The Retaining Of Iris Blige As Principal At Fordham High School For The Arts Is Just Another Disgusting Example Of The DOE's "Double Standard".

Well we are now under the Administration of the unqualified Chancellor, Cathie Black, and nothing has changed when it cones to disciplining Administrators. The latest example of this is brought to you by the "Principal from Hell". Ms. Iris Blige, Principal of Fordham High School of the Arts who was allowed to keep both her job and stay as Principal of the school despite being found by a school investigator for trying to falsely terminate teachers and deny them their livelihood. The DOE, rather than try to fire her, in what would appear to be an iron-clad case with at least two Assistant Principals and numerous teachers ready to testify against her, cut a deal and paid a $7,500 fine without pleading guilty to the charge. Just unbelievable but business as usual when it comes to the DOE. This is just another example of the DOE "double standard" which allows administrators relatively free passes to continue in their positions while attacking teachers and demanding termination who do much less, if anything at all.

The New York Post reported today that the Principal targeted a dozen teachers for "unsatisfactory ratings" and eventual termination without cause. Gotham Schools has the entire OSI report here. and is interesting reading.

This is not the first time this "Principal from hell", Iris Blige has made the news. Back in March of 2009, she was cited and criticized for the high teacher turnover that occurred under her leadership and was reported in Gotham Schools Even the New York Teacher via the Rubber Room Reporter wrote about her underhanded and sleazy intentions about going after people and even had a "hit list" of teachers she wanted terminated. On the other side of the teacher spectrum, Education notes online wrote about one teacher who was removed to the "rubber room" simply because she pissed off Ms. Blige and is a must read Here. She was subject to a protest demonstration outside the school by disgruntiled staff and students back in March of 2009 that made the local news.

Ms Blige is one of the first graduates of the infamous "Principal Leadership Academy" that wastes 10 million dollars annually and is just another shinning example of the inferior leadership this money-wasting Academy produces. Maybe that was where the mysterious 10 million dollars that Mayor Bloomberg gave to Cathie Black for test tutoring came from? One can only hope so. However, let's go back to Principal Iris Blige.

Ms. Blige was known to target Chapter Leaders in particular and earned the unions ire which named her a member of their exclusive PINI Principal list. JD2718 named her school as one of the schools that teachers should not apply to and rightly so. Until the DOE gets rid of these PINI Principals like Iris Blige, their claim that they are trying to provide a quality education to the students is just a fraud. The DOE just continues in their "children last" policy when it comes to the students where these principals are in charge of.