Academic Fraud At Maspeth High School - Part 2

It seems that Mayor De Blasio was informed of the academic fraud at Maspeth high school and failed to take action.  Worse, the Mayor did not remove the school administrators before the school year started but told the district councilman not to go to the press if he wanted to be on the Mayor's good side.   Susan Edelman of the New York Post wrote an article that explains it all.

Can you imagine if a teacher was caught committing academic fraud?  He or she would be removed from the school and the DOE would file 3020-a termination charges.  Yet, despite the many whistle blowers and their allegations, the DOE kept all the school administrators and only reluctantly started an in house investigation, while dragging their collective feet. This is just another example of the DOE's double standard.

You can also read the article of why a teacher quit Maspeth high school due to alleged corruption.

To read more about Maspeth high school read my blog Here.

Under Chancellor Carranza The DOE Double Standard Continues

Teachers were hoping that Chancellor Richard Carranza would eliminate the "double standard", when disciplining principals.  After a couple Principal dismissals that reached the newspapers, the Chancellor has continues the DOE's long standing double standard. Just ask the Forest Hills High School staff who see Principal Ben Sherman day after day, walking the halls and Namia Dwarka who still in charge at Bryant High School.,

In today's New York Post, we see another example of the DOE's double standard when it comes to principals.  In this case it's a male Assistant Principal who experienced alleged sexual harassment by his female Principal, Ana Zambrano-Burakov at Arts and Business High School in Queens.

 According to the Assistant Principal, he was subject to unwanted and inappropriate touching, hugging, and forced kisses by the Principal.  Furthermore, the Assistant Principal claimed that when he filed a complaint  with the DOE back in 2015, the Principal retaliated by getting SCI involved and they found that the Assistant Principal had traveled overseas (Nicaragua?) while on legitimate  sick leave.  Consequently, the DOE filed 3020-a charges for theft of services but the independent arbitrator give the Assistant Principal a slap on the wrist, with a $1,000 fine that tells me that his reason to go overseas was probably medically related and is now an ATR Assistant Principal.

What happened to the Principal?  Nothing, nothing at all and she is still the Principal at the school.

Wiil Principal Louis Pavone Be Removed From PS/IS79 In Long Island City For Drunk Driving?

Principal Louis Pavone was spotted by the police making an unsafe lane change and was found to be drunk.  He was arrested for a DUI.  If  Mr. Pavone was a teacher, he would be removed from the school and reassigned until his case was adjudicated.

However, Mr. Pavone is a Principal and will probably be allowed to run his school while his DUI charge runs its course.

 This is known as the DOE "double standard" that assumes administrators are innocent until proven guilty, while teachers are assumed guilty and reassigned from their school.

You can read the entire New York Post article Here.

Academic Fraud Is Common In The New York City Public Schools.

I have written previously that academic fraud is quite common in the New York City public school system.  Be it bogus credit recovery, scholarship, changing grades, or administrative pressure, academic fraud is ignored by the DOE.

In today's New York Post there is an article dealing with the academic fraud issue and the newspaper brings up one example that shows how OSI substantiated the test cheating but since the teacher was a favorite of the Principal and Superintendent, instead of the DOE filing 3020-a charges, the teacher merely ended up with a counseling memo.

Apparently the New York Post will be covering the academic fraud issue this week,  I can only laugh that the  newspaper never addressed the issue under Bloomberg or read Susan Edelman's articles most every Sunday.  The funnest quote from today's article is by a DOE spokesman who said the following.

“We treat academic misconduct seriously and take immediate disciplinary action as necessary. We have created an academic integrity task force to enhance training and support to ensure our policies are followed,” said department spokesman Doug Cohen.

The DOE claims that they have zero tolerance for academic misconduct and that is probably true for most teachers but when it comes to administrators and their favorite teachers, the DOE seems to look the other way.  The double standard continues no matter who the Chancellor is. Here are two other examples.  Here and Here.

My Response To The New Tork Times Biased Article On Principal Removals.

I read and reread the New York Times article on how three principals were removed and quickly realized that the entire article was based only on the principals side of their reassignment.   The article was clearly biased as no teacher or Chapter Leader were interviewed, only the three principals and their supporters.  Occasionally, in the article they did get a quote from UFT President, Michael Mulgrew, but the reporter did not bother to interview any staff members who were involved in the complaints.

