On this past Friday, the last day of my 5th week in the school I am assigned to, I got called to the principal's office first thing in the morning.

As usual I arrived to the school about 15 minutes early and received my assignment for the day. I was to cover an absent teacher in a 1st grade ICT class. I said thank you to the secretary and headed downstairs to do my part. I put away my stuff and the students soon started arriving.

This was a breath of fresh air. Up until last Monday I had been covering a 3rd grade class whose teacher had suddenly left on maternity. Though I liked the kids, and the other 3rd grade teachers were quite supportive of me, I was blessed with the roughest 3rd grade class. Not that they were disrespectful to me or getting in fights or running out of the room, it was just they never stopped talking. This, I was told, was why the teacher suddenly left on maternity. She was ordered to bed rest by her doctor.

So has the little 1st graders were entering the room, and giving me that "Who is this guy?" look one of the AP's popped her head in the door and told me the principal wanted to see me in his office to give me an different assignment. OK, no problem I said to myself. I told the other teacher I had to leave and went upstairs to the main office.

As I was walking to the office I passed by the auditorium and saw the principal. I went up to him and said that I heard he needed to see me. He said yes, it was about a new assignment and to meet him upstairs. I told him yes, and went to the main office.

When I got there one of the secretary's told me to have a seat and to wait for him. I sat and wondered if it is just a different assignment why not just tell me then and there and let me be on my way.

Didn't happen.

The more I waited for the principal, the more I started to go over in my head what was "really" happening. My mind was in a swirl of possibilities that seemed all too real at the time.

I started to wonder of I had done something incorrect. The 3rd graders had seen me on the stairs the other day and a few of them gave me fist bumps. Maybe I returned the fist bumps too hard.

Maybe I had not given enough homework and a parent complained.

Maybe I had given too much homework and a parent complained.

Perhaps I had given a Double-Stuffed Oreo to the wrong student who was allergic to Oreos

Or the fact that the Double-Stuffed Oreo was a holiday Oreo with the red creme and I committed a micro-aggression by giving an atheist, or non-Christian a Oreo that obviously was conforming to a Christian celebration and went home crying.


Do I need the CL for the meeting? Is this a trick to tell me that my assignment is being changed just to lull me into some kind of trap? Am I being sent back to the Rubber Room?

All this stuff went through my head, and more.

Worse, I felt my heart racing like it had never done before.

Then, the principal showed. He gave me my new assignment. A 2nd grade ICT class. Whew! Why couldn't he just tell me this when I saw in in the auditorium??

I hate, hate, hate this feeling now that I get every time anyone from above wants to talk to me. I understand the the saying "keep your guard up," but this is ridiculous. I know this is PTSD and I don't want to harp on me. I know there are teachers and others much more worse off than I.

This is no way to go through my, or anyone's, remaining years with the DOE.

It's natural to wonder "what did I do" when you are told to see an admin, I get it. But the swirl I got, I had never gotten something like that before. In the past, I had been able to self-correct, to find that ability to stop and think rationally. I was unable to on Friday.

I had been through both parents dying as well as three dear friends dying within 2 years of each other and never felt this bad before. My wife was sexually abused and has PTSD from that. I feel guilty that something so benign as compared to what she went through has put me in this state. This feeling on Friday went beyond the typical Jewish neurosis.

The DOE must be held accountable for this. Not just for me, but for the others who are in the same position. Just as importantly, the UFT should step up to the plate and be proactive with teachers that are hurting. Yeah, I've been down that road before, there needs to be some union pro-activity.

WHERE'S MULGREW?

Hi, UFT, it's is I. How are you? In fact where are you when not only myself, but many others need you?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I was conspired against by my principal at PS 154 and I have yet to hear anything proactive from you. Not a, "How you doing?" or "Can we help?" Nothing. Why is that? Please, don't claim you don't read this blog. You all do.

