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QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
DA investigating grade boost scandal at Maspeth High
BY MARK HALLUM
Acting Queens District
Attorney John Ryan
is conducting his own inquiry
into allegations that
Maspeth High School was
boosting the grades of students
to reap the benefits
of a high graduation rate.
This coincides with another
investigation that
is underway by the city
Department of Education
after the claims from
former teachers came to
their attention recently
as well.
“The matter is under
review by our Public Integrity
Bureau,” a spokeperson
for the acting DA
said on Sept. 17.
The allegations, if
proven credible, could
signal the downfall of the
school’s shining reputation
which in 2018 was
one of only 349 across
the country to receive
the national Blue Ribbon
Award for excellence
in education.
Maspeth High School
was one of only eight
across the city to get the
recognition from U.S.
Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos.
It could also be a black
mark on the record of
founding Principal Khurshid
Abdul Mutakabbir
who has, according to the
latest data from U.S. News
& World Report, driven
the graduation rate to
98 percent.
A spokeswoman for
the DOE said the agency
requires its staff to undergo
rigorous training
to administer exams as
well as “mandatory procedures
for allegations
of academic dishonesty
and misconduct.”
“We take any allegation
of academic misconduct
very seriously, and there
are strict protocols in
place to ensure complaints
are reported, investigated
and addressed,” the DOE
spokeswoman said. “These
allegations are currently
under investigation.”
The school is an attractive
option for parents not
just for its credentials, but
because it boasts a 15:1
student/teacher ratio.
The specifics of the
allegations, however,
are murky.
Councilman Robert
Holden issued a letter to
the Special Commissioner
of Investigation Anastasia
Coleman claiming a former
teacher had come to
his office with the claims
that they were pressured
to give students credit
despite scarce attendance
as well as giving away
answers on exams.
The letter also overviewed
incidents in which
the teachers were pressured
to fall into line with
the administration’s demands
or face “negative
observations.”
“For a high school to
have a 100 percent pass
rate on its regents exams
and courses with a turnover
of 15 to 18 teacher
every year, according
to the whistleblowers,
is questionable,” Holden
said in the letter.
“A school’s leadership
should not be run as a
‘boys club’ nor should
teachers feel like the
administration runs the
school like ‘gangers.’ Its
sole mission is to ensure
an environment that fosters
excellent teaching
and learning so that its
students are prepared for
college and adulthood.”
Holden’s letter even
charged that the school’s
union rep had pressured
teachers to fill out a positive
review of the school
and the administration.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4564.
Maspeth High School founding Principal Khurshid Abdul Mutakabbir at an unrelated Juniper
Park Civic Association meeting in 2017. File photo
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