Do Not Apply
What New York City schools are so horrible, so career-ending, so abusive (esp of teachers, but also of students) that we should protect new members by advising them to stay away?
We (teachers and our unions) should make this information available to new teachers. But doing it is hard. The problems must be severe to make this list. But they are out there.
- Does the school have assaults on teachers that go unreported? Do students get away with bad stuff without consequences, or minor consequences?
- Does the principal get rid of people (plural) mid-year? Fabricate charges? Get their licenses lifted?
- Do routine requests for help or repairs get ignored?
- Do teachers walk around scared? Do you see adults getting yelled at by administrators on a regular basis?
- Do most teachers talk about leaving? And do more than half leave each year?
Which schools, folks, which are so bad that no one should apply? This list is a work in progress. It would be great if you could supply the names of other schools at other levels and in other borough. E-mail me (this blogname at gmail dot com). Explain why the school belongs on the DNA list. Please be as specific as you feel comfortable. Provide additional commentary about why a school already on the list belongs (or does not belong)
Bronx High Schools
- Bronx Aerospace HS (+) (in the Evander building) (follow up)
- Eximius College Prep HS (near Crotona Park) (follow up)
- Discovery HS (in the Walton building)
- Fordham HS of the Arts (in the Theodore Roosevelt building) (only DNA school on the UFT’s “Principal in Need of Improvement list” as of 3/1/09) Rally – rally – rally.
- HS for Performance and Stagecraft (no longer in the Truman building)
- Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology (in the Theodore Roosevelt building)
- Bronx High School of Science [follow up with details of special complaint]
- Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy
- Pablo Neruda Academy for Architecture and World Studies
Bronx Middle/Elementary Schools
- The Bronx Green Middle School (in the MS135 building, on Wallace, D11. Look how pretty the official website is, an amazing contrast with reality)
- PS/MS4 Crotona Park West (D9, just below the Cross Bronx)
Manhattan High Schools:
- *HS of Art and Design
- *Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis HS
- *Life Sciences HS
- *MLK HS of the Arts and Technology
Here are some links to articles about “Do Not Apply” schools:
Do Not Apply (the original article)
Urban Assembly Media comes off the list
Trackbacks
- Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy - Do Not Apply « JD2718
- Do Not Apply: PS/MS4 « JD2718
- Night on the town may give teachers at Bronx DNA high school a break « JD2718
- Third anniversary post « JD2718
- Will Eximius close? « JD2718
- Bronx Science math teachers finally get their day « JD2718
- Eximius Middle School to phase out starting this fall « JD2718
- Scores rise at “Do Not Apply” school – your reaction? « JD2718
- JD2718
- On the UFT elections: my letter « JD2718
- “Do Not Apply” principal investigated for sexual harassment « JD2718
- Ruining careers for $475/month (18 month term) « JD2718
Do NOT apply at MS206B
Lots of comments on abusive principles. What about those abusive Deans? The Deans who are abusive to good students. They can’t really do anything to bad students because the bad students and their parents don’t give a F*** about what’s going on. The good academic students who don’t really know what’s happening outside of classrooms within the school get penalized. Some of the Deans try to scare teachers. They don’t help. They just make fun of their colleagues because they don’t even have the control of the bad students themselves. They are on a power ride over the teachers.
Please add Pablo Neruda Academy in the Bronx to the list. They have a new principal who is absolutely awful. He jerked around so many teachers last year that it was unreal. He did 19 formal and 26 informal observations on a science teacher in a campaign to get rid of him – and he was an excellent teacher! The students do whatever they want and he ignores them. Over 1/3 of the staff leaves every year.
I’ll take another look. I had it on, but took it off at the beginning of the year… but yours are the second set of comments in the last few weeks saying it belongs…. Thanks.
And if you have any more detail, can you tell us? or email me? (this blogname at gmail dot com)
it’s true. life sciences secondary school’s principal is just totally abusive to students and staff. Those who can leave do. The building is over 100 years old and the administration can’t fix a non-functioning boys bathroom or provide soap, paper towels and hot water in the teachers bathroom.
there’s no teachers cafeteria, and the children’s lunch room reaches over 100 degrees many days; It’s a very toxic environment for students and staff and teachers are blamed for everything, especially for the failings of the WORST A.P. who is ignorant and incapable of rendering an objective observation.
Did you get out?
No because it’s hard to transfer when you’re experienced (read expensive). My biggest beef is with the DOE. Who’s in charge? I read about some pretty abusive principals (like mine) and yet there seems to be no accountability for them. What does it take to stop the madness?
