Saturday, January 24, 2009

The DOE Double Standard Continues As Administrators Are Given A Free Pass When Threatening And Telling Second Graders To Lie


The DOE continues treating their Administrators quite differently when allegations of misconduct are found to have occurred. Take the case of the administrators at PS70 in the Bronx. In their zeal to file misconduct charges against a teacher, the Administrators allegedly interrogated 20 frightened second graders and forced them to write written statements about their teacher. They were also accused of threatening the students with suspensions if they told their parents and bribed them with promises about going to McDonald's. However, the Administrators' actions did not go unnoticed. The New York Post was contacted by an outraged parent and reported on it Here.

According to the New York Post article the Administrators involved appears to have violated Chancellor's regulations A-420 (corporal punishment) and A-421 (Verbal abuse). The Administrators' actions meet the A-420 definition of

"NO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT SHALL BE INFLICTED IN ANY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NOR PUNISHMENT OF ANY KIND TENDING TO CAUSE EXCESSIVE FEAR OR PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISTRESS. VIOLATION OF THIS BYLAW SHALL CONSTITUTE GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL".


Furthermore, there interrogation techniques of both threatening and bribing the students violated A-421 found below

"Verbal abuse is not corporal punishment but includes any language that tends to cause fear or physical or mental distress of a student".

Despite apparently violating the two Chancellor regulations, have these Administrators been removed from the school? Of course not. According to the DOE they are currently investigating the accusation. If this was a teacher? The "rubber room" awaits but because they are Administrators, they are presumed innocent and look for this to result in a verbal reprimand and a burial of any adverse actions against the Administrators.

The DOE double standard continues and the beat down of teachers just goes on.




8 comments:

Pete Zucker said...

Ha! Just like Numb Nuts my AP. Six, yes six corporal punishment allegations made against him this year alone. Why wait for the seventh? Why not put him in Rubber Room? If he is cleared, so be it.

Anonymous said...

My A.P. dragged a student out of the class for his behavioral issues and hurt the boy. When his parent complainted, A.P tried to lay the blame on two classroom teachers who had not physical contacts with the kid. Eventually she had to own the blame on herself, want to know what happened, nothing.

Anonymous said...

I am sick and tired of this! When is the uft going to stand up and protect teachers! If they refuse, let them get out! Teachers should file charges with EEOC as soon as they see the principals or assistant principals doing this as a group.

Anonymous said...

It figures that the DOE sees no wrong when an administrator commits misconduct. This double standard is disgusting and unfair. Keep p the good work.

proofoflife said...

Maybe I need to start buying the teachers in my school pizza. Would they file a grievance? They might be forced to tell the truth. There are many, many worms under the rock.

JUSTICE not "just us" said...

Give it time! It is only a matter of time before one of these so called "school leaders" aka adminstrators hurts a child so bad that it make the front pages of the rags we call newspapers.

KitchenSink said...

Where is the Parent Coordinator at these schools where this corporal punishment is happening?

Do teachers or bloggers have access to the network leaders for the PSO/Empowerment School/LSO network the school belongs to?

This behavior certainly does not match the Klein rhetoric, and certainly these rogue administrators must be investigated.

The Veteran NY Teacher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.