Mayor Bill de Blasio
Jan. 19, 2020 By Kristen Torres
Nearly 81 percent of four-year high school students in Queens graduated in 2019, according to the Mayor’s office.
About 20,000 high school students who entered 9th grade in 2015 graduated on time in the borough last year, following a trend of increased graduation rates throughout the city. A record high 77 percent of high school students graduated across all five boroughs in 2019.
“I have never accepted the status quo and I certainly won’t when it comes to the future of our children,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement Thursday. “For the sixth year in a row our record graduation rate is proving that when you invest in equity and excellence for every student in every neighborhood, success follows.”
Graduation rates have increased 9 percent citywide since 2014, according to de Blasio.
DOE
But Council Member Robert Holden—a vocal critic of de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza’s educational policies—said the graduation rate is based on false numbers.
“It’s great to see that despite many schools having single digit passing rates on state exams, our graduation rates are rising,” said Council Member Holden in a statement.
“I’d like to commend Chancellor Carranza for continuing to turn a blind eye on grade fraud, and touting artificial graduation rates, while our children suffer the consequences of failed education policies at the hands of Mayor de Blasio and the New York City Department of Education,” he added.
Holden has previously brought up issues surrounding academic fraud and misconduct in NYC public schools, and has urged the Mayor to investigate claims of lax grading practices among city teachers.
The Council Member also previously called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations of grade-fixing throughout New York City public schools.
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4 Comments
Mayor Gym Rat is like Traitor Trump – takes credit for things he didn’t do and denies the wrong things he’s done. I’m a tutor in an after school program and we help students from grades 2-12 with school tests, SATs, PSATs, Regents and NYS tests and I can tell you from experience (over 20 years worth) that the grades of our students have gone up, their test scores have gone up and they’ve on not only to graduate high school but go to either college or vocational schools. I know teachers have to deal with overcrowding and no support from the DOE and the city, but I’m proud of our students and what they have accomplished, no thanks to any politician or overpaid NYC government worker.
Once again this mayor twists words and tells lies! I don’t understand how the people of New York have allowed him to remain in office. He is not only corrupt but has not given the very people who put him in this official position what they deserve – someone who will do right by them and protect us all. Instead, he allows our people to be homeless, he allows our people to be killed, raped and attacked. I would like to be the person who writes his bio so he becomes the homeless and he becomes the victim of the crimes that ravage the streets of NYC.
The schools are working, the problem is in the homes. Students go through the very same schools with the possibility of vastly different results. How can a student who shares the very same curriculum and even the exact same classes have such drastically different outcomes?
Reminds me of No Child Left Behind, another successful government-run program designed for all students to graduate on time.