Why is it that I must, and other teachers as well, when there is clear and concise evidence of wrongdoing heaped upon them by out of control, vengeful administrators take the matters into our own hands?

Why must teachers spend thousands of dollars on outside lawyers to get a proper defense that we have a right to? Certainly the $100 a month paid by approximately 80,000 teachers can suffice in having some kind of defense fund.

(Oh for those scoring at home, that is $8 million a month, $96,000,000 a year!)

I sit in a room day after day trying to keep myself somewhat sane by having Star Trek debates, wondering why Spongebob is unable to swim even though he lives under water, and whether or not one got peanut butter on one's chocolate or if someone got chocolate in someone's peanut butter.

There is a crisis happening and all we are getting lip service to the abuse of ATR's, the discontinuances, the Rubber Rooms, the abusive principals, the working conditions, and facing termination for passing gas in an incorrect manner.

I was promised a meeting with a high ranking union person tomorrow, Veteran's Day. But after asking where and when several times as to where we will meet I was told that it would have to be sometime in December. I still give this person credit for at least responding to me and hearing me out. We know that can't be said of the Unity leadership in the gilded tower at 52 Broadway.

Where is the outrage from the UFT about my situation as well as my colleagues? In a strange way the silence of the UFT seems to condone how we are being treated.

All we ask is to be there for us, to support us, and we don't get that.

WHERE IS THE UFT? THE TEACHERS TURN THEIR EYES TO....

Ain't nothing there.

My first real encounter with Shaun Johnson, aka The Chalk Face, came about 2 1/2 years ago in one of those classic Twitter mash-ups.

I started getting into it with the commandant, Kyle Olson, of the über Right Wing, paranoid, and meshuga, education "advocacy" news aggregator, Education Action Group News. EAG News staff like to call themselves reporters or journalists, but really a bunch of hacks that troll the Internet for bad stories about teachers or liberal leanings of schools and in their best FOX News method make the story worse than it is.

But it was a few fun days batting around Kyle as would a cat do to a mouse before it goes in for the kill. I think at one point I had a producer at FOX News agree to have Shaun and myself on against Kyle, but Kyle demurred and wouldn't agree to do the show. Eventually he blocked us both. Oh well.

Shaun and I have stayed in touch off and on through the years. I have always had a great deal of respect for him and feel bad I got him involved in a little of my Twitter tiffs this summer.

I have a lot of respect for Shaun. He is very smart, very aware, and most of all, quite low key, but brutal when he sees a wrong.

So today I was on his Blogtalk radio show and we spoke for 45 minutes. We touched on many things, tenure, my lawsuit, and everything that is tied into both.

The full 51 minutes is here. Enjoy it.

As readers of this blog know, we spent some time on discussing Jennifer Rogers (neé Jones) former principal of PS 29 in College Park, Queens on  these pages last year. In fact this post, was so well received, there were over 200 comments including several threats to myself apparently by people close to Rogers.

So what  has become of Jennifer Rogers since she was asked to supposedly separate from the NYCDOE?

The Crack Team received news today that Rogers is doing fine and dandy in Georgia and is now a Braves fan and believes the the team needs some bullpen help at the trading deadline.

Oh. That's not all. Rogers has started an educational consulting company named (And we are not exactly sure of the name but sharing the long convoluted form of it); Parent Education and Advocacy Empowerment Project.

Yes Rogers, is jumping on the "do-gooder" bandwagon and seems to be onlylooking to help the families two of the wealthiest communities in the Atlanta metro area; Buckhead and Brookhaven.

Gee, one would assume that these parents, these communities already have the resources if they want help, why not Cobb County, Southern Atlanta, or Clayton County? After all she is a former;

"...educational administrator, elementary school Principal, and consultant for Columbia University Teachers College."

Wait, nowhere in the above quote is it mentioned that she was a teacher. There have been rumors flying that she never taught, she seems to have confirmed this rumor.

I guess no one in those under privileged, poverty stricken communities can afford to shell out the $150 consultation fee, according to the company's Facebook page, to have an initial audience with her greatness.

