Tatiana Reina wanted to graduate in the worst way -- and she did.

The 21-year-old was enrolled at Lafayette HS in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, for six years with a dismal record marked by truancy and failing grades. She faked her own graduation in 2007, donning a cap and gown and sneaking into the receiving line. Faced with "aging out" of the school system this year, she got a last chance and still didn't bother going to class.

"She was a no-show all year," a school insider said. Regulations call for at least 90 percent attendance to be promoted or to graduate.


GRAD TOWORSE: Brooklyn student Tatiana Reina, 21, graduated high school in June despite never showing up.
But that didn't stop the principal, Jacqueline Boswell, from granting Reina a diploma.

In June, Reina showed up for the last five days and was given some health and chemistry assignments in the guidance office, school staffers said. "She sat at a computer and Googled her answers," a worker said.

Finally, teachers were pressured into giving Reina -- and a half-dozen other failing students -- minimally passing grades of 65, the equivalent of a "D," to get the credits needed to graduate, sources told The Post.

"They're giving out diplomas like it's a lemonade stand," one disgusted staffer said.

The city Department of Education referred The Post's findings to its Office of Special Investigation, said spokesman Danny Kanner.

What happened at Lafayette HS, one of five city high schools that closed their doors for the last time last week, is not a fluke, critics say.

"This is happening all over the city, especially at closing schools," said Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters. "If you're a principal or a teacher and your chances of getting another job depend on how many kids you successfully graduate, the vast majority will give these kids credit, whether they deserve it not,"

[img:$uid]http://hwcdn.net/e3m9u5m8/cds/s/16/media16/2010/Jul/8/LiveLeak-dot-com-913661694695-1b1a.jpg?epochTTL=1279466774&Token=e1a2b67e102ec436777d32d283c57cc9&ri=1200&rs=1000[/img:$uid]

susan.edelman@nypost.com



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/n...z0t6ad1DC9

[Edited 7/8/10 18:56pm]

I would be willing to bet that the she was in Special Ed all her life.

They have to serve special ed students until age 21.

Most people who know they ain't graduating leave at 16-17.

She is special ed and the article can't mention that because its a violation of student confidentiality laws.

I forgot the name of the law, but its the reason parents who pay tuition can't access their adult students college grades.

A wonderful career in flipping burgers or being a baby mama awaits

Huggiebear said:

A wonderful career in flipping burgers or being a baby mama awaits

Have you seen that MTV show where kids 16 and older 18, lol are havin kids, I think it is called 16 and pregnant, omg.

Huggiebear said:

A wonderful career in flipping burgers or being a baby mama awaits

Sadly, she probably already is.

"She sat at a computer and Googled her answers,"

yet she does know how to use the interwebz!

BklynBabe said:

"She sat at a computer and Googled her answers,"

yet she does know how to use the interwebz!

Of course she does. And I bet she even have a Facebook account.

Miss thing can tell you where to get a good deal on some hair, some clothes, and a matching bag and jewelry but had to GOOGLE her answers. Chicks like her make me flat out pissed off. I'm busting my ass (and literally exploded in high school) to get my papers. I don't know what's worse--the fact that she sat there and cheated, or the fact that the system gave in and let her slide.

I dunno. Let me stop. Maybe there is something wrong and she did not get the help she needs. I don't know the case but it seems like a very tragic one that is not healthful for her or any future or current children. I wish every educationally deprived young woman like her could have spent some time in a better place. I was blessed to have been given the world educationally....

So many are not...

Don't show up = Don't care = Don't graduate.

Do they think they really helped her by giving her a diploma?

All she learnt is one really cares.

They should have let her fail and automatically enroll in The School of Hard Knocks.

Hopefully, at some point she would mature enough to actually EARN a GED.

I didn't read the article, and actually I should be in the shower right now. My BF is getting emergency surgery and I'm on the org.

But anyways, what the fuck is a student graduate???? What is the diff btw a student graduat and a regular graduate?

littlemissG said:

Don't show up = Don't care = Don't graduate.

Do they think they really helped her by giving her a diploma?

All she learnt is one really cares.

They should have let her fail and automatically enroll in The School of Hard Knocks.

Hopefully, at some point she would mature enough to actually EARN a GED.

21 and in high school for 6 years?

I guess no one told her she could have went to college and at least gotten free grant money for years!

Hell, if I had known then what I know now I would have never left college