First of all Ms. Stanislaus is one of the most amazing principles (she has done more for education then you know). The building yes its old (what school in NY for the most part isn’t), the cafe is hot (and to be informed the principle did put a petition to build a new one!) and the fault of kids are the Board Of Education and Bloomberg! After 2006 the Board of Ed just dumbed kids into the schools when Ms. Stanislaus was able to pick and chose the school so who’s to blame our beautiful Michael Bloomberg (How’s that 3rd term for you?!) and the Board of Ed. So whoever wrote this comment about LS3 I hope your fired you good for nothing “veternteacher”
any details on why Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis HS made the list?
That’s been needing some follow-up for a while. It was an individual recommendation that it was hard to work at, with some nodding agreement. But it really needs further confirmation/detail. I’ll look into it.
thank you.
Please add The High School for Youth and Community Development in the Erasmus building in Brooklyn to the list.
Marie Prendergast, the principal, has allegedly said, with great pride, that she has denied tenure to more teachers than any other principal in New York.
Here are some of the things Marie Prendergast is alleged to have done:
1. She denied tenure and gave a U rating to a teacher for missing ten days, five of which were due to swine flu and for all of which, every single one, the teacher had a doctor’s note.
Prendergast only observed this teacher once and gave her an S for that observation.
The U rating and denial of tenure were based solely on the teacher’s missing ten days, which is allowed by the contract, and again, the teacher had doctor’s notes for every single day. Now this teacher’s career is destroyed because she missed ten days of work.
2. Prendergast made every teacher do hallway patrol every week without any support. No one was ever given a circular 6 menu. Everyone was just assigned hallway patrol.
3. Prendergast made teachers attend meetings after school every Monday, which is in violation of the contract.
4. She fired a teacher after 3 days. The teacher apparently did not cover a class to Prendergast’s liking, so the teacher was fired. This teacher was hired mid-year, or a bit earlier, because the original had quit.
5. Prendergast has threatened educators with the destruction of their lives and careers.
6. She told one educator that she would literally destroy this educator’s life and career.
7. Prendergast told another that this educator would never work in the New York City DOE again AND that she (Prendergast) would reach out to people she (Prendergast) knew in the teacher’s home state so she could destroy her career there as well.
8. Prendergast allegedly ripped beads from a student’s neck. There are witnesses to Prendergast’s scattering of the beads all over the floor, creating an unsafe environment for faculty, staff, and students. When someone tried to push the beads in the corner to make the floor safer, Prendergast allegedly said, “No. Leave them there (scattered across the floor). I want the kids to see what happens with gang beads.”
9. Prendergast allegedly lifted a desk in a rage to throw at a staff member. Prendergast put the desk down and did not throw it, but the staff member was frightened.
9. Prendergast alienated certain teachers from the rest of their departments, for example, she told a teacher to wait outside while Prendergast and the rest of the department met. This made the teacher feel alienated and deliberately excluded with malicious intent.
10. Prendergast puts disciplinary letters in teacher’s files if they are absent more than once. She puts one in for each absence.
11. Over the course of the 2008-2009 school year, three Spanish teachers, two living environment teachers, one English teacher, and one AP were either forced out by Prendergast or quit in disgust. The careers of these educators have suffered terrible damage.
12. When a school laptop was stolen, Prendergast allegedly threatened the teacher with arrest, although the theft (not the first nor the last in the school during the course of the year) was properly reported by the teacher.
13. When a teacher’s personal laptop was stolen, Prendergast allegedly told the teacher’s co-workers that the teacher was crying and therefore she (Prendergast) couldn’t help her.
14. Prendergast was investigated for having students copy the answers to Living Environment labs in order to qualify for the Regents. She was reported for this and Special Investigator Richard Condon found that she had “failed in her role as principal.” She kept her job.
During the 2008-2009 school year, she accused another teacher, who was quitting, of doing what she (Prendergast) had done — namely, of falsifying labs. Prendergast threatened to audit that teacher’s labs and report that teacher if necessary. There was no reason to suspect the teacher of anything.
When Prendergast was originally investigated, she accused the teachers.
15. There are still allegations being made about Prendergast and the Regents.
16. Prendergast allegedly asked teachers to write their own observations since she did not do the required number of observations for her teachers.
17. Prendergast allegedly has hysterically and loudly threatened to fire teachers right in front of students.
18. Prendergast allegedly accuses teachers of racism without cause.
Mary Prendergast is unprofessional in her interactions with students and teachers. Adding to the destruction of student property, and yelling about teachers in front of students, she has constantly mispronounced facultie’s names. While she was watching a demo lesson midyear for one of the science teachers whom quit, she began laughing at the lesson IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS, ironically they were nice to the applicant. She provided alcohol for YCD teachers chaperoning prom, which is a dangerous idea. Marie Prendergast gets into screaming matches over the phone with one of the other principals in front of staff.