The three principals were Santiago Taveras, Kathleen Elvis, and Nadav Zeimer.  All of whom violated the Chancellor's regulations and most importantly were universally hated by the teaching staffs and were considered career killers.  All were removed and rightly so.  Unlike teachers, they still kept their salary and work in field offices.

In Santiago Taveras,when he was Deputy Chancellor under Bloomberg he was responsible for closing of the many large comprehensive high schools and earned the ire of the teachers union.  As Principal of DeWitt Clinton High School he was caught changing grades and built an illegal personal shower that the DOE had to dismantle.  Moreover, he was despised by the staff and targeted veteran teachers.

Then there is Kathleen Elvin who created the "Easy Pass" credit recovery system that jacked up the graduation rate.  Further, she also targeted veteran teachers and was one of the lowest rated principals when it came to the survey. Further, she was only exonerated by the arbitrator because the DOE refused to give the lawyers the evidence that the higher ups were complicit by approving the "easy pass" program.   Please read the New York Post's Editorial.

Nadav Zeimer, a Leadership Academy Principal, filed false and fraudulent charges against a teacher who was found totally innocent by an independent arbitrator.  The teacher was returned to the school and started to document the various violations the Principal did.  Eventually both SCI and OSI investigated and substantiated the violations. Here again the Principal was disliked by the staff. An example was when the teaching staff were forced to sit through useless professional development while Mr. Zeimer took his favorite administrators to  a notorious bathhouse. on school time.

The bottom line is that if you're a Principal and fail to cooperate and collaborate with your teaching staff and violate Chancellor Regulations, you deserve to be removed.

The DOE Policy That Protects Pervy Principals Is Finallly Exposed By The Media.

The DOE claims they have a "zero tolerance" policy when a teacher is accused of sexual misconduct against a student.  The presumption is that any sexually based allegations against a teacher requires their removal from the school and reassigned to a "rubber room" until their 3020-a termination hearing is scheduled.  In fact, any sexually based charges usually results in the teacher receiving a "probable cause" hearing within a month of the DOE substantiating the charges, usually based on merely hearsay evidence and the word of the student.  The result is that the teacher is taken off salary and health benefits for up to 90 days and usually results in the teacher's firing if the 3020-a arbitrator upholds the sexual misconduct charges.

By contrast, principals who are accused of sexual misconduct by a teacher or other subordinates will retain their position and any lawsuits brought by the teacher will be fought "tooth and nail" by the DOE in the courts and when the DOE finally loses, the lawsuit, the court case has lasted five or more years.  Therefore, by the time the DOE decides to take action against the Principal, they no longer can file 3020-a charges since there is a three year "statue of limitations" between the sexual misconduct and the DOE initiating charges against the Principal. This is done purposely by the DOE since they practice a "double standard" when they assume the Principal is innocent until proven guilty, while teachers who are assumed guilty and removed from the classroom.

The New York Post identified five principals who were accused of sexual misconduct and some of them are still principals while the rest were either demoted to an assistant principal position or reassigned to an administrative office.  None of them faced 3020-a charges.  Mona Davids President, of the NYC Parents Union said it best

“Clearly the DOE is protecting these principals by running out the clock on the statute of limitations,” Davids said. “They’re not good leaders, and they’re a danger to our kids. If an adult is not safe around that person, what makes you think a child is?”


If the principals were subject to the same DOE rules as teachers, the principals would be reassigned , pending substantiation of the charges and be subject to a 3020-a hearing within the three year statue of limitations.  No longer will the DOE's "double standard" protect principals who comment misconduct, sexual or otherwise, by running out the clock and retaining their salary and benefits despite being guilty of the charges.
 
For additional information read the NYC Public School Parents blog.

The DOE's Double Standard Continues - The Case Of Principal Emmanuel Polanco of JHS 80.

Susan Edelman of the New York Post penned a scathing article about how Principal Emmanuel Polanco has bullied the students and staff and that under his administration one teacher was quoted as saying.   “It’s not about the kids,” she said. “It’s about administrators who lie, cover-up the violence, and don’t provide proper supervision.”.

