Back on June 27, 2010 we here at SBSB reported on the greatest principal in the world, Pedro Santana being featured in the New York Times. The Times, and Pedro Santana led the reader to believe what a dedicated, child first, back to his roots principal Pedro Santana truly think he is. Mr Santana was such a hit with his male students that several sixth grade boys were quoted as saying, "they talk about 'guy things,'as one of them put it, 'like wrestling.'" Kind of interesting and troubling sat the same time.

But a funny thing has happened to Pedro Santana on his way back to reconnecting with his roots. He left his roots. Pedro Santana is now, sit down and have a stiff drink, Assistant Superintedent for Secondary Education/Respond to Intervention/RTI for the East Ramapo (Rockland County NY) school distirct. A CREATED position at $145K a year. This when East Ramapo had to lay off teachers. Don't believe it? Let's have a looksee.


Pedro Santana lasted all of four years where is roots are. Letitia Laberee, 54, the school’s coordinator for English as a second language was so close to being right. “I thought, he’s just another one. Three years, he’s gone.”

But what happened at 391? And what does East Ramapo know, or does not know?

Do they know......

Last year, 59 percent of its seventh graders passed the state math test — below the 81 percent who passed citywide, but enough of an improvement to help the school earn an A on its report card." Of course this is without the adjusting of the grades, so it is probably worse than the 50 percent.

"Ninety-five of the school’s 253 eighth graders did not graduate this month (summer school may save many)."

Pedro Santana has three open investigations against him. According to the Times, "In April 2009, he was removed from the school for several weeks, after allegations that he had failed to properly report an off-campus sexual assault involving two students. The investigation remains open, the most serious of three pending complaints against him."

"she said she saw the mother abusing her child and reported it to the authorities. Mr. Santana, citing other witnesses’ accounts and the counselor’s own comments, later called the child welfare agency to say the counselor’s report had been false."

At PS/MS 279 he went behind the principal's back, a principal that was a mentor, a mother to him, and conspired with parents in a letter writing campaign to remove her around 2002.

Yet, when this year's test scores came out the eight graders who were seventh graders last year, only 16.6% of the students passed. This means that Pedro Santana is sending 80.4 % of eighth graders unprepared for high school math!

Sixth graders this past school year, only 19.7% of students passed and 25.9% of seventh graders passed. Why then is Pedro Santana held in such high esteem?

Where oh where is the scrutiny from the East Ramapo school district? What truly happened in NYC Pedro Santana? Did you leave on your own volition, or was it suggested that you just slither away akin to the snake that you are? Is Dr. Ira E. Oustatcher aware of your past idiosyncrasies?

Parents, the community, and The Journal News should be asking these questions.

I've taken all I can takes and I can't takes no more- Popeye, 1934

Enough already! I am talking about the sycophants of Pedro Santana who have been directed, in all probability by him, to leave comments in the post written on June 27 in regard to his front page tribute of that day's New York Times.

He is what he is. A phony and a fraud. At PS/MS 279 he would act like your best friend and the minute your back was turned do everything he could to turn you in. At PS/MS 279 if the principal asked him to jump, he would ask how high. At PS/MS 279 he went behind the principal's back, a principal that was a mentor, a mother to him, and conspired with parents in a letter writing campaign to remove her around 20o2. He is a snake.

What is so great about Pedro Santana? Oh yeah! The Times reported that, "59 percent of its seventh graders passed the state math test — below the 81 percent who passed citywide, but enough of an improvement to help the school earn an A." Yet, when this year's test scores came out the eight graders who were seventh graders last year, only 16.6% of the students passed. This means that Pedro Santana is sending 80.4 % of eighth graders unprepared for high school math! A commenter left this comment, "Bottom line is the school was doing poorly and now after having Mr. Santana at the helm they are doing better."

You got to be kidding!!!! How is the school doing better? Sixth graders this past school year, only 19.7% of students passed and 25.9% of seventh graders passed. Why then is Pedro Santana held in such high esteem?

"But surely the ELA scores must be out of this world Bronx Teacher, why else is he still there?"

Yeah, why is he still there? The ELA scores from 6-8 grades are respectfully, 10.9%, 14.2%, and 9.1%. We here at SBSB sarcastically doff out hat in salutations and congratulations at Pedro Santanas fine leadership.

Perhaps if Pedro Santana spent less time talking about guy things like wrestling, or just having students hanging out in his office to "shoot the breeze," maybe the students would be able to walk into a high school ready.

