Saturday, February 06, 2010

It Is About Time That The News Media Is Starting To Realize The Poor Quality Of The Principals Being Selected By Tweed And How It Hurts The Children.



In the good old days for an educator to become a Principal it took many years of working their way up the ladder. First, the educator spent a minimum of ten years in the classroom, earning the respect of his or her peers. Then the educator spent a minimum of five years as an Assistant Principal, which included teaching one or two classes. Finally, the educator was offered a Principal position and while some principals might have had problems with their staff the vast majority of principals were respected by the staff due to their experience as a educator who rose through the ranks. However, than came the non-educators who came to dominate the upper levels of the DOE, lead by Chancellor Joel Klein who turned the New York City public school system upside down and not for the better.

Under the non-educator, Chancellor Joel Klein, we saw the formation of the "Leadership Academy". This program was a shortcut for people who had little or no experience in education to become a Principal, The problem was that these "newbie" principals have no classroom experience and had not worked in a school environment. The result has been a deterioration in principal quality. I previously, wrote about this here. It is these inexperienced "Leadership Academy" principals who have been told to run their school as they please that have caused the ATR crises and overcrowded "rubber rooms". However, the greatest problem is that these principals lack "common sense" as reported by Joanna Molloy of the New York Daily News and that brings me to the two dopey principals at JHS 190 and PS 52 who caused the City extreme embarrassment and ridicule. Remarkably, the Principal of JHS 190 actually defended her actions. Unbelievable! Even the DOE's mouthpiece, the New York Post had an editorial on these stupid principals. What will eventually happen to these principals? Probably nothing but a letter to their file. Yes, principals do get letters to their file. As for being reassigned to the "rubber room"? That's not happening. A recent example of a Principal staying in his school despite overseeing and hiding misconduct was when Principal Michael Soet apparently approved and participated in a rowdy drinking and dirty dancing party in the presence of students at their prom that resulted in sexual misconduct charges against one teacher at the International High School of Lafayette This "Leadership Academy" Principal is still running the school while SCI goes through the motions of investigating the incident over eight months later.

Until we see real educators regain control of the DOE and the principal positions filled by educators who move up through the ranks, look for more dopey principal actions as they are more interested in their control of their power base than what is best for the children of their school. "Children last" continues.

5 comments:

Pogue said...

Not only are a lot of these new principals of poor quality, but the AP's they hire, in an attempt to be unchallenged on many decisions, are poor, also. Plus, new teachers are getting very little good "teaching practices" help from the inexperienced leadership of many schools. But, as we know, accountability only goes so far up the ladder.

Anonymous said...

Try this on for fairness. The Post reported that the International High School at Lafayette held their prom last June on a boat the Fantasy (Jan 31 edition). Well it appears that there was drinking being done by the teacher chaperones and the principal. Add to that one female teacher who was viewed on camera making out with one of the students. The DOE fired the teacher but the principal has not been removed. Yesterday the Post and News reported that the principal of Robeson HS was reassigned his infraction DRINKING. The conclusion-the new principals have additional protection from the DOE. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE.

Anonymous said...

Chaz attached look at the name of "YUQUIG HONG" a woman who used to run PDs for ELL teachers at the DOE. Now she is going to be the principal for the new school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in Dist. 20 -- NO EXPERIENCE AT ALL.

"ES 971 @ 4th Avenue – DISTRICT 20

Address: 6214 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11220 PROPOSED NEW SCHOOL:

This is a new school that will open for the first time in September 2010. The school would begin phasing in with K-1, eventually growing to serve a full complement of elementary school grades K-5.

School Name: International Academy for Science and Technology

School Level: Elementary School
School Leader: Yuqing Hong

Telephone Number: 718-935-4369
School Leader Email: yhong@schools.nyc.gov

Grades Served 2010-2011: K
Grades Served at Scale: K-5

Description:

International Academy for Science and Technology’s mission is to create a community of life-long learners equipped with twenty-first century knowledge and skills necessary to succeed as effective citizens, workers, and leaders in the global workforce. The academically rigorous curriculum emphasizes critical thinking through inquiry-based science explorations, collaborative teamwork through project learning, and global awareness through infusing technology and internationalized content in all subject areas. The unique world language and culture enrichment program provides youngsters with meaningful and authentic interaction to foster multicultural and multilingual skills. Providing English language learners with the choice of selecting bilingual content area instruction and native language arts classes in Chinese and/or Spanish cultivates a high rate of bilingual literacy and content competency. Working collaboratively with families, institutions, and community organizations, the professional and highly motivated staff is committed to nurturing the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth of children at all levels."

Anonymous said...

DITTO-One of the new schools slated for Beach Channel has a new academy principal no older than 25-28. The school has a name connection to rockaway park. And the BEAT GOES ON.

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