This is the same Emmanuel Polanco, who had limited classroom experience but was promoted to principal through the Leadership Academy program who made a racy video, ending with him in bed with a women.  What kind of role model is he?   As expected, the DOE buried the investigation and quietly allowed Mr. Polanco to continue to run his school.  Please read my previous post for the link to the video and Mr. Polanco's alleged misdeeds.

Now it seems that Mr. Polanco is being accused of bullying students and staff.  This explains why the majority of teachers are untenured, strongly suggesting that the school suffers from high teacher turnover.  Moreover, Mr. Polanco  has allegedly shoved a student against a stairway wall and jabbed his fingers into the student's chest.  He and or his administration also authorized that the student be handcuffed, behind his back,  by school safety when he questioned a procedure during a fire drill.  Mr. Polamco was also accused by others as well.

From what I have read and heard Mr. Polanco has apparently violated Chancellor's regulations A-420, corporal punishment and A-421 verbal abuse.  Yet, Mr. Polanco remains Principal at the school.  If Mr. Polanco was a teacher he would have been removed from the school and sent to a reassignment center waiting for his 3020-a charges.  However, Mr. Polanco is a Principal and the DOE presumes him innocent as they continue with their investigation which has probably been predetermined to find him innocent or if substantiated, will be once again buried as he remains Principal.  In other words, the DOE's "double standard" when disciplining teachers and administrators continues.

How bad is JHS 80 in the Bronx?  They have dismally poor test scores in English and Math and just read the letters to the New York Post that a teacher encouraged her seventh grades to write.  The letters contain numerous misspelled words, poor grammar, and vulgarity.  You can read them Here.

Update:  The City Council is now investigating the Principal and the school and wants to know why the DOE closed the investigation of Mr. Polanco's actions.

The DOE Double Standard Continues Under Carmen Farina.

In today's New York Post there is an article by Susan Edelman on ex-Principal Marc Williams who resigned when investigated for a grade fixing scandal at the Secondary School of Journalism in Brooklyn.  After Mr. Williams resigned as Principal , the DOE gave him a new position as a "case manager" in their Human Resources division at a salary of $127,443. 

Unbelievable but true, despite a new Mayor and Chancellor, its still business as usual at the DOE as they continue to practice their "double standard" when it comes to disciplining principals.  If Mr. Williams was a teacher, he would be subject to 3020-a termination charges and if he resigned, the  DOE would place on his file "a do not hire" flag.  However, Mr. Williams was a Principal and was given a new position at a salary that is higher than the top rated senior teacher.

When will the "double standard" when it comes to disciplining principals end?  I'm certainly not holding my breath waiting for that day as long as the Bloomberg/Klein ideology continues to  permeate the halls of Tweed as Chancellor Carmen Farina retained 80% of the Bloomberg policymakers rather than "clean house" like she needed to do..

Anoither Case Of The DOE Double Standard When Disciplining Administrators - Santiago Taveras.

In today's News York Post, embattled Principal Santiago Taveras of Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx has officially lost his position as Principal due to academic misconduct but will still earn $149,826 as an academic support specialist at the DOE's Bronx field office.  If Mr. Taveras was a staff member, he would have been charged under 3020-a and the DOE would ask for termination.  Another case of the DOE's "Double Standard"when disciplining administrators for misconduct.

Santiago Taveras has been accused by a school source in his SCI report of changing grades of up to 900 students, from failing to passing, without the approval of his teachers.  Apparently, SCI only reviewed four cases from the accusation and dumped the rest back into the DOE's lap who did not confirm or deny the accusation.  However, they did remove Mr. Taveras as Principal so there apparently is some credence to the accusation.   The SCI report did substantiate the four cases of grade fixing and recommended the following:

“very serious.” He recommended that “appropriate and significant disciplinary action be taken against Mr. Taveras, and that he be advised that similar administrative failures on his part, in the future, may lead to suspension or termination of employment with the D.O.E.”

Mr Taveras has been involved in other unseemly actions. He was the point person in closing many of the large comprehensive high schools as Deputy Chancellor under Michael Bloomberg,  Next, as Principal of DeWitt Clinton High School he built a personal shower that the DOE first found to be appropriate than under media scrutiny, quietly had the shower dismantled and removed.

