The Dude is smart. I mean smart. And boy is he perceptive. If he respects you, he will go through a wall for you. If he doesn't respect you, he can make your live a living hell. The trick is to win his respect, to win his trust. How is that done? Simple. Be firm. Mean what you say. Make him feel important. Give him boundaries. Do not patronize nor condescend. And don't abuse him.

Today a teacher told me that The Dude in a private conversation, completely on his own volition, explained how the school doesn't care about him. And that Numb Nuts abuses him. Wow, out of the mouths of babes comes this. The Dude is so verbal. The Dude knows the deal. The Dude speaks the truth. The Dude is all right.

Why won't my school administrators do right by The Dude?

Tune in tomorrow. I am going to explain my motive behind this blog, and why Children First is a scam.

This is weird. Or is it disturbing? It can be both. But the fact that something like this can happen should show why certain people should not be administrators.

The Dude was late both days of the statewide ELA test. Once a student is late, the student can not enter the room and take the test. In my school the student goes to a holding area. The Dude, might I believe, also have some test modifications that are afforded him. But the thing is The Dude must take the test.

One of the assistant principals, not Numb Nuts, but The Chosen One, has refused to allow The Dude to take a make up ELA test. The Chosen One feels that The Dude had his chance and blew it. There is no time limit on the when to take a make up.

Just another story in the long list of The Dude getting screwed.

And what do you think Tricky Dick would have to say about this?

FDNY Paramedics and NYPD paid a visit to the school yesterday. It seems that the Detroit Lions Kids trashed a classroom yesterday and the Dear Principal, John Deacon had him EDP'd (Emotionally Disturbed Person). He was take away in an ambulance to the hospital. I believe St Barnabas. But was it preventable?

The Detroit Lions Kid finished eating lunch at approximately 11:00 AM. After eating he, and selct other students go to the gym ostensibly to work on character building traits with a volunteer organization, City Year. City Year is part of AmericaCorps stuff or whatever. Bunch of kids (under 25) that are doing their liberal part to help.

Problem is there is no character building. Just kids in gym playing games, shooting baskets, jumping rope, etc...I do not believe there is any administrative nor pedagogical supervision and I am not sure if there must be. But at least with the bad weather it is better the students are in the gym than watching a movie for the 1000th time in the auditorium.

Now here comes the interesting part. I was not there, but I have spoken with several sources as to what transpired. When the period ended, which was 11:25 AM, The Detroit Lions Kid now coupled with The Dude, bolted from the gym. The supervising kid from City Year did the next logical step. She notified the supervising assistant principal for that lunch period. Can you guess who it was? YES! It was Numb Nuts! He took the call, and guess what? It became his responsibility! So naturally he took charge of the situation you ask. He looked for the students, notified others, and contacted the safety officer.

FDNY and NYPD showed up at the school around a little after noon. Announcements were being made for the principal to go to the room he was in about 12:00 PM. So even being conservative, I am going to say that that The Detroit Lions Kid was on the lam for thirty-five minutes. That is two thousand one hundred seconds!

• Two thousand one hundred seconds in which he was unsupervised.
• Two thousand one hundred seconds in which he could have gotten seriously injured.
• Two thousand one hundred seconds in which he could have injured someone else.
• Two thousand one hundred seconds in which he could have exited the school.
• Two thousand one hundred seconds is more than enough time to do your job correctly!

This a typical example of a complete lack of any responsibility and the way problems are dealt with at my school. Both by the principal, and the AP Numb Nuts. Closing your eyes and hoping the problem goes away does not mean you have dealt with nor solved the problem!

Several weeks ago I wrote how The Dude had his shirt torn by Numb Nuts. You can read more about it here. It seems I did not have the entire story, and for that I apologize. It is worse.

The Dude was being The Dude out in the yard. Numb Nuts grabbed The Dude by his forearm and led The Dude approximately 200 feet from the yard to the cafeteria. Whilst holding onto the aforementioned forearm The Dude noticed that his fingers were turning blue and that "pins and needles" feeling in his hand. I am not a medical doctor nor a scientist but to the layperson this seems to indicate some sort of loss of circulation to the hand. The Dude feeling uncomfortable attempted to pull away and Numb Nuts did not let go which then resulted in the tearing of The Dude's shirt and The Dude falling to the ground. The Dude immediately reported this to John Deacon who at no time asked the nurse to check on The Dude and then the subsequent cover up of the incident. Oh one more thing. There was another student there being held as well by Numb Nuts, The Detroit Lions Kid. I wonder if John Deacon got a statement from this child. I doubt it.

