What does she lean when Ms. Connors says, " I could maybe do something about the social studies grade"?

Ms. Connors knows that Melinda has the low GPA grade of 1.7. This means that she cannot play on the basketball team. Ms. Connors says she could probably help with her Social Studies mark because she has pull with the teacher. She adds that Melinda's English teacher hates sports so she has no pull.