Finally,  Mr, Taveras targeted teachers, especially veteran teachers,. during his time as Principal at DeWitt Clinton.  He was known to harass teachers and gave 8% of his teacher "ineffective".  Compared to the 1% ineffective grade citywide.

The DOE's Double Standard Continues.

One of the most glaring issues dealing with the DOE is the "double standard" when disciplining teachers and administrators.  Teachers who commit or allegedly committed minor infractions can and usually are removed from the school and subject to 3020-a termination charges.  By contrast, school administrators are presumed to be innocent and few are removed from their school.  A case in point is the story of 33 year old Assistant Principal Diana Rendon of Progressive High School for Professional Careers in Brooklyn, who was first caught on a cellphone apparently boozing it up on a hotel bed with some of her teachers at taxpayers expense and now she has been accused of barging into a boys locker room with some of the boys still in their underwear.

Can you imagine if a male coach walks into a girls locker room with half-dressed girls?  That coach would be immediately removed from the school, be subject to an SCI investigation, and quite likely suspended without pay for sexual misconduct and terminated.in a 3020-a hearing. Yet Ms. Rendon is still an administrator in the school.  As a coach of a girls soccer team, I knew better if I wanted to keep my job and always had a female team captain handle the locker room and only came in when she gave me the go-ahead to enter.  Yet, apparently Ms. Rendon rather than follow the rules, believes she can do as she pleases and barge in for any reason whatsoever.

If that is not enough, how about the free baseball tickets that she and the Principal were supposed to give to the students but went to staff instead?  This stuff apparently goes back to 2010.

What we have here is apparently another case of DOE's different criteria when disciplining teachers and administrators, or the old "double standard".

The DOE's Double Standard Continues.

In today's New York Post there is an article about the two female teachers at James Madison High School in Brooklyn who were caught in an empty classroom being intimate with each other was targeted for termination and were initially terminated by the State arbitrators in their 3020-a cases, under extreme media publicity and DOE pressure.  However, on appeal both teachers had their terminations overturned by the judge under section 75-11 and both ended up with one year suspensions without pay or benefits.

By contrast, John Bowne High School Principal Howard Kwait has cost the DOE  $500,000 to settle two separate sexual harassment lawsuits and having a female student falsely arrested.  Yet, Howard Kwait was not removed from the school and the DOE never bothered to file 3020-a charges against his alleged  misconduct, including accusations of grade changing.  To me that is a double standard.

While I don't condone what the two teachers did in the empty classroom, at least they were consenting adults who simply picked an inappropriate location to have their intimate moment.  On the other hand Howard Kwait allegedly sexually harassed two female Assistant Principals and was fined by the Conflict of Interest Board for taking a trip overseas with a female staff member of the school.  Which is worse?  The two female teachers having an intimate moment in an empty classroom with no students on the floor or Principal Howard Kwait, who's actions cost the city  $500,000 to settle the lawsuits against him and his ill-advised all expenses paid trip with a female staff member overseas that cost him $4,500?  To me it's definitely the latter.

It just goes to show that the DOE's "double standard" continues be it Mayor Bloomberg or De Blasio.

Where Is Minerva Zanca Working Now? You Won't Believe It.

Ex Principal Minerva Zanca, who was removed from the troubled and struggling Pan American International High School was charged by the U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara with a civil rights lawsuit of racial discrimination.  The lawsuit claims "systematic harassing and demeaning of black teachers" at her school.  The lawsuit also accused Superintendent Juan Mendez of protecting Ms. Zanca's actions and retaliating against an Assistant principal who refused to go after the teachers.  Eventually, Minerva Zanca was removed, due to the school's poor academic performance and disappeared in the DOE.  However, it is now known that Ms. Zanca was placed as a guidance counselor at a majority black school (83% black) in Brooklyn, the Fredrick Douglas Academy IV Secondary School.

