Does this upset you?

‘Fail factory’ promises students no-class-required credits

Fliers plastered on classroom doors at Murry Bergtraum HS for Business Careers last week seemed like an April Fool’s prank — but they weren’t.

“Would you like to graduate early?”

“Have a light schedule your senior year?”

“Earn/make up your 2 US history credits and/or 2 Global History credits WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE THE CLASS?”

The yellow posters urged all students in grades 9 to 12 to see assistant principal Nadine Locke “for more info!!! Bring a friend!”

This is Murry Bergtraum’s latest scheme to help its lagging students get enough credits to move up and out. The Manhattan high school, two blocks from City Hall, has a logjam of “super-seniors” and other over-age kids behind schedule to graduate.

It follows a questionable “blended learning” program, launched by principal Lottie Almonte, in which hundreds of students take easy online courses at home in place of a class they failed or don’t want to attend. The state Education Department is investigating.

The fliers shocked Murry Bergtraum’s social-studies teachers. Kids flocked to Locke’s office to learn more.

“I can get free credits?” students asked.

Locke cited an obscure state rule that lets students get credit for classes they flunk or don’t finish if they score 85 or higher on the Regents exam for the subject.

Global Studies is a two-year, four-credit course given in ninth and tenth grades. Locke told students if they failed the first-year course, they can get the two credits without having to retake it.

But they have to sign up for five hours a week of Regents prep after-school or on Saturday.

Modal Trigger

A flyer found at Murry Bergtraum High School.

Also under the plan, students who take the tutoring and score 85 or higher on the Regents exam at the end of their freshman year can skip the whole second year of Global Studies, teachers said.

In US History, a one-year course, kids who score 85 or higher on the Regents could avoid having to pass the first semester, they said.

A state Education Department spokesman said a district superintendent would have to review a student’s record and approve the alternative credit. Students also must do an oral presentation or special project.

Locke and the city Department of Education did not comment.

Teachers fumed. “It sends the wrong message to students that you can get by without having to do all the work,” one said.

Students won’t develop the reading, analytical and writing skills that come with a teacher’s instruction, class participation, homework and projects, the insider added.

Insiders questioned whether kids who fail or don’t complete classes could score so high on the Regents exams.

“Less than one percent of our students will be able to pull something like this off,” a teacher said.

The shortcut comes as a state Education Department investigation found Murry Bergtraum shortchanged its disabled students. Classes lack required special-ed co-teachers, and students don’t get the added services called for in their individual plans, the state discovered.