I believe that during the 2008-2009 school year, YCD had 38 employees in total, including AP’s, secretaries, teachers, etc. I believe that 29 of those employees were teachers.
Out of the 38 total employees, 9 did not return. Some quit during the school year, some were told if they didn’t leave, that the principal would “go after” their license. Others left at the end of the year, vowing never to return.
One man was hired to teach at YCD in late October, early November. He was taking over for a teacher who had quit.
Question 1. Why did this teacher quit?
This man was gone a few days later. I don’t think he lasted a week. I don’t know the whole story. All I heard is that another teacher complained about his inability to control a class he was covering. Supposedly, this teacher felt that some students got into the teacher’s desk and took some candy. The teacher, whose desk it was, blamed the new teacher who was covering the class. That was all it took for this man to lose his job. I don’t think he had been there for a full week. How can you tell what kind of teacher someone is in a week? More to the point — WHO would judge someone based on what they saw in less than a week — from a new teacher who began in the middle of a semester and was just covering the class where the theft of candy (candy!) supposedly took place.
Question 2. It’s not easy to get rid of a teacher, even an untenured ATR. What was said to this man to make him leave?
Question 3. Why was he forced to leave over something so minor?
Obviously, it would be very difficult to have perfect control of a class that isn’t even yours in your first few days at a new school in the middle of a semester. Furthermore, there is no way of knowing if what he was accused of — monitoring kids so poorly some stole some candy — actually happened or not.
I do not know if the whole story as it was recounted to me, and as I have just told it, is true. What I do know is true, what is irrefutable, is that this man lasted only a few days at YCD. I heard nothing to explain his leaving other than the story I just shared.
Question 4. This man was one of 9 people (mostly teachers) who “left.” What kind of leadership does a school with 38 employees have when 9 people resign, are pressured into resigning, are allegedly fired, or leave at the end of the year never to return? Perhaps someone should ask Marie Prendergast, the principal of the High School for Youth and Community Development, YCD, how her “leadership” led to this situation.
YCD does not seem like a safe place to work if you care about your career. What kind of school has 38 employees and loses 9? What kind of school has 5 of its 29 teachers leave during the course of the school year? Some of the educators who left YCD had been elsewhere and those who had been enjoyed exemplary records at their former schools.
Can you imagine the kind of pain and unhappiness that would cause teachers to leave in the middle of the school year? That kind of torment does not happen under a good leader but can be caused by a bad one. Can you imagine the types of terrifying things that must have been said to certain educators to get them to leave? Who leaves a job in the middle of a recession? I have heard certain educators were terrified by threats made to them in regard to their licenses and their future employment. Why terrify people that way? What kind of person does that? I wonder how bad leaders sleep at night. I wonder how they justify the harm and pain they inflict on innocent people.
I would advise everyone not to work at YCD.
Is this the Principal responding like this? If so, no wonder she’s being seen as rude and hostile.
As a veteran teacher at YCD I take offense at the author’s personal vendetta and mission to dishonor Miss Prendergast and the the teaching staff at YCD. I have witnessed Miss “P” many, many times in many staff and student situations and I have never, ever, seen her or heard her display unprofessional or inappropriate language or behavior.
Miss “P” is a teacher’s principal!!! She came from the teaching trenches and used her experience and insight to forge a strong, vibrant program at YCD!
Miss “P”, unlike many principals, has always been EXTREMELY generous with her time.
Miss “P”, unlike many principals, has always been EXTREMELY generous in providing equipment and materials to teachers that they need and want, including high tech upgrades.
Miss “P”, unlike many principals, has always been EXTREMELY caring towards myself, the faculty and staff and has shown over and over again how empathetic she could be in dealing with specific personal issues.
Above all else, Mary Prendergast is a true leader. She is not a principal who simply reacts to problems, she enlists the braintrust of all around her to help systemically prevent them if possible, in addition to resolving them.
Clearly, the author needs to move on with her life and leave the community at YCD alone! We will succeed DESPITE your outrageous personal insecurities!
Considering that numerous people are now not only forwarding documentation signed by Marie for the DoE to investigate, but the press itself is getting audio recordings of what she’s said this very year (unless you believe people who don’t work there anymore are somehow recording conversations happening this year…), it seems to be more than just “one” teacher with personal insecurities.