Believe it or not, a Principal who was accused of racial discrimination against black teachers was quietly sent to a majority black school to work with black students.  Only in the DOE would this be acceptable and reasonable.  What were they thinking of at Tweed?  To read about other posts about Minerva Zanca read them Here and Here.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case.  Remember, the Robert Wagner Principal, Annie Schmutz Seifullah, who was charged with sexual liaisons at the school?  She was quietly sent to Automotive high school to teach a mostly male population until some of her students blew the whistle who then fled the classroom and back into DOE Central.  Then there was the infamous James Brown who was convicted by a jury of his peers to sexual harassment and other charges against a female subordinate that cost the Long Island school district over one million dollars and ended up .as Principal of Flushing High School shortly after Chancellor Dennis Walcott claimed "zero tolerance" for sexual misconduct allegations against teachers. After a year as Principal, he was removed and disappeared into DOE Central as well.  Finally, let's not forget some of the Principals who are still running their schools despite numerous allegations against them Here.  Here, and Here.

The bottom line is that there is a "double standard" when disciplining teachers and principals and under the DOE, its simply business as usual.

When Will Chancellor Carmen Farina Say Enough And Remove These Devil Principals?

Once again the Principal of John Bowne High School, Howard Kwait, finds himself on the wrong side of an investigation, according to the New York Post.  This time its for grade changing and the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is currently interviewing school staff to determine how widespread and blatant the grade changing is.  Like I said, Principal Howard Kwait has had some serious problems before such as harassing female Assistant Principals, wrongly had a female student arrested, and had an affair with a female subordinate who paid for his vacation with her that landed him in hot water with the City's Conflict of Interest Board and cost him a $4,500 fine  Finally, the Special Commissioner of Investigations (SCI) found that there were allegations by female employees of his sexually charged vulgar behavior toward them but the DOE, despite their professed zero tolerance policy for sexual misconduct, chose not to pursue the complaints.  You can find all the sordid details Here, Here,  Here and Here.

Obviously, Principal Howard Kwait is not only an embarrassment to the DOE but has cost the City more than $500,000 in settlements and yet Chancellor Carmen Farina has done nothing about it. Moreover, when the grade changing issue first came up, a couple of years ago, the DOE ignored it. Now the New York Post reports that the DOE has finally decided to look into the grade changing allegations and still Howard Kwait is Principal of John Browne High School, go figure.

Whether it was the Bloomberg or De Blasio administration it matters little as the DOE "double standard" continues with principals allowed to retain their position short of murder while school staff are removed from the school and subject to termination charges for minor or even imaginary offenses.  How are our schools going to improve with principals like Howard Kwait still in charge?

A Week Of Principals Acting Badly.

Here we go again and the newspapers and blogs are full of principals who are acting badly.  Be it having their own personal shower and refusing to supply a key to it to others, a Principal who's decision cost the DOE over $100,000 to settle a case against her, and least we forget the four principals at a campus who tried to bully and jeopardize the safety of their staff into using the same door as the students while allowing themselves use of a separate door to their cars in the parking lot.  Yes, this was a bad week for principals and what has our disappointing Chancellor did about it?  Nothing.  Nothing whatsoever!

First, there was the Principal of DeWitt Clinton High School Santiago Traveras who embarrassed the DOE when the New York Post exposed his personal bathroom with a shower in it.  You can read the entire sorry Santiago Traveras story Here.  Now it seems the DOE, clearly embarrassed by the shower, went into the school and dismantled the shower.  According to the New York Post, the key to the locked door that contained the shower could not be found and the workmen had to use a drill to get it open!  Yet Chancellor Carmen Farina has allowed Principal Santiago Traveras to remain as Principal.  Go figure?

Second, was the Principal of William Cullen Bryant High School, Namita Dwarka who has somehow remained in charge of her school despite the many allegations and investigations lodged against her and her administration.  You can find all the sordid details Here.  Now it seems one teacher won a major settlement against her and the DOE, rather than defend her, decided to pay off the teacher, remove the bogus 3020-charges she filed against him, and sent him to the ATR pool in the Bronx The Daily News article can be found Here.  This is just another reason that Namita Dwarka should have been removed from her position but has Chancellor Carmen Farina done so?  Of course not!

Finally, the four principals at Springfield Gardens Campus acted badly when they decided to force the campus staff to use the same door to enter and leave the budding with the students, while exempting school administrators from the requirement..  In fact, one Principal was ready to hold  a disciplinary hearing against a teacher who accidentally used a different door to exit the school on the first day of the new rules.  The entire punitive and vindictive story can be found in my blog Here.  Will any of these principals be disciplined for their poor decision making that the DOE was forced to rescind when a grievance was filed?.  Yeah right, if you believe in the tooth fairy.

