he New York City comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., released a report on Tuesday suggesting that the city's graduation rates were inflated, saying he had found instances where it appeared schools had wrongly changed student grades and improperly awarded credit.
But Mr. Thompson, a candidate for mayor, did not point to any conclusive evidence of manipulation, saying only that a lack of oversight coupled with intense pressure to push up graduation rates created the potential for abuse. And he acknowledged that, by and large, the schools examined in his audit were awarding diplomas only to students who had met graduation requirements.
Still, Mr. Thompson cautioned, the city was not monitoring students records scrupulously enough, and the record-keeping system was disorganized and prone to inaccuracy.
"The mayor's managerial style has created an incentive for schools to graduate students whether or not they have met the requirements," Mr. Thompson said at a news conference on Tuesday. "A New York City high school diploma is supposed to represent one standard."
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