But check out her "About Me" page (comments were added in red);

I am a former educational administrator, elementary school Principal, and consultant for Columbia University Teachers College. But first, I am a Mom Mozel Tov !

After the birth of our son, our family made the decision We think the NYCDOE upper echelon was involved in that decision I would stay home to raise our most precious gift Then why at this time last year you were planning on returning in September 2014?. Leaving behind a career I loved was hard We heard the decision was quite easy, but the work of being a parent provides the greatest joy I have ever known.

I dedicated my professional life to children through my work in the public education system And to destroying the careers of teachers, one lawsuit is in the works against Rogers, another soon to come. Now, I am looking forward to supporting parents, children and schools in a different role And just how did you support these parents at PS 280? At PS 29?. As an advocate, I am able to work to closely with parents and children to share my knowledge and help ensure children are receiving the appropriate interventions and services they need to grow and reach their potential Why are you not doing this for the children most in need of your services? The students that live in poverty?.

I look forward to working with you and your children!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Rogers, Founder

Funny how Rogers didn't give students their correct IEP services... yet now she is touting that she knows how to go about making sure those needs are addressed. 

Me, me, me, me, is what The Crack Team finds is of most importance to Rogers. Again, she does what she can to put herself in the best possible light but refuses to even apologize or make amends to the upwards of 10 careers she either ruined or put in jeopardy.

We here at SBSB call for Jennifer Rogers to come clean, to speak the truth. And, more importantly, to work with and concentrate on, the most neediest children of the Atlanta Metro area.

The hits just coming in about this principal at that middle school in Brooklyn.

This is now the third "manifesto" The Crack Team has received from staff members. This principal reminds me of Bobby Pellit, Jason Sudekis' boss in "Horrible Bosses." This stuff just can't be made up.

Next up, a current teacher at that middle school, Irma Rabinowitz (Highlights in red added by The Crack Team).

To whom it may concern:

This is to express my objection to the oppressive and punitive measures applied throughout the 2013-2014 school year at my school.

I have been teaching English and or Social Studies for at least sixteen years at my school. I have gone throughout these years and enjoyed a distinguished career. However, this year I suffered under an administrative staff that offered no materials, and no support regarding the children who disrupted the educational environment in my class every day.


I started the year teaching English and Social Studies to two (2) sixth grade classes. By the end of the first marking period my second sixth grade class was taken away from me, and I was assigned a seventh grade class. I received notification of this fact incidentally at a Departmental Meeting. I was shocked, and no one in the administrative staff spoke with me about this major change. I then spoke to the Principal and expressed my concerns that this was outside my license and that this undermined my work that I had already established with my students. The Principal told me he had to do this because there were not enough sixth graders for our floor. I now look at this as a deception on his part. He could have split the classes equally between myself and my colleague who was also teaching ELA and Social Studies.


I was assigned this seventh grade class that I was expected to teach NC English Language Arts and Core Social Studies. This class was haphazardly put together by the administrative staff with all of the discipline problems in the building. I received no support from the administrative staff with materials to teach this class especially Social Studies. I did receive a classroom set of seventh grade Social Studies textbooks. I had to beg to get a Teacher Editions to that seventh grade textbook. I received one copy of a seventh grade ELA workbook I could use to work with this class from my late colleague Bud Abbott, and I purchased the teacher’s edition for that work book myself. 


By the end of them rearranging the sixth grade classes and creating this seventh grade class, I ended up with two classes that contained poorly behaved students with parents who were mostly unresponsive to my phone calls. The students constantly disrupted the educational environment, and were extremely disrespectful and combative. I am a strong teacher, however I never dealt with disruption at this level before. I received no help from the administration in dealing with these classes. It was my problem, and I was expected to deal with it alone.

