NYC: High school principal fired for fraud, punished with seven years of a cushy desk job

Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir committed fraud, and his punishment is seven years of a cushy, high-paying desk job. This is, of course, evidence of deep systemic corruption. Or maybe authorities were just afraid of being called “Islamophobic.”

A few years back Abdul-Mutakabbir was accused of preventing Catholic students from getting into Maspeth High.

“Queens principal booted for fraud will get nice paycheck for 7 years,” by Susan Edelman, New York Post, April 16, 2022: 

A Queens principal accused of using fraudulent schemes to boost his school’s graduation rate can never again work with city students — but will get a $1.8 million desk job, The Post has learned.

Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, who was removed as principal of Maspeth High School last July, won’t return to any city school as a principal, according to a settlement of misconduct charges. But he can stay on the Department of Education payroll for another seven years.

Under Abdul-Mutakabbir, Maspeth HS created fake classes, awarded credits to failing students, and fixed grades to push kids out the door, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools found, confirming exposès by The Post.

Instead of trying to terminate Abdul-Mutakabbir, as city investigators recommended, the DOE settled the charges on Jan. 25 by fining him $12,000  – and barring him from working as a principal.

But under the sweetheart deal – which DOE officials kept hidden for months – the disgraced educator, now age 47, will sit in an office until he “irrevocably” retires on Nov. 30, 2029.

He will pocket his current $187,043 annual salary, and get all union-negotiated pay raises for principals. He will also enjoy paid vacations and holidays, plus full health and retirement benefits, which will cost at least $78,558 a year in addition. The total cost will come to more than $1.8 million.

City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), who first called attention to Maspeth HS malfeasance after meeting with a group of whistleblower teachers three years ago, was outraged to learn of the golden parachute.

“Nothing is more absurd in city government than rewarding dishonesty and cheating,” Holden said, calling Abdul-Mutakabbir’s lucrative deal a huge waste of taxpayer funds….

Teachers told investigators that Abdul-Mutakabbir pressured teachers to pass students whether they learned anything or not, the SCI said in a report completed last June.

“I don’t care if a kid shows up at 7:44 and you dismiss at 7:45 — it’s your job to give that kid credit,” Abdul-Mutakabbir was quoted as telling a staffer. He said the school would give a lagging student a diploma “not worth the paper on which it was printed” and let him “have fun working at Taco Bell,” the report said.

Former student Thomas Creighton told The Post how he spent most of his junior and senior years drunk or stoned. He rarely attended class and did no homework his senior year. Instead of helping the teen straighten out, administrators simply awarded him a diploma – six months early – and pushed him out the door. When his parents asked to see his classwork, the school had nothing to show.

Faculty and students called it the “Maspeth Minimum” because everyone, regardless of effort or performance, would pass and graduate. Administrators pressured teachers to fix failing grades. Some teachers gave answers to students during Regents exams, records show.

The principal and his two assistant principals rewarded “a clique” of favored staffers and ex-fraternity brothers with overtime assignments, SCI reported. They threatened others to “fall in line” or get bad reviews that could jeopardize their jobs. Some teachers were forced out or quit. 

Maspeth made the DOE look good – its 99 percent graduation rate helped to land it a federal “Blue Ribbon Award” in 2018….

Despite their refusal to cooperate, the DOE kept Singh and Pachter in their Maspeth HS jobs, slapping them only with letters of reprimand….