A wanna be screened high school trying to keep their academic reputation intact has been caught cheating by giving bogus online causes to jack up their graduation rate. The New York Post has exposed more phony credit recovery abuses, thanks to Susan Edelman.
The school is Winchester Square High School in the Bronx and it tried to pattern itself after the selective Brooklyn Latin. However, no Latin is taught and the school could only attract a thin vernier of academically proficient students. If you go to school digger you find that school doesn't do better the the District 8 average and well below the State. You get read that Here.
Here are some of the disappointing statistics about Westchester Square Academy High School in the Bronx.
- Ranked 923 out of 1,221 NYC high schools or the lower 25%,
- Only 25% of the teachers trust the Principal.
- 23% of teachers feel the administration clearly communicates with them.
- College readiness is only 31%, below the City average of 49%
- The majority of teachers are untenured,
- High teacher turnover.
I have been reading all these comments from other online posts. Let me explain this. Michael Mulgrew and his cronies do not teach. They have no clue what is going on in the classroom. The only thing they are concerned with is politics. Being the head of the union should not mean you get a pass from teaching. He has no ideas as to what can be done to address the issues that occur in the classroom on a daily basis. There is an election coming in 6 months. Time for new leadership. The type of leadership that understands what is happening in the classroom and will continue to teach.
ReplyDeleteWestchester Square Academy was a good school with strong leadership and a very strong staff in the troubled Lehman High School Building. Everything at this school was going good until this Principal Academy admin came into the picture. First, she trashed the former principal (Sara Dingledy) who was well loved and respected. She called investigations on the former principal. Second, she went after a very strong AP who was supposed to become a principal at the school. Third, she went after every single teacher she can find. Out of 41 teachers 38 left after Yira Salcedo's first year. In her second year another 38 out of 41 also left including 1 or 2 APs. In her 3rd year we are hearing rumors that 40 out of 41 have already told the superintendent and the UFT that they are now looking for a new job.
ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect case where the UFT needs to hold the superintendent accountable. When, how and where are superintendents ever held accountable? Why is Carmen not held accountable? They took a great running successful school and placed a principal who was over her head, borderline slow and did not know anything about running a school. This principal needed serious assistance. Corran Staple is just as responsible as the principal.
The superintendent helped destroy an excellent school.
As long as the DOE is smart enough not to allow outside investigators to investigate schools there will never be any serious consequences to cheating schools and principals. The DOE has the best setup ever. They investigate themselves. I proposed to Congress a few years ago a similar system within the IRS where taxpayers are able to audit their own returns but I was laughed at. Literally laughed at like I was a clown. One congressman told me no system like that will ever exist in any system. Well, Mr. Congressman let me introduce you to the DOE. Yes, in the DOE this does in fact exist and the DOE does investigate itself. As a matter of fact Carmen invested 5 million dollars more into investigating themselves. This is true comedy.
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, this is not the only school running fake online courses. This is one of at least 100 schools doing fake classes and fake online classes.
Guess under this principal anyone can get a diploma. This article: https://nypost.com/2018/07/14/education-department-investigating-high-schools-online-courses/ surely will attract a lot of students! SMH. Forcing teachers to graduate students that they are not supervising is not right. That only creates "teacher shopping!" Find the right teacher to overlook certain things and give good grades underserved and you've got yourself a diploma! Ms. Salcedo should be ashamed of herself setting up a student to fail in life is certainly not right but coming from a principal is outright shameful! Who knows, perhaps she was able to "buy" her credentials and therefore sees nothing wrong with this practice. As a father to a high school student I would be furious, angry and disappointed if my child was allowed to get her high school diplomat without earning it!. Ms. Salcedo being allowed to get away with this by the DOE is certainly unethical. Sad!
ReplyDeleteYup! I was 1 of the teachers forced out by this unscrupulous principal. I was harassed and while on jury duty, got hit with alleged bogus misconduct allegations. All because I’d asked for help because a student showed me his gun! The UFT protected her and the DoE ignored all the warnings and verbatim reports! Then Parkland happened. I left with a flagged record unable to work again in the DoE. All because of this woman. It is shameful. And the students miss out the most. Tragic.
ReplyDeleteI was a new hire last fall who had the good sense to quit after the first day of staff meetings and orientation, which Salcedo spent talking about then sidestepping the reasons for her massive teacher turnover that summer--which she and her AP blatantly lied to me about during our job interview. 'Abandon Ye All Who Enter Here": there was no set curriculum in place, a majority of teachers were brand new to the job, and I was paired with an ESL teacher who had all of one month of teacher training to show for, and who didn't even speak a second language. (We are talking a new ESL hire for a high needs student body in the Bronx, people.) Worse, there was no UFT rep in place, and the school insisted on a uniform for staff to match its charter-fashion friendly students. ALL NO-NOS FOR TEACHERS. I had reached out to the UFT shortly after I was hired over the summer to inquire about issues at the school, and the head there, Dr Eliu, wrote back claiming there was none whatsoever and that "you should be okay". After what I saw the first day, it was clear to me that Salcedo and the local UFT--whose offices were right around the corner rom the school--were in bed together. It's a gross injustice to all prospective teachers at any school not to be informed by their union of the truth about their new work environment. How Eliu could keep the 38-teacher turnover rate that summer from me is beyond unconscionable, it's flat out corrupt.
ReplyDeleteSalcedo has no business running ANYTHING. Dear Parents of students at WSQ-- Support the teachers and help make sure that they have representation on the job. Like every other shitty principal in public ed, Salcedo will continue to use her position to terrorize and silence and ruin the careers of teachers who dare to challenge her poor leadership.