Throughout the rest of the school year every child added to my class was a discipline problem that added to the dysfunction. I had one particular student who would yell profanities at the top of his lungs, and refused to stay in his assigned seat. He often interrupted and disrupted my lessons. I felt helpless.


Now the Principal contends that I am a developing teacher and told me he is giving me a “U.” He claims he offered me assistance with regard to my classes in the form of a student teacher. If I was so incompetent why not offer me help in the form of a master teacher rather than a situation that was more of a mentoring situation. By the way, I was assaulted for the first time in my sixteen years of teaching by one of those students trying prevent this student from assaulting another student in class. The student teacher was there and like me was incapable of helping with a situation that was my assistant principal’s responsibility to deal with.I am accused of not caring for my students, and not handling them effectively, when my Principal and the Assistant Principals did not do anything to handle or curtail the discipline problems on my floor. These students were empowered to behave anyway they wanted by the administrative staff. Meanwhile the students who wanted to learn and worked with me had to sit silently and watch the daily spectacle. I feel my hands were tied. 


I end the year feeling abused and disheartened. I went to a UFT meeting and heard the Chancellor speak. She gave me hope that after the dark Bloomberg years teachers will be treated with consideration and respect. Especially, those who have been teaching a long time as I have.

I approved this message and thank you for your consideration.

Thank you Irma for your candor.

We are sure this is not the end.

 The following could very well be considered part II of last night's blog post but it deserves it's own special mention.

The Crack Team just got this story of a middle school teacher from Brooklyn. His name is Jeff Storobinsky who suddenly had to retire this past February for the abuse to stop.

The Crack Team has seen and heard quite a bit but after reading this they were moved to tears. We all felt sick to our stomachs and feel that not even a dog would be treated this way, yet teachers are time and time again.  

We have highlighted in red what we think to be of importance.

When will all of this end?

-->

What does it take for a principal to be disciplined like a teacher? Real discipline, like the Rubber Room,
facing 3020-a charges, humiliation, etc...?

Principals have been in the news quite a bit the last month and we here at SBSB have perused and aggregated the latest news stories of principals and ask the question, "What does it take?"

We thought this to be quite interesting question as we read in the New York Post just moment ago how Principal of William Cullen Bryant High School, Namita Dwarka (check out this blog devoted to her!), in Queens allegedly falsely labeled as not proficient in English so they will get extra time on their exams and ostensibly make Ms Dwarka look better. This is the same Namita Dwarka who had issues back in October (here and here). Heck, on the WCB High website, Dwarka is quoted as saying;

"As we embark on our 'Relentless Quest for Excellence,' it is my vision that we work collaboratively in a warm, safe teaching and learning environment"

Meanwhile in the Bronx, a student is dead, another in jail, two families are devastated, all because Principal of IS 177, Delise Jones, was empowered, disempowered, or just didn't care to give the boy being bullied and the suspect in the murder case a safety transfer. According to the Post, Jones told the father the day before the murder;

"the school year was almost over and it was too late to do anything."

This coming from a woman that a state audit said;

"...should be re‐-evaluated . . . If necessary, changes should be made, or a mentor principal could be assigned to the school in order to model the qualities of an effective instructional leader.”

 Of course, Greta Hawkins and her anti-Americanism is in the news again. This time threatening pre-K teachers with insubordination if 4 year olds sang the "Star Spangled Banner," (Someone should notify some tea baggers) and claiming she has "protection," of a higher source.

Principal, Antonio K’Tori, of PS 15 in Queens who has been accused of sexual harassment in the past is now apparently set his sights on older, male, Jewish teachers and banished one to the closet.

And lastly we have Judy Henry of Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School pissing off the parents. Henry is accused of;

"misallocation of funds that were assigned to extracurricular activities," and, among other concerns, "exhibiting unprofessional conduct towards students."

So what does it take? We can look at Annie Schmutz Seifullah of the Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology and Jennifer Rogers of PS 29 in College Point as just two of the quite few examples of a principal being held accountable. Or are they the exceptions to the rule? The old scuttlebutt is that anything short of murdering someone a principal will just be promoted.