So there you have it. Numb Nuts is still there. No OSI investigation, no Rubber Room, no nothing. Meanwhile The Big O is in the Rubber Room because he accidentally touched his hand to the face of another student. Go figure.

This post is not going to be how The Dude is being totally f***ed educationally by the administration, which he is. No it shall be something completely different. Today's post will about corporal punishment and those that get away with it. Hmm, that sounds like a topic for the next Jerry Springer Show.

So here we have The Dude walking down the stairwell to go outside for lunch. His grade goes outside before it eats and Numb Nuts goes outside with his grade. Anyhoo, The Dude does something to annoy, irritate, or something or other to Numb Nuts. Since Numb Nuts does not have the mental fortitude to handle human children, Numb Nuts resorts to what he does best. Get physical with a child.

So whilst The Dude is at the bottom of the stairs in his irritating mode Numb Nuts grabs The Dude by the arm and drags him. Now I am not sure if The Dude was dragged off the stairs, or if he was off the stairs and dragged. But in the midst of being dragged Numb Nuts tore The Dude's shirt. Did I see it? No. But I heard about it by several other reliable sources, and The Dude confirmed most of what happened. Now ask yourself this question, "why A Teacher In The Bronx should one be concerned with such happenings?"

Because this is not the first time, nor do I think it will be the last time that Numb Nuts grabs a student. As I have mentioned before in several other posts, Numb Nuts seems to have a propensity at grabbing and dragging students when he gets upset.

"But A Teacher In The Bronx, we all have gotten mad at a student and lost our heads". Yes, or maybe not. But here is the difference. Numb Nuts is not some first year teacher. As he likes to remind others, "I have had a highly distinguished career as a teacher in special education before I became an assistant principal." Road apples! I call bullsh**! He is an administrator, he is held to a higher standard no matter what he wants to believe he is, or what he thinks he can do.

Why or how does he consistently get away with a plethora of corporal punishment charges and verbal abuse charges? If he was just a lowly (his thoughts of teachers, he believes that his feces is without odor!) teacher his ass would be sitting in the rubber room so fast. He bit the bullet two years ago and he has learned absolutely zero. I know of teachers who have been sent away for much, much less than he has done.

The Dude did the right thing and reported it to John Deacon. John Deacon received a written statement from The Dude and I guess now all that is left is a waiting game for The Dude, John Deacon, and Numb Nuts. But surely one would ask, what about mom? What has been her take on this whole sordid affair? Nothing. Know why? Because at no time was mom ever notified by John Deacon that her son was assaulted. I might be incorrect, and tell me if I am wrong, but that seems a wee bit f***ed up not to at least notify mom.

Can't people ever do the right thing?

The Dude's mom has made it clear on Friday that she is not going to sign anything to remove The Dude from special ed. She has even realized that the setting he is in, is better than where he was (thanks to Candy), she did not like the how she was being pressured into signing away her and The Dude's rights.

Hey if The Dude is to be moved no better place to be in than with Candy. But why can't this be done for the right reasons? Not the cover our collective asses, hide our heads in the sand reasons, but truly because this is what is best for The Dude.

We have such a top heavy school, with positions filled by such incompetent people that actions that are done with The Dude are the norm, not the exception. Would something like this ever happen in Bronxville, Scarsdale, or Dobbs Ferry? NO! These people are concerned with only one thing. Preserving their own status quo. They only feign interest in the students, keep up appearances to the outsiders. The law states that a child to be removed from special ed. must be tested out. The Dude has not been tested out, nor are there any plans to do it. So then why is Numb Nuts at the forefront to move The Dude? So Numb Nuts has less aggravation. That is it. And that is all it will ever be.


Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue

In due time, in due time.

On Friday the full court press was put on The Dude's mom to sign the paperwork to have The Dude officially mainstreamed. Mom did not cave! Kudos to mom! Think it is over? Not by a long shot! The Dude is still being mainstreamed, not only against mom's explicit wishes, but without being tested out of special ed. Is this legal? Why is this not being done properly such as testing out?

Is this not a shining example of "Children First?"

Remember The Dude? If you need refreshing click here. Anyway The Dude is about to be officially mainstreamed. I am all for mainstreaming a student. When it is for the right reasons. But unfortunately mainstreaming The Dude is for the wrong reasons. He is being moved because he is a behavior problem. But more because of personality conflicts within the class.

The Dude's mother will be coming in to sign the papers so he is no longer in special ed. Mom is sweet, but needs someone to advocate for her. The Dude and his sister are the adults in that home. In fact Sister is the one that cooks, gets The Dude ready for school and so on. Mom is going to be met with a full court press and told that The Dude has progressed and he is ready to move on. Also, why aren't teachers being asked to join in on the meeting with mom? But what, you may ask yourself, is the problem?

