quote:
The principal of Ballou High School in Southeast has been removed from her job amid an investigation of the school’s graduation rates. NPR reported last week that Ballou High graduated 100 percent of its seniors even though 20 percent of them had missed too many days of school to qualify for a diploma. One student reportedly missed 150 days of school, and others reportedly are illiterate. D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson announced Monday night that Ballou Principal Yetunde Reeves was being reassigned to a different job in the school system. Mr. Wilson did not specify what Ms. Reeves’ new position would be. He announced that he was opening an investigation of the graduation rates with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Here's the story, quite an interesting case, and clearly NOT helping black youth IMO, they're only cheating them for pure news headlines and appearances. It was all orchestrated by the administration and only through the teachers and faculty did the stories begin to leak that there was no way the students could pass.

NPR and all sorts of news outlets were following this story BEFORE the scandal broke. Even Michelle Obama herself dropped in to Ballou and made a big visit.

LINK

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It was a triumphant moment for the students. For the first time, every Ballou graduate applied and was accepted to college. The school is located in one of D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods; it has struggled academically for years and has had a chronically low graduation rate. In 2016, the school graduated only 57 percent of its seniors according to data from D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), slightly up from 51 percent the year before. For months after June’s commencement, the school received national media attention, including from NPR, celebrating its achievement.

quote:
But all the excitement and accomplishment couldn’t shake one question from Butcher’s mind: How did all these students graduate from high school? “You saw kids walking across the stage, who, they’re nice young people, but they don’t deserve to be walking across the stage,” Butcher said. Butcher’s concerns were not unwarranted. An investigation by WAMU and NPR has found that Ballou High School’s administration graduated dozens of students despite high rates of unexcused absences. WAMU and NPR reviewed hundreds of pages of Ballou’s attendance records, class rosters and emails after a DCPS employee shared the private documents. The documents showed that 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. According to DCPS policy, if a student misses a class 30 times, he should fail that course. Research shows that missing 10 percent of school, about two days per month, can negatively affect test scores, reduce academic growth and increase the chances a student will drop out.

quote:
When many of these students did attend school, they struggled academically. “I’ve never seen kids in the 12th grade that couldn’t read and write,” said Butcher, who has more than two decades of teaching experience in low-performing schools from New York City to Florida. But he saw students like that at Ballou — and it wasn’t just one or two. Another internal email obtained by WAMU and NPR from April shows that two months before graduation, only 57 students were on track to graduate, with dozens of students missing graduation requirements, community service requirements or failing classes needed to graduate. In June, 164 students received diplomas. “It was smoke and mirrors. That is what it was,” Butcher said.

This post was edited on 12/6/17 at 1:29 am