That Pedro Santana's school earned an A last year shows how meaningless these grades are truly. Couple that with the cloud of investigation he is under, the test scores and all his malfeasance surely shows that the snake clearly is incompetent.

And Maybe one day the truth will come out about him and Manhattan Charter School

You know when the New York Times is going downhill when they do a story, in fact a front page story on MS 391 Bronx Principal Pedro Santana. Yep, front page of today's Metro Section. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I couldn't believe my eyes because I had once worked about fifteen years ago with Pedro Santana and came away quite unimpressed. In fact we were all quite unimpressed with Pedro.

Pedro is what we like to call a rat. There are other things we like to call Pedro, but that is for another time, for a another post.

Pedro had his nose up the principal's colon at all times and thought he was it. That he invented teaching. There was a time during PD he was explaining to us how to quiet down the cafeteria. We were told to stand up in front and start counting down from five. As we counted down we also counted with our fingers as our voices were to go quieter the closer we got to zero. But at two we went silent and with hand just showed a one, then a closed fist for zero. Yeah, it worked. Right. We had many a laugh at Rory Dolan's recounting this.

So what are some things that came across to me about Pedro Santana? I didn't know that he was married. Congratulations. Just wonder if he hits the same interstate rest areas as Whitney Tilson.

The Times states that, "the school is not the same. Last year, 59 percent of its seventh graders passed the state math test — below the 81 percent who passed citywide, but enough of an improvement to help the school earn an A on its report card."

Ok fine. Fifty nine percent passed, but 41% didn't. And in 2007-2008, only forty percent passed. But how to account for the 19 percent increase? Is it valid? We all know that last year the were accusations that the tests were extremely dumbed down. So is this a true accounting of Pedro Santana's accomplishment? But these same seventh graders when they were in sixth grade the year before only 37% passed. So explain that big jump. But still only 38% of 8th graders were proven to be proficient in the ELA test and these are kids entering high school. Someone please explain the success here.

Here is what is scary according to the Times, "Ninety-five of the school’s 253 eighth graders did not graduate this month (summer school may save many)." NINETY-FIVE PERCENT DID NOT GRADUATE!!!!! Where is the scrutiny?

But now the nitty gritty, which makes one question the judgement of the Times. It seems that Pedro Santana has three open investigations against him. According to the Times, "In April 2009, he was removed from the school for several weeks, after allegations that he had failed to properly report an off-campus sexual assault involving two students. The investigation remains open, the most serious of three pending complaints against him."

Say what? Three pending complaints against him, removed for only several weeks for not reporting a sexual assault? The Times reported that, "the trouble started after a girl confided in a guidance counselor about a sexual episode with a male schoolmate after hours and off campus. Mr. Santana said he and the guidance counselor met separately with the boy and his family and with the girl and hers. The principal said that he had asked the guidance counselor to report it to the authorities, but that the last time he spoke with investigators from the Department of Education about the situation, about a year ago, he was told he would probably “be found guilty for lack of ensuring that it was reported.” Pedro Santana's glib response was, "if I was at I.B.M. and I tell someone to do something and they don’t do it, I could fire that person,” he said. “They said, ‘Procedure is, you needed to ensure that she reported it.’ ” WRONG! You report it. You follow up on it. You are the principal, the buck starts and ends with you. Why pass it along to an underling? Guess what? Who is talking the most heat for the oil spill in the Gulf? Yes, the head schmuck of BP.

Also Pedro Santan put the kabosh on an ACS report. A guidance counselor at the school reported that, "she said she saw the mother abusing her child and reported it to the authorities. Mr. Santana, citing other witnesses’ accounts and the counselor’s own comments, later called the child welfare agency to say the counselor’s report had been false." Whatcha talking about Willis? If was false then let the proper agency, ACS find it so. Why interfere with an official ACS investigation?

The third investigation "is over whether Mr. Santana inappropriately interfered with an ambulance crew that arrived at the school in April after a boy claimed he had been put in a headlock by a teacher. Mr. Santana, in an interview, said it was clear the boy had not been harmed, and he subsequently led an inquiry that found the headlock had not occurred." According to whom? And is Pedro Santana a licensed medical doctor? Or is he even a EMT and/or a paramedic? Why this need to interfere Pedro Santana?

At press time the crack team is hot on the trail of Pedro Santana. Stories and anecdotes of his days at PS/MS 279 are being gotten, as are his days at the Manhattan Charter School. Pedro Santana is a phony and an incompetent.

Three questions remain. Why did the the Times choose to do a story on him? If he did what he did in Scarsdale would he still have a job? And, if this were a teacher what would have happened?