It’s odd to see someone who was possibly around since Marie threw a department under the bus during her first cheating investigation are still willing to defend her once again.
Oh, there is definitely more than one person posting about Marie Prendergast here. There is even a post from someone who worked with Prendergast when she was a teacher. It’s not flattering.
At least one person at YCD is secretly tape-recording Prendergast and turning those tapes over to the media. Obviously, not everyone at YCD there feels about Prendergast the way Reality Check claims to.
The person Reality Check describes wouldn’t be secretly recorded, wouldn’t have been found guilty of having failed in her role as principal and wouldn’t be under investigation AGAIN. Perhaps Reality Check needs to get one.
I do find it awfully confusing that these defenders of Marie Prendergast (or Mary Prendergast, I suppose) have suddenly come out of the woodwork to defend her after the press received audio recordings from _this year_, and for some reason they focus on complaints made about her from _last year_.
It will be interesting to see what else was possibly recorded, and how her supporters will try to brush away those accusations as well. The recording already written about shows she may not be leaving a paper trail anymore, explicitly because she didn’t want people having evidence about what she says, since it could be “taken out of context.”
It makes me wonder what else she has possibly written that is being “taken out of context.” Is that in reference to the 2006 and 2010 cheating investigations? Is she going to just stop providing memos and written instructions to teachers, so if they’re caught doing anything wrong through her instruction, she’ll be less likely to be held accountable? I don’t know, but it is highly concerning.
Hey anonymous – Ms. P WAS NEVER A TEACHER HERE. You’re perpetuating lies, frankly. One has to ask – are you one of the teachers she found stealing from the school’s coffers? Perhaps you are the one who was found to be absent from your teaching duties more days than you were there, in any given school year? Are you perhaps the head of the PTA who was found to be stealing computers, and other DOE purchased equipment? But make no mistake, Ms P was brought in as management for a fledgling school that was carved out of a completely failed one. She came in to clean up and turn it around – and anyone claiming to work there that HASN’T seen this is just sour grapes, and has their own agenda. She never taught there. Not_ever. You can’t even get your story straight, but have been very vocal about how badly you “and others” have been treated.. frankly, i think all these “others” posting anonymously are you… all you. If you are who i think you are (yes, I too am a YCD teacher) – then i can say with a fair amount of certainty that you’re not even a fraction of a percentage the person Ms P is. You’re a low class, trashy pile of waste that is feeling the sting of sour grapes now that you cannot do whatever you want anymore, due to a STRONG principal who wasn’t willing to look the other way. Before erasmus was split up it was school full of corruption by a part of the faculty – Many of whom stayed on… and consequently cleaned up and drummed out by one of the few principals who gives a damn – too bad she’s not so good at playing politics, and was too trusting of a hack daily news reporter who had her own agenda. Good riddance.
No one said that Marie Prendergast / Mary Prendergast was a teacher.
How nice for you that you are in this woman’s good graces. Doubtful you have much character. When your number comes up….and it will Don’t. Ask Why
..
Teach The Basics needs to work on his or her non-existent reading-comprehension. I hope s/he isn’t an English teacher! I don’t know WHY TTB thinks someone said Prendergast taught at YCD, but NO ONE said that. Someone who taught with Prendergast when she WAS a teacher, however, did talk his/her horrible experience with Prendergast back then. It’s laughable that TTB says that Prendergast isn’t good at playing politics. Please. Anyone who survives two investigations (including one in which she was found to have failed in her role as principal) and keeps a job the investigators think she didn’t deserve is incredibly politically connected. Only a master manipulator with friends in high places could swing that.
I find it interesting that Teach the Basics criticizes the absences of other educators, but turns a blind eye to the fact that Marie (or Mary? I don’t even know) seems to have taken not one but two leaves of absences significant enough to assign Interim Acting Principals.
I come from a teaching family and I worked in a school with a younger new principal who also worked hard to rid the school of the most successful teachers. Some of the teachers were experienced and some new. She did (and likely continues to do) so using tactics similar to those of the principals discussed – bullying. She was insulting at every opportunity. I used my phone to make record of any meetings held in private. Some hurt to hear.
I played a particular recording for the district representatives of the UFT and some type of special UFT counsel and nothing really happened. Unfortunately, I found that there is little a teacher can do to stop a bully principal and consequently easy for them to force out almost any teacher they wish. I was took advantage of the Open Market and left.
Staff members who support “leaders” who use bullying to achieve goals are likely fearful of their own jobs and yes their day way will come too. It does not matter how close they think they are to the administration.
When a hungry piranha runs out of prey they feed on each other.