Beat a kid? Get shuffled to a cushy desk job. Lie? Hey, that qualifies for a 9-3 job at Tweed with summers off. Steal monies? Hey, why not become a principal trainer. You can train close personal friends. Doctor official records? How about representing the DOE at conventions in Las Vegas with all expenses paid.

But, if you are a teacher, things are different.

Accused of corporal punishment? Summary execution in the yard with commentary from FOX NEWS. Short changed the cashier in the school cafeteria? Next day front page of the Post and Yoav Gonan tracking down your 3rd grade girlfriend to dig up dirt. Fart incorrectly? Called down to the 84th precinct where a cavity search is performed on you and then transferred to Central Booking for 3 days.

This blaming of the teachers and teachers unions for all that ails education must cease at once.

Think of teachers as waiters at a fine restaurant. We don't get to choose the menu. We don't pick the ingredients. No, those jobs are up to the owners and the chefs at the restaurants. But like a waiter, when there is a fly in the soup who gets blamed? Yep, you guessed it.

Just like when Commander Riker (Damn! I must stop these Star Trek analogies!) was given the powers of the Q, Captain Picard knew it right away, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

We are living through Imperial principalships(sp?)now and we have just scratched the surface of the corruption and incompetency of NYCDOE principals. There is without a doubt much more and much more despicable scandals to come. There needs to be a Nixon like scandal to bring balance back to the force of the DOE (Dang! Star Wars analogy!).

Look for it. It will be a doozy!

Hi folks, remember PS 29 in College Point? I certainly do! How could I forget? Over 200 comments (And still counting), accusations of who, or is it whom? (Somebody please share), is boinking whom or who, pubic lice, mental illness, 4th cousins twice removed, several threats to me, and one person thinking I would cry over some bogus p**** name they called me a long, long, long time ago.

I heard a lot of about PS 280 in the comments section and more juicy stuff that I heard privately from former staff members at PS 280. Shocking!

But again, we must leave personal information out of the comments section and no sharing of administrators genitalia malfunctions.

The Crack Team at SBSB came across the parent survey for PS 29 and it does not look so good.



Apparently, the teachers of PS 29 feel that Principal Jennifer Jones does not place the needs of the students above her own needs. This is a direct contradiction of Mr Spock's dying words to Captain Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few."

The vast majority of the teachers at 29 also believe that Principal Jennifer Rogers is not an effective manager of the school. This might be because of all the crying and hissy fits and the corporal punishment allegations against Principal Jennifer Rogers.

And not surprisingly, over 60% of the teachers can't trust Principal Jennifer Rogers at her word. Trust is an issue. To be an effective leader, see Captain Kirk above, a leader must have the trust of their crew or their school staff.

But it seemed curious to The Crack Team that Principal Jennifer Rogers, as did Captain Jean-Luc Picard with Ensign Wesley Crusher at one time, does not understand how children learn. Where Principal Jennifer Rogers and Captain Picard differ is that Picard was able of self introspection and was able to learn about the learning process. Principal Jennifer Jones can't or won't.

I hope the staff of PS 29 in College Point finds a leader as fine as James T Kirk and a school as smoothly run as the U.S.S Enterprise.

For those that do not know, there will be a rally tomorrow morning, August 1, at 11 AM in front of
PS 29 in College Point, Queens to demand the ouster of incompetent, mean, arrogant, principal Jennifer Rogers.

Jennifer Rogers, probably one of the least qualified people ever to hold the job of principal, is totally
in over her head and unqualified. Her job, which in all probability she got do to her connections of her mother, Carolyn Jones (and the Leadership Academy) former principal at PS 23 in District 10 in the Bronx.

But as with being a principal in NYC, one can do anything short of murder and still retain their position. Or just read the comments here.

The students are afraid of her, the parents are afraid of her, the community is afraid of her, and so are the teachers (except the sycophants). But not anymore after tomorrow.

