Something isn’t adding up.
Math teachers at a Queens high school are being forced to pass failing kids, including those who can’t be bothered to show up to class, according to allegations that are under investigation.
The city Department of Education is probing the underperforming Flushing High School after an explosive QNS report revealed the concerning policy.
“My mother saw it,” one student told The Post ahead of morning classes, referring to the story in the local paper.
“She said kids are becoming more stupid and not having enough knowledge. She said she believes that’s the reason why phones are taken away.”
The school’s entire math department was ordered to spend Wednesday in training workshops so they could learn “about the grading system,” The Post has learned, though the DOE wouldn’t say if it was brought on by the explosive allegations.
Three math teachers told QNS that their department is forcing them to pass their struggling students — and that they were shot down numerous times when they raised concerns about the lenient policy.
Even students who play hooky and neglect to hand in assignments are allegedly given passing grades.
The passing rate for one class last year was around 70%, but only 30% of those students passed their New York State Regents Exams, the educators claimed.
“I’ve tried to have conversations with my students and explain to them the benefits of trying to pass all three math Regents in terms of college preparation,” one teacher told QNS.
“But they’re pretty much being told it doesn’t matter.”
The issue apparently began in December 2024, when math assistant principal Chaunte Thompson implemented a department grading policy that gave students a minimum 55% score on tests and assignments, according to an email obtained by QNS.
“Students cannot be penalized or punished for not completing work,” as per a school-wide policy — and kids who get anything below 100% on a given task can take comfort in knowing it “will not be included in their final grade,” the email states.
There was also a 35% weighted grading policy for all students, which would significantly boost their low test scores.
“I have no flexibility in terms of passing or failing students now,” one teacher griped. “I can’t, as a teacher, focus on getting students to do well if I’m being told that I just need the students to pass.”
When the educators try to rally the kids, they simply respond: “What’s the point?”
“I feel like it’s going to be a complete disaster in the future when these same students act like this in the real world,” said another.
Flushing, the Big Apple’s first public high school, has been plagued with poor academics for years — and was the focus of a shady city-led effort to push 150 failing students through to graduation back in 2015.
As of 2025, the school’s graduation rate stands at 85%, which is lower than the city-wide average of 88%, according to Inside Schools, which pools data from the DOE.
Flushing also sees an 81% average daily attendance, which is 5% below the city average.
“I think it’s more the sophomores who are not doing good. They either don’t go to class or they go out at break and they don’t come back,” said the student, who did not share her name.
“I think they are lucky, but if you don’t pass the Regents Exams, you are going to get held back.”
A junior, 16, slammed the allegations, saying: “I don’t think it’s right. You are not helping the students. They are not learning anything.”
The DOE said it launched a probe into the allegations.
“At New York City Public Schools, rigorous academic instruction is a top priority. To support this, we have a robust, publicly available grading toolkit that schools use to create their individual grading policy,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“We’re actively investigating this specific math grading issue.”
