“Easy Pass” is the nickname given to a school program that helps students pass without doing much work. The name “Easy Pass” is similar to the name of the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system for transportation.
 
“Multiple sources claim Dewey (John Dewey High School in Brooklyn—ed) is cutting corners by passing kids with the help of a shady ‘credit recovery’ program that students sarcastically call ‘Easy Pass,’” the New York (NY) Post reported on March 23, 2015.
 
         
New York (NY) Post
High school accused of massive grade-fixing scheme
By Carl Campanile March 23, 2015 | 12:47am
Teaching kids takes so much effort, staffers at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn have found a quicker way to fix persistent failure rates, sources said: Just let them pass.
 
Investigators are probing accusations of a massive grade-fixing scheme by educators desperate to boost the graduation rate at Dewey, The Post has learned.
 
Multiple sources claim Dewey is cutting corners by passing kids with the help of a shady “credit recovery” program that students sarcastically call “Easy Pass.”
   
CBS New York
So-Called ‘Easy Pass’ Grade-Fixing Scandal Rocks John Dewey High School In Brooklyn
Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina Tells CBS2’s Marcia Kramer: ‘We’re Investigating That’
March 23, 2015 6:24 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Teachers have blown the whistle on a massive grade-fixing scandal at a Brooklyn high school.
 
Hundreds of students who didn’t make the grade were allegedly given passing grades, and teachers told CBS2’s Marcia Kramer on Monday that administrators knew all about it.
(...)
Charges include the principal and her administrators pressuring teachers to do all manner of things to pass failing students. The kids call it “easy pass.” It’s done to increase graduation rates, Kramer reported.
 
Bklyner.
John Dewey High School Principal Fired After Report Reveals Grade-Fixing Scandal
By Alex Ellefson - July 9, 2015
The principal at John Dewey High School will be fired after a recent investigation revealed she oversaw a massive grade-fixing scheme meant to inflate graduation rates, the New York Times reports.
 
A 22-page investigation released Wednesday by the Department of Education’s Office of Special Investigations found that most students enrolled in the school’s late night credit recovery program passed without doing much of the work, or having very poor attendance.
(...)
Students nicknamed the program “Easy Pass,” and its use was so widespread that many of the seniors shouted the moniker during their graduation ceremony, a former student told WNYC.
     
New York (NY) Post
New principal ready to rid grade-fixing HS of ‘Easy Pass’ culture
By Priscilla DeGregory and Carl Campanile September 9, 2015 | 2:08am
The new head of a Brooklyn high school that was engulfed in a grade-fixing scandal last year vowed Tuesday to ban the shady shortcuts used to boost the graduation rate.
 
Dewey HS Principal Connie Hamilton told teachers she wants to wipe the slate clean and restore the Gravesend school’s reputation, which was shattered by her predecessor, Kathleen Elvin.
 
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña removed Elvin in June after city investigators confirmed stories in The Post that the then-principal masterminded sham “credit recovery” courses — dubbed “Easy Pass” by students — to boost the graduation rate.
 
New York (NY) Post
Retired teacher suing school involved in grade-fixing scam
By Julia Marsh and Susan Edelman February 2, 2017 | 5:35pm
A crusading retired teacher– who recently won an appellate case to keep School Leadership Teams open to the public– has now filed a suit against the city’s Department of Education over a notorious grade-fixing scheme first exposed by The Post.
   
Former math teacher Michael P. Thomas has zeroed in on John Dewey High School in Brooklyn.
 
The Post first reported in 2015 that Dewey administrators colluded with teachers during the 2013-2014 school year to boost graduation rates through bogus make-up courses students jokingly dubbed “Easy Pass” classes.