The problem is that the IEP/PPT team (school psych, etc...) have not tested him out of special ed. Nor was there any conference or anything to discuss it with IEP/PPT team. The Dude is two grades behind where he should be in reading and several teachers have mentioned that there might be dyslexia. Shouldn't he be tested for this? Seems to me that the law, if not the spirit of the law is being broken. Time to call in the school cops?

So another example of the "Children First" philosophy gone awry. More of the "cover your ass and hide your head in the sand and hope the problem either goes away or becomes someone else's" philosophy.

When I left the school building on Friday I had this on the tip of my mind thinking it would make a great post. But I forgot about it, what with my other posts and catching up on sleep and doing family stuff. But tonight during a mass family gathering while faking interest in some relative talking to me I remembered it.

There is a 12:1:1 class in my school. Now for the uninitiated this means that twelve students in a class with one teacher and one para. But suddenly after someone went into the vault to look at the students IEP's it was noticed that there should be more than one para in the class. The teacher should have brought this up several weeks ago. Oh yeah, she couldn't. You know why? Yep, that is right. She and other teachers in the school have no access to IEP's of the students in their respective classes. Last I checked these IEP's are federally mandated and there is no wriggle room for interpretation of what an IEP mandates. Unless that is you pressure The Dudes mother to sign something.

Short week this week. Only three days of material for me. Oh well, I will make do.

It is amazing watching Numb Nuts in action. For those of you that are first time readers to the blog Numb Nuts is my pet name for our incompetent beyond belief assistant principal. Saw him doing lunch duty today. Absolutely zero control in there. Not one student takes him seriously at lunch duty and not one student older than 1st grade take him seriously in the school.

"'Splain Lucy." "Ok Ricky."

First he is too easily excitable. He screams all the time. I don't mean talking loud which you tend to need to do during lunch. I mean vein popping screaming all the time. Everything no matter how minor or major has the same decibel level from him. You think the kids take him seriously? No. Do they have respect for him? No! How could they if everything turns him into a shrill nut job?

A few years ago he decided to entice the student's behavior at lunch with positive reinforcement by promising an ice cream party to the classes that behaved the best. Points were to be given and recorded on a poster board for all to see. Sounds good right? Wrong! There was no consistency in the awarding of points. The poster board turned out to be construction paper with a grid made with a Sharpie. When ice cream was finally awarded kids who were not picked complained and whined and whatnot and Numb Nuts folded like a cheap suit and everyone had ice cream.

Second he talks to all students like they are four years old. Hey talk to a four year old that way fine. Talk that way to anyone over seven, well guess what those students think. I mean it is amazing to watch him converse with The Dude. The Dude and his sister are the adults at home and how does Numb Nuts talk to him? Like freakin' Mr Rogers!

Does he not realize where he is, how this students are so adept at picking out a phony. Several years ago there were students hanging out at the Pathmark on 207th St panhandling. Just an aside, the administration knew about this and did nothing. Let's get back on track. These students not only respect and want consistency and discipline, but they can spot a phony a mile away. Numb Nuts is so out of place. He needs to be in Forest Hills, or Riverdale in a school that is just K-1. He has no street cred!

Thirdly the reason this is still going on, the incompetency of Numb Nuts, is that he thinks he knows it all. That he is "BIG MAN AP" and is done evolving as an educator. He is treats every situation the same. Like out of the AP handbook. But you got to think like a Marine. Adapt, improvise and overcome.

Which brings me to my final thought. Again, what qualifies him to be an AP other than that he went to AP school, wrote a check. and had five years in the system? He brings nothing to the table!!

A student that I will refer to as The Dude, who was held over in Kindergarten, held over in 2nd grade is in special ed now gets mainstreamed because he is misbehaving and having personality conflicts with other students in his class? The mother is railroaded into signing her approval for this move. A mother with no skills at all. A household where the 14 year old sister of this boy is the parent? Sorry there is no punch line, unfortunately it is true. The Dude is a good kid, and is a bright kid, but the higher ups have failed him. 

What else is true that for some reason teachers who have students with IEP's do not have their IEP's. Why is this? Is it some kind of state secret? Or is the IEP teacher just incompetent? Is this against federal law? Will the Federales be coming to the school?

Numb Nuts has no idea how to properly discipline a child, nor handle a child. Saw him a few days ago dragging a 5 year old by the arms (arms above the child) to his office. Mind you the five year old was pitching a tantrum but how come when I have dealt wit this young man, and though it is difficult, he is able to respond to me? I mean it is really not that difficult. Just takes some brainpower.

Children First! YAY!!!!