Several weeks
into his first year of teaching math at the
Mr. Lampross introduction to the high schools
academic standards proved a fitting preamble to a disastrous year. It reached
its low point in late June, when Arts and Technologys principal, Anne
Geiger, overruled Mr. Lampros and passed a senior
whom he had failed in a required math course.
That student, Indira Fernandez, had missed dozens of class sessions
and failed to turn in numerous homework assignments, according to Mr. Lampross meticulous records, which he provided to The
New York Times. She had not even shown up to take the final exam. She did,
however, attend the senior prom.......
Ms. Geiger
declined to be interviewed for this column and said that federal law forbade
her to speak about a specific students performance. But in a written reply
to questions, she characterized her
actions as part of a "standard procedure" of "encouraging
teachers to support students efforts to achieve
academic success."
The issue here is
not a violation of rules or regulations. Ms. Geiger acted within the bounds of
the teachers unions contract with the city,
by providing written notice to Mr. Lampros of her
decision.
No, the issue is
more what this episode may say about the Department of Educations
vaunted increase in graduation rates. It is possible, of course, that the
confrontation over Miss Fernandez was an aberration. It is possible, too, that
Mr. Lampros is the rare teacher willing to speak on
the record about the pressures from administrators to pass marginal students,
pressures that countless colleagues throughout the city privately grumble about
but ultimately cave in to, fearful of losing their jobs if they object.
Mr. Lampros has resigned and returned to his home state,
Still, Mr. Lampros received a satisfactory rating five of the six
times administrators formally observed him. He has masters degrees in
both statistics and math education and has won awards for his teaching at the
college level.
Its
almost as if you stick to your morals and your ethics, youll end up without a job, Mr. Lampros
said in an interview. I dont think every school is like that. But in
my case, it was.
The written
record, in the form of the minutely detailed charts Mr. Lampros
maintained to determine student grades, supports his account. Colleagues
of his from the school a counselor,
a programmer, several fellow teachers corroborated key elements of his version
of events.
They also
describe a principal worried that the 2006 graduation rate of 72.5 percent
would fall closer to 50 or 60 percent unless teachers came up with ways to
pass more students.
After having failed
to graduate with her class in June 2006, Miss Fernandez, who, through her
mother, declined to be interviewed, returned to Arts and Technology last
September for a fifth year. She was enrolled in Mr. Lampross
class in intermediate algebra. Absent for more than two-thirds of the days,
she failed, and that grade was left intact by administrators.
When second
semester began, Miss Fernandez again took the intermediate algebra
class, which fulfilled one of her graduation requirements. According to Mr.
Lampross records, she missed one-third of the
classes, arrived late for 20 sessions, turned in half the required
homework assignments, failed 11 of 14 tests and quizzes, and never
took the final exam.
Two days after the June 12 final, Miss Fernandez told
Mr. Lampros that she had a doctors note excusing
her from school on the day of the exam, he said. On June 18, she asked
him if she had failed the class, and he told her she had.
The next day, the
principal summoned Mr. Lampros to a meeting with
Miss Fernandez and her mother. He was ordered, he said, to let her
retake the final.
Mr. Arocho, the assistant principal, wrote in a letter to Mr. Lampros that Miss Fernandez had a doctors note,
issued March 15, permitting her to miss school whenever necessary in the
spring. Mr. Arocho did not respond to telephone
and e-mail messages seeking comment.
There is such
a note,
issued by Dr. Jason Faller, BUT
it excused absences "over the last three months" that is, the period
between mid-December and mid-March. In a recent interview, Dr. Faller
said he saw Miss Fernandez only once, in March, and confirmed that his excuse
note covered absences only before March 15.
For whatever
reason, school administrators "misinterpreted"
the note and told Mr. Lampros that Miss Fernandez
would be allowed to retake the final and to retake it after having
two days of one-on-one tutoring by another math teacher, an advantage none of
Mr. Lampross other students had, he said.
Mr. Lampros, disgusted, did not come to school the next two
days. Miss Fernandez meanwhile took the test and scored a 66, which still
left her far short of a 65 average for the semester. Nonetheless, Mr. Arocho tried to enter a passing mark for her.
When he had to relent after objections by the teachers
union representative, Mr. Lampros was
allowed to put in the failing grade. Ms. Geiger promptly reversed it.
Samantha
Fernandez, Indiras mother, spoke on her behalf.
My daughter earned
everything she got, she said. Of Mr. Lampros, she said, He needs to grow up and be a man.
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