Back in July we here at SBSB shared how Ruben Brosbe, famed former E4E fool had gotten a gig using his Harvard Graduate School of Education skills with Citizens Schools NY as the leader of whatever at MS 331 in the Bronx.

Recently a someone who had worked closely with Ruben at MS 331 contacted The Crack Team here at SBSB and we commissioned this person to to guest blog for us. Please sit back and enjoy.

First off was his relationship with the senior member of the team who had been working at citizen schools for over 5 years and at our school specifically for over 2 years. That relationship quickly deteriorated when Ruben was unable to take her ideas and experiences from the past 2 years and incorporate them into his ideas for the program. She is now also leaving mid year to escape the misery that is working for Ruben Brosbe. That makes 3 out of 8 that have quit based on Brosbe's antics.

A lot of our work really depends on purposeful planning, team camaraderie, and organization. Ruben did not have any of these. Even on the first days of school, when a teacher had just joined the team, there was no printer in the office, except for the one that he and one other person could use because of their computers. Yet, it took 2 weeks to purchase a new one after Ruben one day said "why cant you just do it". It is sad to say that for the sake of the team, others tried very hard to work with Ruben and help him through a transition into a new job. However, his comments about staff to us in a meeting in which he suggested one member who quit in October could not handle the position and was destined for failure from the start made us start to doubt his leadership seriously. 

Our meetings were also ridiculous. Staff began losing respect for Ruben from the first days of training in August, where he referred to himself as someone who comes from a privileged background to work with the poor disadvantaged "communities of color". Just hearing this from staff made it seem to us that he viewed himself in a completely different way than he acts.

There was also a clear difference in the realities that we as a staff experienced compared to him as a leader. Not one day did he stay extra late to make sure things were alright. Instead, he was often the first one out of the office because he lives in Williamsburg and has to get back to his cushy living and because he knew how much he was despised by everyone in the office. The only day I can remember him staying later than everyone else was the last day December 21st.

He also remarked  "I'm having a tough time with this idea that I've had all these great ideas thrown at me and that they've been rebuffed..." This was the main issue with Ruben. He had his own conceived notion of how important his ideas were and clearly had a lack of trust or understanding in ours.

Then there was how the kids reacted to him. Too many times, he would just appear in the classroom and randomly call out a student for misbehaving. Often times, this led to more chaos than there was already in the classroom. His relationships with students suffered because of these actions. Students in a certain teachers room treated Ruben worse than they treated him. In fact, when he was in the classroom I experienced heightened authority because students recognized the lack of respect they had for him. Even a couple of days when a teacher took classes on field trips, a teacher instructed Ruben (that's how most things went this semester.People instructing him instead of him leading anything) to take the class. Before leaving, there was 1 student crying and two other girls  pleading  not to leave them with Mr. Brosbe. It's sad when the leader of your program is viewed by the students as someone who doesn't care. What is worst, is that  to share an office with Ruben and witnessed so many moments where he truly did not care about students or staff. He claims it's all about the students, but puts in no extra effort to make sure that the students have the best experiences possible. Many meetings held 1 hour before program time involved him explaining a random inclusion into program (student surveys, team time..etc) for the first time, leaving on us to plan and execute with ZERO support.

So in essence, Ruben is making the Ivy League wince a bit.

Yesterday I wrote about Ruben Brosbe while lamenting the fact that I might be beating a dead horse and not really wishing to for Ruben is a waste of time. I spoke, or rather wrote, too soon. Please accept my apologies.

After putting the blog post to bed, I felt pretty darn good that yet again Ruben, and all his minions, were exposed. I popped open my 10th Diet Coke of the evening and toasted to the good fortune of of being on the good side of goodness. But at this point, and sorry for reusing a previous phrase, I felt a deep disturbance in the force.

I looked at Ruben's Twitter page and noticed something that was not there before. Yes, the self serving fact that he is/was a student at Harvard Graduate School of Education, but something more sinister;

@cschoolsNY Campus Director at MS331 in the Bronx,

CSschools? What can that be, and how in God's name did Ruben become some director? What are you talking about, Willis?

According to their website, @CSchools is Citizens Schools;

Citizen Schools partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities across the country.
By drawing thousands more citizens into schools each year, we’re promoting student achievement, transforming schools, and re-imagining education in America.

Wow, so strangely self impressive for a bunch of (mostly) former TFA hacks to come into our schools with what they consider their knowledge to impart their values on our students.

And the new Citizen Schools campus leader at MS 331 in The Bronx is E4E Blog Monkey™ and Savant, Ruben Brosbe. Yes, that Ruben Brosbe. Ruben Brosbe formerly of PS 310 in District 10 in The Bronx that according to sources there shared with me how universally despised he was. The Ruben Brosbe of PS 310 in District 10 in The Bronx that was denied tenure, not once, but twice and either resigned or was terminated. The Ruben Brosbe of PS 310 in District 10 in The Bronx that ripped his fellow teachers apart in the New York Post? The Ruben Brosbe of PS 310 in District 10 in The Bronx that doesn't believe poverty affects a child's education? The Ruben Brosbe of PS 310 in District 10 in The Bronx that sticks his finger in the wind to see which way it is blowing?

So what is the failed teacher of 3rd grade students responsibilities as campus director for Citizen Schools at MS 331?

• Be instructional leader, talent developer to 5-15 staff, 80-250 students
• Partner with principal and staff to expand the learning day to improve student achievement
• Cultivate relationships with community and families to deepen the impact of program on student achievement
• Use data to make leadership decisions and leverage resources through successful human resource administration

Ruben doing this? Surely, Citizen Schools jests. 

How can a failed teacher such as Ruben Brosbe be an instructional leader? This is a man child that failed as a teacher, yet now he is a supervisor of not only adults, but of children as well? How soon will it be before some middle school student sees through Ruben's self aggrandizing bullshit?

I am reminded of a time 20 years ago when a friend and I went to IHOP for breakfast. He commented that IHOP must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for waitresses. Twenty years later, the IHOP effect is in full bloom with Citizen Schools. The bottom of the barrel has been scraped in hiring Ruben Brosbe. In fact I doubt highly that even IHOP would hire Ruben.

We here at SBSB contacted Citizen Schools NY chief of staff Alena Bloom and asked her to comment on why a failed teacher like Ruben would be put in such spot of responsibility and how does one justify putting the students needs first with Ruben as a supervisor. She refused to comment. A search of her education credentials turned up zilch, nada, bupkus. Same with Citizen Schools NY chief Nitzan Pelman. Just a lot of nothingness.

And that goes the same with Ruben Brosbe. A lot of nothingness there. A lot of no accomplishments there. We still wish to know how Ruben got into HGSE. Perhaps daddy paid off someone, or someone owed daddy a favor. But like most of the world's mysteries, we might never know. We do know that Ruben near education is a debacle awaiting whichever students are in his way.

As far as Citizen Schools, just another way for more rich, white, liberal do-gooders, who are former TFA hacks to make a buck on the back of students and at the expense of a good solid education.