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What Really Happened At Ballou, The D.C. High School Where Every Senior Got Into College
https://wamu.org ^ | 11/28/2017 | Kate McGee

Posted on 11/28/2017 5:31:43 PM PST by BackRoads775

Brian Butcher, a history teacher at Ballou High School, sat in the bleachers of the school’s brand new football field last June watching 164 seniors receive diplomas. It was a clear, warm night, and he was surrounded by screaming family and friends snapping photos and cheering.

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.

But all the excitement and accomplishment couldn’t shake one question from Butcher’s mind:

How did all these students graduate from high school?

(Excerpt) Read more at wamu.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: cultureofcorruption; dc; education; fraud; publiceducation; publicschools; taxes; wamu
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1 posted on 11/28/2017 5:31:43 PM PST by BackRoads775
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To: BackRoads775

“[They said]’Just give him a D,’ because they were trying to get him out of there and they knew he wouldn’t do the make-up packet,”

Yep, right there’s the reason. They didn’t want to deal with problem students another year so they graduated them out.


2 posted on 11/28/2017 5:36:26 PM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: BackRoads775

So, how did they do it?


3 posted on 11/28/2017 5:37:25 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: BackRoads775

” “ “ NYC schools.


4 posted on 11/28/2017 5:38:59 PM PST by EinNYC
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To: Jonty30

They cheated, and on a rather large scale apparently.

L


5 posted on 11/28/2017 5:39:08 PM PST by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: BackRoads775

Just wow. Where does this put us? ...


6 posted on 11/28/2017 5:39:09 PM PST by dr_lew (I)
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To: BackRoads775

“The soft bigotry of low expectations.”


7 posted on 11/28/2017 5:40:41 PM PST by PhiloBedo (You gotta roll with the punches, and get with what's real.)
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To: Lurker

Just wait until the admin realizes they can mark kids in attendance when they aren’t and still rake in the $$$$$.


8 posted on 11/28/2017 5:41:42 PM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: Lurker

“Cheating” isn’t the word. Cheating would be an honorable alternative to this scenario, insofar as it would mean that the cheating individuals recognized and respected the standards to be achieved, to the extent that they tried to pretend that they had met them.

In this case, the subject individuals did NOTHING ... made no effort whatsoever of any kind, to meet any standards, or even pretend to meet them, but were nevertheless awarded the distinctions due to those who actually had met them.

This represents, as described, a complete collapse of the educational establishment, in this regard. And we know how “collapses” go, ... they spread.


9 posted on 11/28/2017 5:50:02 PM PST by dr_lew (I)
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To: BackRoads775

Black Culture Matters.


10 posted on 11/28/2017 5:53:19 PM PST by AZLiberty (The logical endpoint of "zero-tolerance history" is zero history.)
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To: BackRoads775

The Gentle Giant — Gaudeamus Igitur …

11 posted on 11/28/2017 5:54:48 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie
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To: BackRoads775

Originally touted by NPR as a public school success story:

https://wamu.org/story/17/06/29/every-senior-at-this-struggling-high-school-was-accepted-to-college/


12 posted on 11/28/2017 5:56:29 PM PST by Fido969 (In!)
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To: BackRoads775

Any bets on how many of the 164 “graduates” will have 4-year degrees five years from now?

I’m guessing 1-10 ... at most.


13 posted on 11/28/2017 6:00:06 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: bgill

“The soft bigotry of low expectations.”

L


14 posted on 11/28/2017 6:01:03 PM PST by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: Fido969

And every one got accepted to college simply because they were black and from a crappy neighborhood.... for “diversity”.


15 posted on 11/28/2017 6:01:41 PM PST by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: PhiloBedo

True.

But either way we get screwed. Hold them back its racism. Pass them and its racism. They dont study, you cant force people to be self interested if they dont care.


16 posted on 11/28/2017 6:02:47 PM PST by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: BackRoads775

Administrators, “educators” and students all lied “for the children”. What a pathetic joke.


17 posted on 11/28/2017 6:05:55 PM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: dr_lew

“In this case, the subject individuals did NOTHING ... made no effort whatsoever of any kind, to meet any standards, or even pretend to meet them, but were nevertheless awarded the distinctions due to those who actually had met them.”

You’re right. A rational society wouldn’t stand for this. This is far, far worse than mere cheating. Thanks for making me take an even deeper look at it.

Best,

L


18 posted on 11/28/2017 6:06:12 PM PST by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: BackRoads775

Hate to be a downer, but these days, simply ‘getting into’ college isn’t necessarily an accomplishment. Graduating with a marketable skill is though.


19 posted on 11/28/2017 6:07:43 PM PST by Vic S
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To: BackRoads775
How did these kids get accepted into ANY college?

And yes, I read the entire article.

20 posted on 11/28/2017 6:08:48 PM PST by nopardons
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