothered to attend because the teacher could not speak English.

Daughter went to visit the school. You! Math teacher was recent "arrival" from somewhere in the far east, and her English was so broken that daughter could not understand her, either.

Daughter put both boys into home schooling.

Bigotry of low expectations. Pretty sad.

If in 1960 the Democrat party decided-- consciously, deliberately-- to destroy blacks in America through an insidious program of "help," they could not have done a better job.

Democrats are the party of slavery, KKK, of Jim Crow, of segregation, and yet their staunchest voting bloc-- consistently over 90%-- is blacks.

I believe something similar was done here recently. They lowered the requirements to graduate, then patted themselves on the back for having one of the highest graduation rates in state history.

quote:

Yetunde Reeves

Not fired, "reassigned"

A) To take action could be construed as racist
B) Sanctuary schooling
C) Don't report anything which jeopardizes federal money
D) All the above

Add your own...

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
If in 1960 the Democrat party decided-- consciously, deliberately-- to destroy blacks in America through an insidious program of "help," they could not have done a better job.

Democrats are the party of slavery, KKK, of Jim Crow, of segregation, and yet their staunchest voting bloc-- consistently over 90%-- is blacks.

LBJ got his wish! The Great Society!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Best of luck to all the graduates on those college entrance exams.[/QUOTE


Reading and writing are no longer a requirement for entry into college. For that matter - reading and writing really are not a requirement to exit college with a degree either.

As the hand picked (minority) student at a Silicon Valley college commented, "it is more important in college to gain and use political clout than it is to gain marketable skills".

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
As the hand picked (minority) student at a Silicon Valley college commented, "it is more important in college to gain and use political clout than it is to gain marketable skills".

Future pick for Democrats to run for a Congress seat?

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
As the hand picked (minority) student at a Silicon Valley college commented, "it is more important in college to gain and use political clout than it is to gain marketable skills".

maybe she should read Shelby Steele's article from the Sunday edition of the Wall Street Journal. Could be that the highest lvel of civiaization for professional poor people has passed her by.