Remember, press conference at 11 AM, followed by rally. And, all it takes is a politician, teachers, and a few parents for the presser and the rally. Hey, that gives me an idea....

Shouldn't principals who lie and falsify reality in the name of attempting to ruin a teacher's career be subject to this? 

N.Y. NYC. LAW § 1116 : NY Code - Section 1116: Fraud; neglect of duty; willful violation of law relative to office

a. Any council member or other officer or employee of the city who shall willfully 

   violate or evade any  provision of law relating tosuch officer's office or employment, 

   or commit any fraud upon the  city,
  or  convert  any of the public property to such officer's own use, or
  knowingly permit any other person so to  convert it or by gross or
  culpable neglect of duty allow the same to be lost to the city, shall be
  deemed  guilty of a misdemeanor and in addition to the penalties imposed
  by law and on conviction shall forfeit such office or employment, and be
  excluded  forever  after  from  receiving  or  holding  any  office   or
  employment under the city government.

 b. Any officer or employee of the city or of any city agency who shall
  knowingly make a false or deceptive report or statement in the course of
  duty shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, forfeit such
  office or employment.

Oh, wishful thinking. 

Another, yet a same, principal is in the news today for attempting to destroy a teacher's life and career. The New York Post reported today that Principal Ron Smolkin of Independence High School put fraudulent material in a teacher's file supposedly written by a parent. Recall, this is the same principal that wrote a teacher's co-op board in which a claim of pedophilia was lodged against the
teacher and his partner.

Too often, in fact, all the time in my opinion, a principal will and can get away with whatever he or she wants to short of murder, and even then, only if they find a weapon with prints.

But it got me to thinking about that old Steve Martin bit from the 70's. You know, the one in which he says that two simple words can get you out of any jam you're in.

You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!"

Well in NYC, three simple words in the English language can get you out of anything, any jam. "I'm the  principal."

Let's see if this theory can work for principals.

Lie? "I'm the principal."

Hide a vacancy on the Open Market system and give the vacancy to a first year teacher with zero experience and get caught? "I'm the principal."

Allow an AP of yours to do scheduling from home without using a time card and not reviewing actual hours worked and give that AP weeks of comp time? "I'm the principal."

Contribute to the death of an AP? "I'm the principal."

Cover up corporal punishment reported by a teacher in regard to one of the principals favorites?"I'm the principal."

Send a nascent, ignorant AP to write a teacher up for uttering the word shit in school when the school year has yet to start and  no kids are in school? "I'm the principal."

Offer no curriculum to the students? "I'm the principal."

Yell and scream and berate a teacher? "I'm the principal."

Write up a teacher for passing gas in violation of the prescribed NYC DOE method? "I'm the principal."

 Use a failed method of teaching reading and writing from a vendor in which also employs you? "I'm the principal."

Send a teacher to the rubber room because they were carrying a Coca Cola in their hand? "I'm the principal."

Charge a teacher with professional misconduct because they had a cup of coffee in their hand? "I'm the principal."

Tell a teacher that proudly announced she was pregnant to use condoms? "I'm the principal."

 Fail to give a teacher proper training in a program and then blame that teacher for not properly implementing said program? "I'm the principal."

Tell female teachers of your school that you wish to stick your ding dong into the copier and holes in the wall? "I'm the principal."

 Favor your sycophants with loads of per session while those with independent minds fail to get any per session? "I'm the principal."

 Tell OSI that you want to "get that teacher?" "I'm the principal."

Never worked in education before and went to leadership academy to become principal? "I'm the principal."

Blame others for your incompetence?  "I'm the principal."

Don't support your teachers in discipline issues? "I'm the principal."

Don't walk the walk? "I'm the principal."

Just clueless? "I'm the principal."

Belief in the fact you might be some deity brought forth by mystical powers? "I'm the principal."