Rather than hunger, many of the new Principals operate out of fear themselves. Many of them just are unprepared. Especially in their first few years. It must be scary to have people around who may spot any errors. Paranoia soon sets in and some administrators start to battle what is too often an imaginary threat. Very sad.
well said!!!
I’ve seen so much similar tyranical behavior go on at FDR with Geraldine Maione. Thank God she’s gone now, and the guy we have now seems better, even though he was probably picked by her, but what really is amazing is how many other teachers witnessed her corruption and didn’t say a thing, myself included, because I knew if I said anything, I’d be toast. She destroyed one girl a couple of years ago who was new, and learning, but had a lot of potential. [...] and Maione, for taking FDR from an A school on the accountability report card to an F got rewarded with a new start at Grady. Go figure. She, or rather what she represents, is the problem with Education in America today. People like her keep the new talent out, and are so oppressive as to make the rest of us count the days to retirement. I wish some of my colleagues would speak out. It’s okay now guys. She’s gone. The school’s closing. It’s safe to talk.
She might be eligible for the Joel Klein Administrator of the Year Award! Where is the UFT outrage? How about a September “protest/welcome for Ms. Prendergast? Are you with me???
I wonder why the Regents scandal didn’t end the career of Marie Prendergast, the principal of The High School for Youth and Community Development, also known as YCD, located in the Erasmus Hall building in Brooklyn.
I just wonder how she kept her job after Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard J. Condon found her to have “failed in her role as leader of the school.”
How ironic that Prendergast, someone who should have lost her job and career, has instead destroyed the careers of innocent people who didn’t deserve to have such a terrible thing happen to them.
It bugs me that there is still no resolution in the way she acted and continues to act as a principal. She openly lies to the DoE about what she does, and why, and somehow gets away with it. What does it take for this principal to get revealed as a horrible school leader and destructive to the education of children in New York City?
It also makes me sad to know that the majority of teachers who work for her, who are continually threatened and controlled by her, are too cowardly to stand together and work with the UFT to point out her incredibly inept ways. The fact that so many teachers in that school are terrified and/or cowardly make it impossible for things to change there, and it’s a sad reality to know that the UFT is nothing without teachers willing to stand up for other teachers.
Am I right in assuming you are talking about Marie Prendergast, principal of the High School for Youth and Community Development ( YCD ), teacherhusband? Well, it bugs me, too. It bugs me A LOT. What is wrong with a system that allows brilliant young teachers to have their teaching licenses taken away for NOTHING — for medically excused absences in a swine flu year, for example? One teacher had the same number of absences (and every one had a doctor’s note) that tenured teachers are guaranteed by the union and this teacher was denied tenure and Prendergast has filed to take away the license as well.
I do not understand how people like Prendergast stand themselves. What lies do they tell themselves? How do they convince themselves that they are anything but cruel and vicious and sick? How can you stand yourself knowing that gallons of tears have been shed because of your irrational cruelty, that you have made a terrible world even worse, that because of you, there is more misery, that because of you, innocent people are filled with pain and sorrow? Ciykd ?
Who does that? Who ruins the career of an enthusiastic, hard-working person? It’s not as if Prendergast is doing what she is supposed to professionally, either. I heard she did not do the required number of observations, not even close. Years ago Special Investigator Richard Condon said that Prendergast “failed in her role as principal.” It sounds as if Prendergast is still failing. I just wonder how she can hold people to a standard she herself does not even come close to meeting.
When a principal like Prendergast can deny tenure and take the teaching license of a committed, hard-working, beloved, brilliant teacher for nothing, well, something is clearly wrong.
But it ain’t over till it’s over — and it ain’t over yet. Yes, it’s taking FOREVER, but the final judgment hasn’t been made. Let’s all pray that justice is done and the teachers get to keep the licenses they worked for and deserve.
Again, I wonder how Prendergast can sleep at night, knowing all the misery and hearbreak she has caused for NOTHING. Prendergast has brought such pain to people, sorrow and anguish. Does it bother her at all? I doubt it, because she hasn’t stopped.
I don’t know if this is true, but I heard that Prendergast lied about the number of observations she did. I heard Prendergast claimed she did two to three times the amount of observations she actually did. Does anyone know if this is true?
Thank you for apprising educators concerning schools not to apply. This is great site! I will forward to all.
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Jamillah Salahuddin, Educator, Parent and Member of The Coalition for Public Education
(The battle over public education and school governance isn’t over!)