The UFT and DOE talk about collaboration and a new tone but these cases highlight the double standard the DOE practices when it comes to principals acting badly, a hallmark of the previous Bloomberg Administration and continues under Bill de Blasio..

The DOE Double Standard Continues Under Renewal Superintendent Amiee Horowitz.

Here will go again!  Another scandal has been exposed under renewal Superintendent Amiee Horowitz as she allowed a removed Principal, due to her alleged sexual misconduct with school personnel and a child's parent. to teach English at the nearly all male Automotive High School.  Yes, the very same Automotive High School that the DOE falsely promised to hire a top quality teaching staff only to fill the vacant positions with "newbie teachers" with no classroom experience and it seems a teacher who should not have any contact with students due to her alleged sexual misconduct.

The story starts with the then Leadership Academy Principal of Robert Wagner High School,  Annie Schmutz Selfullah being removed from her position as various allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced between her and a student's parent as well as other people inside the school. While you can say that they are all adults except that sex in the school is considered extreme misconduct and should have resulted in her firing, especially in the DOE's alleged zero tolerance policy that is not enforced for administrators. Moreover, her affair with a student's parent is unseemly.  The DOE removed the Principal but did not file 3020-a charges and said that she will never be put in a position that exposes her to children.  Yeah, right?

Now it appears the DOE quietly allowed Superintendent Amiee Horowitz and the embittered Principal of Automotive High School to quietly hire the ex-Principal as an English teacher.  Unfortunately, for the troubled school the students checked on her and found the sex scandal.   Ms. Selfullah left the classroom and ran out of the building when confronted with her past by her students.  The DOE claimed it was a mistake that Ms. Selfullah was assigned as a teacher.  However, one must think that a competent Superintendent and Principal would have done some checking and realized that Ms. Selfullah should not be with students.  Therefore, the blame lies with the renewal Superintendent Amiee Horowitz and the Principal of Automotive High School, Lafergola who did not do their "due diligence" or just ignored Ms, Selfullah's alleged sexual misconduct.  Either way, they are both culpable for the disgraceful action of putting, as the New York Post states "a cougar in a den of cubs".

Just another poor decision made by renewal Superintendent  Amiee Horowitz but then we all have learned that seems to be the a recurring pattern in her inept administration.

The DOE Failure To Take Action Against Willian Cullen Bryant's Administration Smacks Of Corruption.

Here will go again.  The New York Post published a report showing how the school administration stiffed their students and failed to pay them for summer work to fix and upgrade the school's computer system after promising to pay them for their work.  When the Chancellor was contacted by two students complaining they were stiffed, the DOE's response was to send the emails back to the Principal who scheduled a discipline hearing and put the two students at risk, just incredible!  The DOE informed the Post that they are now investigating the accusation, why not when the accusations happened?.  How many DOE investigations are there on William Cullen Bryant High School and why is Principal Namita Dwarka still in charge?  The answer is simple, the DOE investigations are corrupt!

William Cullen High School has seen a mass exodus of veteran teachers leave the school through retirement, resignation, and the few lucky ones who transferred to other schools despite their salary.  The school's teaching staff mainly consist of inexperienced teachers and in some subjects like Earth Science are not certified to teach the subject.  Furthermore,due to the administrative actions students passing the Regents physical Sconces (Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics) have dropped 20 points in the last few years. If I look at the rest of the subjects, I'm sure there are similar drops.

When it comes to Principal Namita Dwarka the list of accusations against her are mind boggling as she continues to run this once great school into the ground.  Yet the DOE has repeatedly failed to take any action against her or remove her for the sake of the students and staff alike.  This is just another case of the DOE's corrupt investigation process when it comes to disciplining favored administrators.

Why Is Namita Dwarka Still A Principal?