Seriously, any of the above, will it be tolerated in Harrison? In Scarsdale? In Dobbs Ferry? In  Poughkeepsie? No. But in NYC, this prevails.

Again, this shit can't be made up.

A very interesting item came across the SBSB news desk over the weekend. Apologies if this information we have is already known.

In 2010 NYC DOE very well paid consultant and retired principal,  Joseph Belesi presented some workshops on how principals can be rid of tenured teachers. Entitled, "Performance Management," Belesi and his cronies presented a treasure trove to principals. A step by step guide on how to get rid of "incompetent" teachers. The Crack Team is in possession of the 43 page handbook for the principals which will be presented not all at once, but rather in little bits and jabs over the next several weeks.

In today's story we will learn who is behind PIP+ and the document known as the "Principal's Guide To The New Supports Addressing Low Performing Tenured Pedagogues: The Teacher Performance Unit, The Labor Support Unit And The Peer Intervention Plus Program."

As Chaz the Blogger and Admiral Ackbar have warned on many occasion, PIP+ is a trap.

PIP+ is run by (guess what?), a corporation known as RMC Research Corporation. As it says on it's website, RMC;

is a national leader in program research and evaluation, professional development, consultation, and product development. From small studies to multi-year projects, we support national, state, and local clients who serve schools, families, and communities. RMC's six regional offices conduct national and regional work, with each office maintaining specialty areas of work. Through technology, our offices collaborate with each other and with partners across the country.

We are enthusiastic about the opportunities for educational innovation and reform afforded to states and districts by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). With many years of experience, staff from all of our offices look forward to providing information and resources and partnering with districts and states to advance best practices in teaching and learning.

RMC  is run by Everett W. Barnes Jr.who saw in 1991 that education was to turn into big business.

But wait, there is more weirdness. The project manager for, or at the time for PIP+, was Dr. Sandra Kase, currently the 2nd in command at the Bridgeport, CT schools. Turns out though that Dr Kase was employed by the NYC DOE apparently before she came to RMC Research. Hmm, what a coincidence.

What a tangled web.

sbsb

I came across an classified ad the other day in a newspaper whose name I have forgotten. It was an ad recruiting for principals here in NYC, put out by the DOE. I would like to share it, however scanner is on the fritz so I will type it our verbatim

Help Wanted Principals for NYC Schools

Pay: 125K

Education Requirements:

High School Graduate, preferably a prep school
College Graduate, preferably an Ivy League school

Qualifications:

Caucasian
Previous work in education is not required
Applicants must be between the ages of 26-29
Must be able to not get along with others
Applicant must have serious insecurity issues
Preferred that female applicants have major daddy issues
Preferred that male applicants have some sort of Freudian phallus issues
Chip on shoulder, preferred, but not needed
Management experience not required
Applicant will be disqualified if in past has been a manager in a fast food restaurant due to being overqualified
Ability not to be able to think for yourself
The applicant must be able to take reality and turn it into fiction
The applicant must have three recommendations that he/she can be verbally abusive
The applicant must show an ability to blame others for his/her own foibles
Those applicants showing an ability in the past to destroy a business will get preferred consideration
The applicant must have an self absorbed sense of self
The applicant must think that they alone can help children of color
The applicant must not have a life
The applicant must be know at all times he/she is above any laws and Chancellor Regs

If you feel you meet these criteria please call HR Connect at 718 935 4000. Come be part of the award winnning NYC DOE where you can think you are making a difference. Because in your own mind perception becomes your reality.

Wow, great to see the DOE at least being honest.

Remember when you went to school, the principal was someone who had been in education for years. Knew it like the back of their hand, and also knew how to be a leader. No anymore. Now under Joel Klein's warped mind of running schools like a business anyone and anybody can become a NYC school principal. All one needs to do is go to the Leadership Academy which is funded from Bloomberg's rich lackey's and which surprisingly has won a contract with the DOE to train principals.