1-718-927-9771 (Home)
1-718-207-6576 (Cell)
I worked with Marie back before she went to “Harvard”, or for those of us that know bettter, the Harvard free summer program offered to any teacher who could get approved by her Principal to go. Yes, she was a teacher back then, and let me say, I was unimpressed to say the least. Her general demeanor was condescending and bitter. I remember a student asking a question and she mocked him. She said she wouldn’t entertain such a silly question. I was there and the question was not silly, I thought it was interesting and valid. She just cared more about dominating this student then engaging him and encouraging his efforts and genuine curiosity. It was the first time I was really disappointed in a colleague. I remember that same year she was a chaperone at a student event. She showed up in a jacket and a MICRO-mini skirt. It made all of us uncomfortable as it seemed that unless she was standing strait up, and there was no breeze blowing, you would catch a glimpse of her hoo-ha–which NOBODY wanted to see. I was alarmed when I’d heard she was a Principal, and shocked to hear she was still holding the position after she was caught rigging the scores of her Regents tests. Rumor has it she’s got a LESBIAN LOVER way up on the Edu-Chain. I guess we know exactly who to blow to keep your job around here.
Be nice. It’s not about being a lesbian. It’s about being a bully!
PS 30 in the South Bronx. They will do repairs but that’s it. The principal makes things up about teachers, the kids get away with everything and many great teachers leave every year. The ones who stay just “keep quiet” about all of the things that happen. Smart people leave. Do not apply!!!
Foundations Academy in Brooklyn
Can you tell more?
Theatre Arts Production Company School MS/HS 225 in the Bronx.
Principal Lynn Pasarella’s serious violations of UFT contract regulations have left teachers bewildered, frustrated, and exhausted.
Union contract stipulates teachers are NOT to teach in excess of 3 straight 45 minute periods (135 minutes). If teachers are given 4 straight 45 minute periods, then one of them must be administrative in nature.
Total teaching time is not to exceed 250 minutes a day.
Pasarella has ignored this rule, and many teachers at MS/HS 225 are teaching 250 minutes without a break and some teachers are teaching 350 ,inutes a day.
The union delegate has failed to reach a reasonable conclusion to this matter, and teachers/students continue to suffer.
Teachers are exhausted and the students are paying for it.
This school loses about 1/3 of it’s staff on a yearly basis. In 2008, half the staff left.
Thank you for the heads up – I will look further.
350 minutes sounds like 7 periods. Is that the case? Does TAPCO run long periods or blocks?
And the 4-in-a-row is allowed to occur if it is in middle school and consists of 2 double blocks, otherwise the provision you cite should protect us. In TAPCO are the upper and lower grades run like separate schools, or do they blend them? (Do I have this right, you are 6 – 12?)
If you could clarify, either in this space, or by e-mailing me (it’s this blog name and the service is gmail), that might be helpful.
JD,
TAPCo runs a combination of 75 minute and 45 minute classes … which is why teachers are teaching 250 minutes in a row: two 75 and two 45 minute classes. According to the AP, 4 classes in a row is allowed by contract.
Even after the 250 minutes, some teachers are required to teach another 115 minutes … a 30 minute Wellness class and another 75 minute final class.
The schedule is insane. The problem started in 2008 when many teachers were required to teach four straight 45 minute classes, and no one spoke up. This year, the same 4 classes in a row applied, but two of those classes are 75 minute blocks. To make matters worse, on certain days, some teachers have only a lunch period as their prep.
The school is 6-12, and teachers are separated by content between middle and high school. But many high school teachers are also required to teach middle school Skills classes. These classes are usually Zoo’s because the students know these Skills classes are not reflected on their report cards, and the Skills teachers have no say in their final grade.
The AP told our union rep that teachers can speak to him on an individual basis, and he’d do what he could to free up our schedules. Unfortunately, no schedules have been changed, and teachers are afraid to speak with him individually in fear of retribution.
The staff is exhausted, and it’s only November.
JD, sorry for the mix up in the class times. It gets confusing even for me … I should have proof read before I hit submit.
Periods 1 and 2 are 75 minutes
Period 3 is 50 minutes
Period 4 is 40 minutes
Period 5 is 45 minutes
Period 6 is 30 minutes
Period 7 is 75 minutes
Re TAPCo: Your union rep needs to read the contract. Four classes in a row are NOT allowed by contract. You need to go to the UFT. Your union rep is clearly worthless. He either can’t or won’t give the teachers the protection they need. Go to or call your local UFT and file some grievances.
We should have someone look carefully.
But 7B2b allows back to back doubles in Junior High Schools and Intermediate Schools. I don’t think we should have agreed to that, but we did.
To the anonymous above, there are several differences between 7A (high school programming) and 7B (JHS/IS programming). This is one of them.
