DC High School Touts 100% College Acceptance Rate, Winds Up Being A Big Scam (REACTION)

Ballou High School in SouthEast Washington DC recently gained a lot of national attention due to their sharp turnaround in graduation rates. The rate skyrocketed from 57% in 2016 to 86% in 2017. An unheard of feat. And on top of that, all of their graduating seniors were accepted into college. So as a result of the national attention this particular low-income area, mostly black school received, questions started to be asked. How did this happen was the main one. Once a little bit of digging had been done, a scam of epic proportions was revealed.

DCPS (DC Public Schools) already has a very low bar when it comes to student attendance. Pupils are allowed to miss 30 days of a class before they fail. In the case of Ballou, the majority of the students had missed at least six WEEKS of class. One student even missed over 150 days. But yet, they still not only passed the classes in question, but they also graduated. How did this happen? It was an elaborate scheme to basically “cook the books.” Students were basically allowed to not show up for class, begin to show up near the end of the semester and request “make-up work” which was very basic worksheets and powerpoint presentations.

Most of the kids who graduate from DCPS cannot read or write let alone do basic math. 98% of them need remedial courses after graduation. This is a clear result of the public school system looking great on paper when it comes to numbers but performing poorly when it comes to actual results. The students suffer as a result of DCPS administration’s policy on basically pushing them through the system. There are also financial benefits that the teachers receive. At the end of the day, the entire situation is a big mess just beneath the surface. People may go to jail as a result of how they have treated the students in this situation, not to mention the poor treatment of teachers who wanted to speak out against the corruption that birthed the faulty feel-good headline of “100% of Ballou High Seniors Accepted into College.”

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What Really Happened At The School Where Every Graduate Got Into College (NPR)

What Really Happened At Ballou, The D.C. High School Where Every Senior Got Into College (WAMU)

100% of Ballou High School's graduating senior class accepted into college

Mismatch book

Faking the Grade: 98% of DCPS graduates need remedial courses