Did you read the New York Times today? I did. Didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Supposedly, principals are freer, but raise doubts. Especially those emanating from the Leadership Academy. I am not going to comment on the entire article, but there were several Spock type eyebrow raising passages in the article.

“I wanted to change the old system,” Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein said in an interview. “New leadership is a powerful way to do that.”

Yes, Joel, that is the way. Doesn't matter whether or not you should be in education, screw experience. As long as you have spunk that is all that matters.

But an analysis by The New York Times of the city’s signature report-card system shows that schools run by graduates of the celebrated New York City Leadership Academy — which the mayor created and helped raise more than $80 million for — have not done as well as those led by experienced principals or new principals who came through traditional routes.

Really? Please. My cat could have predicted that.

Chad A. Altman, the 28-year-old head of a Bronx elementary school,

You have got to be freaking kidding me!!! What does Chad Altman know, except satisfying his white liberal guilt?

As New York State lawmakers consider whether to renew the 2002 mayoral control law, which expires June 30, one proposal on the table would revive the district superintendents, now largely powerless, to more closely supervise and support principals.

Yes, please have the superintendents involved. I mean except BFF Yolanda Torres. The superintendents have been figuratively neutered.

For all of New York’s recent focus and investment in school leadership, more than a quarter of teachers said in city surveys last spring that they did not trust their principals or consider them effective managers, and more than a third of those leaving the system cited the quality of school leadership as among the main reasons. “Perceptions of principal leadership skills are drivers of attrition,” an internal report concluded.

Teacher turnover has been higher at schools run by Leadership Academy principals

Yes, this is so true. So many of these principals from the leadership academy feel they must make up for some type of physical shortcoming, they are making Freud spin in his grave.

over the summer of 2007, nearly a quarter of these principals lost at least a third of their teachers, compared with 9 percent of other principals

Joel, boobala, don't you see this as some type of issue and/or problem?

Allison Gaines Pell could be the personification of the new principalship. A graduate of Brown University with a master’s degree in education from Harvard, she taught for three years at St. Ann’s, a Brooklyn private school, and two in Syracuse, and worked for educational nonprofit agencies before being fast-tracked to the principal’s office through the Leadership Academy in 2005.

Please someone, somewhere explain to me Allison Gaines Pell's qualifications. Big bucks await you if you can name one.

Joy: a new computer program — which she could buy without approval from on high — designed to help teachers collaborate online.

“That’s hot!” Ms. Gaines Pell exclaimed to her assistant principal, John O’Reilly.

Oops, there is her qualification. She talks just like Paris Hilton. I wonder if she has anything else in common with Paris, I mean aside from having everything handed to her her entire life.

But while Ms. Gaines Pell’s school earned an A from the city this fall, The Times’s analysis shows that Leadership Academy graduates were less than half as likely to get A’s as other principals, and almost twice as likely to earn C’s or worse. Among elementary and middle-school principals on the job less than three years, Academy graduates were about a third as likely to get A’s as those who did not attend the program.

You know those grades mean squat. The grading system is so screwed up. But, I told you so. ;)

The first independent analysis of the academy’s effectiveness, done at New York University, is due in June. “I think our batting average is quite good,” Mr. Klein said. “Could it improve? I’m sure it could improve.”

Joel, admit it. Or is it a intervention you need. You f**ked up with this one.

Maria Penaherrera — who started as a substitute teacher 20 years ago and worked her way up to the principal’s office — used her financial freedom to hire four assistant principals at the 900-student Public School 114 in Canarsie, and ran up $150,000 in debt. Then she eliminated three of the positions only to have the fourth assistant principal quit. That left a custodian to take charge in February when a carbon monoxide alarm went off while Ms. Penaherrera was out. She has since been reassigned to a central office post while the Education Department investigates, and did not respond to requests for comment.

What do we say about absolute power given to incompetent people? A monkey from the moneky cage at the Bronx Zoo could have done better.

Seven years ago the system was changed. Nothing has changed. It was like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.