Here we go again.  Another potential scandal has reared its ugly head at William Cullen Bryant High School as the 33 year old assistant principal, Pelgia Papoutsis, was removed from the school as a former female student accused her of having a sexual relationship with her when the girl was 17 years old.  While, the accusations are just that, accusations, the troubling part is that the girl claimed that the Principal, Namita Dwarka, was aware of the relationship between the assistant principal and the student and never reported it as mandated by the DOE.  Whether the accusation is true or not, the Principal was required to report the suspicious relationship to the Special; Commissioner of Investigations (SCI) and did not.

This is not the first time that Principal Dwarka's actions at the school came under fire.  You just need just to look at the many issues associated with the Principal.  Here, Here, Here, and Here.

According to sources she goes after the veteran teachers and forces them to retire and has reassigned, pending his 3020-a hearing. a popular physical education teacher and coach who is a whistleblower.  Ms. Dwarka is, as you might expect, is a "Leadership Academy Principal" who has shown time and again that her personal priorities are more important than what's best for the students.  She was also accused of financial mismanagement and according to the New York Post there is $195,000 unaccounted for and yet the DOE has taken no action.  Moreover, teachers at the school accused Ms. Dwarka of grade changing without their approval and the DOE did nothing about that either.  Finally, she is a known bully and goes after veteran teachers who don't kiss her ass and if your a highly qualified ATR you will not be hired, she would rather hire an uncertified teacher than select an ATR.

The DOE double standard when disciplining teachers and administrators is very evident when it comes to the checkered history of Principal Namita Dwarka of William Cullen Bryant High School.

Chancellor Carmen Farina Fails Yet Again.

With much fanfare, educators in New York City looked forward to a new era now that Michael Bloomberg and his non-educators no longer were in charge at the DOE and installed policies that made teaching in the New York City classroom a more hostile environment.  Unfortunately, very little has changed when Mayor Bill de Blasio placed Carmen Farina in charge of the New York City schools.  Ms. Farina has basically followed the Bloomberg era policies and the few things she actually changed, like the elimination of the Children First Networks, and criteria for the Leadership Academy were the ideas of her arch nemesis,  Eric Nadelstern, who allegedly pushed her out and into retirement back in the early years of Chancellor Joel Klein's tenure.  When it came to other Bloomberg era policies, like the ATR crisis, fair student funding, education on the cheap, and large class sizes, nothing changed.  Yes, she gave Superintendents back their authority but some of her picks smacked of cronyism and not competence.   One of her primary goals was to remove the 400 principals she believed should not be running their schools.  However, saying it is one thing, doing it is another and in this she has failed miserably.

Take the latest travesty, the removal of Principal Kathleen Elvin of Dewey High School in Brooklyn.  Despite pleas from Dewey staff and allegations of credit accumulation fraud that resulted in a suspected large increase in graduation rates, Chancellor Carmen Farina failed to remove the Principal.  Interestingly, Principal Elvin was selected by then Superintendent Amiee Horowitz, who apparently ignored complaints by Dewey staff about Principal Elvin and her questionable policies before she moved on to head the renewal schools program.  Yes, the same Amiee Horowitz that discontinued a highly competent Science teacher who reported Regents cheating at her school.  The story is Here.

As far back as when Carmen Farina took over as Chancellor, she was apparently informed of the problems at John Dewey High School but chose to ignore it.  Instead, it was the John Dewey staff that contacted SCI, who dumped it to OSI for review.  OSI apparently sat on the case for over a year as the DOE was hoping the issue would blow over and let the Principal continue her reign of terror on veteran staff and the bloated graduation rate that made the DOE look like their policies were successful.  However, the Dewey staff, sensing that little was going to happen if they let OSI sit on the investigation, took it to the WCBS-TV and the New York Post who blow the phoney "credit recovery" program wide open.  The "credit recovery" scam was known as "easy pass" by students and staff alike and was a joke.

Interestingly, the DOE leadership kept the Principal in place, despite the media onslaught and Chancellor Carmen Farina even said that most of the accusations were unsubstantiated!  However, the media pressure was unrelenting from both WCBS-TV and the New York Post and OSI had no choice to complete and publish the investigation.  What was their conclusion? That much of the "credit recovery program" was a sham with no instruction and work that consisted of packets that in many cases were not completed.