The increase in 6-12 and K-8 schools has given nasty principals opportunities to try to pick which part of the contract to read from. We need to plug those gaps, either by pushing for new agreements, or plugging the language contractually.
Any thoughts on the new schools in the old MS 113 Building (Richard R. Green)?
You are the second one to mention them to me this Fall. I will ask around.
Thank you. I have heard crazy stories about GLOBE and the School of Diplomacy; they seem to be disasters…
Reread your list and make sure that you go to everyone of these schools and go get your facts straight
If something has changed at one of the schools, please explain what that is.
It is possible for something that is not good to improve. But remember, this is from the point of view of a new teacher. As a student, some of this may not be so obvious to you.
add p226m to the list.
I can’t speak for all sites just some, but I’m sure it’s the same all around. As a parent of children in NYC schools I am extremely upset that there are so many gross abuses of power at this school.
+personal harassment by staff members towards other staff members is allowed because it is overlooked
+personal harassment by leaders to staff members
-repeated file letters (against contract regs)
-meetings (disciplinary) where she told staff not to bring union reps
-gossip to secretarial staff about confidential information
-repeated U’s with no basis given to established well liked teachers,
-collecting lesson plans, holding them for days, then giving file letters when the lesson plan was not up to their “standards”
-administration instructing staff members to rewrite incident reports or not hand them in because they are close to getting on a list of dangerous schools, principals actually rewriting incident reports for staff members without staff approval
-staff members are expected to purchase/create all curriculum materials. For lower level students curriculum is not provided.
-paraprofessionals are asked to remain alone with students when a teacher is not available, no teacher is asked to cover on their prep, principals personally ask paras to bring students to classrooms without a licensed teacher available
-forget it if you are sick with a doctor’s note or on maternity leave. That equals meetings, letters, dropped coverage, complaining that you didn’t do work at home
-forget it if you are a minute late
-harassment if you leave on time or get there right on time because “you are not showing dedication” and “I come in early and stay late every day”
-Most of the leaders are functionally illiterate. Newsletters go home with numerous misspellings, run on sentences, and incorrect grammar from the articles written by the administration.
-They do not believe in most current spec ed practices and like to quote research from 25 years ago.
-no behavior supports are implemented because they “don’t believe in non-natural consequences”. This means no rewards, no token economy systems, nothing can be off limits (like you can’t take away computer time if a student hits another student because he wants to use the computer), no negative consequences. you are supposed to say “good job” or “that was inappropriate” when addressing behavior. Nothing can be tangible even for students functioning at baby and toddler stages. (not even stickers)
-be warned new and non-tenured teachers that nothing will ever be up to the principals’ standards and you will be called into meetings and given warning letters/file letters
-bulletin boards are given high priority, if they are not what they consider “pretty” a warning letter is given, but materials are not provided (trim etc.)
-asking questions pertaining to curriculum, behavior supports, or their philosophy will brand you as “negative” even if they are legitimate questions. You will not get an answer by the way.
-None of the principals talk to each other and have varied opinions on lessons, materials, and class appearance. So one person tells you to change something and then the next person confronts you on why you changed it.
Most the p226m sites are just kind of a mess (especially uptown). I didn’t want to put personalized experiences on here due to staff/parent confidentiality.
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Add MS 328, Manhattan Middle School for Scientific Inquiry to the DNA list!
I student taught there, and I discovered that the children run the school. The APs do not assist the teachers when the students are out of control. The students are often out of control, both in the classrooms and in the hallways. The teachers and administrators are disrespectful and rude to the students and the students are disrespectful right back. Some students bully or threaten students and teachers.
Despite the problems in the school, MS328 somehow manages to be an “A” school. Don’t believe it!
I worked at an A school, and I often wonder if thats not code for assholes.
PLease email me i need this information
Fraser_502@hotmail.com make sure you contact me!!
Any plans for an update here as Open Market season begins?
Yes, at least a partial update, plus commentary/advice on the transfer system itself.
It looks like that you have the same problems (but probably on a greater scale) than we do here in Birmingham, UK.
It looks like Marie/Mary Prendergast is now under investigation for intimidating teachers into giving her school high marks, which influences her bonus.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/05/05/2010-05-05_principals_feeling_pressure_to_get_as_putting_pressure_on_parents_teachers_to_gi.html#ixzz0n4VXvYCS
Not to outdo herself, Mary Prendergast has yet another article about her actions at Youth and Community Development, where a hand written note from her allegedly shows her telling teachers to change the grades of 20 students to boost school numbers, and a following spreadsheet apparently showing the changed grates. The Education Department spokesman, Danny Kanner, confirmed that she’s under investigation for those allegations.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/05/09/2010-05-09_principal_mary_prendergast_under_investigation_for_gradeinflation_after_teacher_.html
And yet she’s allowed to run a school.
