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I taught for decades in an urban school district (not in New York). And here’s how we handled falling test scores. The minimum district test score became 50%. So should a student score less than 50% on any test, the district’s computer software automatically changed his score to 50%.

So let’s say that a kid showed up for a test, and he didn’t bother to answer a single question. He left the paper blank. He scored 50 points out of 100.

We teachers hated that. Every one of us did! It didn’t matter. Test scores went up. And the superintendent could brag on TV about how great the district was doing.

It was all a sham, of course.

Just give ‘em all 100%. That’s equity, right?

I taught for decades in an urban school district (not in New York). And here’s how we handled falling test scores. The minimum district test score became 50%. So should a student score less than 50% on any test, the district’s computer software automatically changed his score to 50%. So let’s say that a kid showed up for a test, and he didn’t bother to answer a single question. He left the paper blank. He scored 50 points out of 100. We teachers hated that. Every one of us did! It didn’t matter. Test scores went up. And the superintendent could brag on TV about how great the district was doing. It was all a sham, of course.

That is very similar to what NYC did. Even kids who never showed up had to get a 55, not a zero. That was a tremendous disservice to kids who attended class and at least tried. Honest teachers hated this sham, but newbies thought it was "fair", "equitable" and all the other hallmark words of the brainwashed.