Confronted with the overwhelming evidence of "credit recovery" fraud, Chancellor Carmen Farina changed her tune and now says that she has removed Principal Elvin and will fire her..  It only took eighteen months after the Chancellor was informed for Farina to very reluctantly remove Principal Elvin.  If she was a teacher how long would it have taken to remove her?  Probably one day.  As we see the DOE "double standard" remains alive and well under the disappointing Chancellor Carmen Farina who protected the Principal for eighteen months as too many students were graduated, unprepared academically and shows once again that she has failed the students of the New York City schools.

The DOE Double Standard Continues Under Chancellor Carmen Farina.

Over the last eight years I have written various articles on the DOE "double standard" when disciplining teachers and administrators.  Our union leadership said this would stop with a new Mayor and Chancellor.  However, under the disappointing Chancellor Carmen Farina, the DOE "double standard" continues.  Today in the New York Post, there was an article that the City settled two sexual harassment suits against embattled Principal Howard Kwait for $275,000!  That's right!  The City paid off the two female assistant principals who allegedly suffered from unwanted sexual advances from the John Bowne High School Principal rather than fight the charges.

This was not the first time the City settled a harassment case against Principal Howard Kwait.  Back in 2012, a pregnant Assistant Principal was forced to leave the school and filed a lawsuit against Howard Kwait and the City, after reviewing the evidence, decided to settle that case as well. He also cost the City $225,000 for falsely arresting a student of cyber bullying, Finally, he was fined $4,500 by the Conflicts Of Interest Board for taking a vacation with a female subordinate.

Astonishingly, the DOE, who claims to have "zero tolerance" for any sexual misconduct has allowed Howard Kwait to remain as Principal, despite the three separate lawsuits that the City had to pay the victims to settle their cases.  Yes, this is the same DOE that put another Principal who was found guilty in a jury trial of harassing a female subordinate, in charge of Flushing High School.  If that is not enough?  How about the DOE's failure to remove Principal Carlos Borrero as he made sexual overtures to staff members and is subject to a federal lawsuit?  The ICEUFT blog has a more personal observation of the Principal.  Finally, who can forget the DOE's amnesia when it comes to Principal Namita Dwarka of Bryant High School?

Its obvious the DOE "double standard" continues when disciplining staff and administrators.

When It Comes To Credit Recovery, It's Still The Same Old DOE.

I have been following the disgusting "credit recovery"  saga at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where another terrible "Leadership Academy Principal" , Kathleen Elvin, has been abusing her authority and has a bogus graduation rate.  Despite an OSI investigation that has been completed,  the DOE has done nothing about disciplining the school's administration. The school came on the radar after the New York Post wrote an article questioning the significantly higher graduation rate at the school.

Now it turns out that the Principal and her administration has been graduating students who didn't even bother to go to class and violated the "credit recovery" requirements that the State and City agreed on back in 2012.  A prime example was "student King"  (not his real name) who Juan Gonzales of the Daily News wrote about in his article.  The student, who apparently never went to many of his classes was allowed to graduate by taking massive amount of "credit recovery" online courses, all at the same time!   This violated the State and City "credit recovery" requirements that limited students to only three credit recovery courses in the core subjects during their high school career. What did the Principal do that violated the "credit recovery" rules?  Let me count the ways that "student King" was allowed to graduate without showing that he obtained adequate academic skills.

• Failed to attend class but was still allowed to take online credit recovery courses.
• Did not have teachers licensed in the subject area he was allegedly supervised in.
• Never was tested to show mastery in the subject as required.
• Took 7 "credit recovery" courses in core subjects just in the Spring.of 2014.
• Took 11 "credit recovery" courses while also carrying a regular load of 9 other courses in the last school year.
• Received credit for 5 courses in the same "0" period, with no teacher.
• Received credit for 6 courses after school in the same Spring semester.

Despite an OSI investigation that was completed last school year, the DOE and the disappointing Chancellor, Carmen Farina, has taken no action and remains silent on the apparent abuse of the ":credit recovery" rules.  This  brings into question the graduation rate of the school and the methods used by the Principal and her administrators to increase the phoney graduation rate of the school. Worse, despite the end of the Bloomberg era, when it comes to DOE policy making, its still the same old DOE, complete with their "double standard".

Here is what one student thinks of Principal Kathleen Elvin on Ratemyteacher.com.