TeacherHusband makes some valid points. One thing that cannot be stressed enough, I think, is that Marie (or Mary — she can’t decide which name to use) Prendergast has been investigated for illegal activity regarding the Regents BEFORE.
Yes — this is the SECOND time she has been investigated. Last time, Commissioner of Special Investigations Richard Condon found Prendergast to have “failed in her role as Principal” and recommended TERMINATION as one of the disciplinary options.
That was in 2006! They were investigating misconduct on a 2005 Regents! WHY did Prendergast keep her job? And here she is, being investigated AGAIN for Regents misconduct in 2010. Who knows what she has been up to in the past five years? She’s being investigated AGAIN, so clearly there is reason to believe she has been up to something.
How was she found to have “failed in her role as principal” and then have NOTHING happen to her? Was someone protecting Prendergast? Something very strange is going on here. Why IS she allowed to run a school? She was found to have failed last time, nothing was done, and she is now being investigated again. Prendergast is making the Department of Education look bad.
Teacher Husband conveniently refuses to follow up on the investigations which were found to have been spurned on by the allegations of one person and a hack reporter for the daily news (albeit one with a loud voice, and the right contacts) – that’s right they were found to be baseless. The so called recordings were cleverly edited. The accuser could not (would not) produce the un-cut versions. Why has Ms P kept her job? because the school is doing great, DESPITE all the sour grapes being spewed by a too-loud minority of people. Teacherhusband – you speak as though you have some personal experience with Ms P – which i would find unlikely if you are truly the husband of a teacher… not an actual member of the staff. Perhaps you should change your handle to “fired teacher” or “teacher caught stealing” or one of the other bad apples Ms P helped clear out of that school?
Better yet? TALK TO THE KIDS. graduating class after graduating class credit Ms P with their turnarounds on every level, be it scholastics or personal. Appeasing some whiny mediocre teachers (or worse, actual criminals who have been hiding in the education system) was never her game, nor should it have been.
Is there anything to confirm that she was found innocent? Can those be posted online? As far as I am aware, the investigation about her compelling teachers to regrade tests in order to increase passing scores is still under investigation, and there was never any dismissal of the allegations against her when it comes to the recorded conversation where she tells teachers they must give good reports or the school or risk it closing.
sad story and I am glad to be out alive
I am a former double alumna from Columbia, undergrad and grad from their school of social work. I now have a 2nd masters in creative writing from CCNY.
I just escaped with my life (that’s how it feels) after 21 years. I never made it to the rubber room but it’s an extremely difficult and abusive system, mostly based on who likes who, not how competent one is. Especially when a person is competent, their peers become very territorial and jealous. The more you do, the less you will be liked.
I came into the system gung-ho and put myself all out to help the students and their families. I worked for the pregnant teens program. I did a great deal of good and to this day, I occasionally get calls from students who wish to update me on their progress in life. Once a fellow social worker was absent and the high school student who worked with her was brought to me for help. The young woman was pregnant and had a toothache and was in pain. I made calls all day long until I was able to resolve the problem and get her medicaid reinstated.
The next day, the other social worker was angry that I had seen “her student” and wanted to know exactly what I’d done. When I explained that I had only helped the student reinstate her medicaid, she couldn’t understand how I had managed to accomplish that. I didn’t understand how as a fellow social worker, she couldn’t know.
Although administration had ordered me to see the child, they took the side of the other social worker, as though by doing my job, I had somehow wronged her and impinged on her territory. There were so many instances of this type of behavior, that I finally transferred from that school. It seemed that the more I did for the children, the more I was mistreated and abused. At one point, things were so bad, I had heart palpitations from the stress. My doctor got angry when I told him what was going on. They would keep me daily at meetings until 5 p.m. accusing me of ridiculous things. For example, once the principal called me into a meeting to ask me if it true I had a lawyer and was going to sue her for harassment. I had no idea what she was talking about. Another time she berated me for hours for discussing birth control with a student who had given birth and who was sexually active.
A few years later I called the principal up, since a mutual friend of ours, an A.P. I worked with and who like me, suggested it. I asked the principal, why did you treat me like that? She said, because I don’t like your personality! When I said but I did such a good job, she responded, “We’re not talking about how you did your job, we’re talking about your personality.” In other words, if I did a bad job and she had liked me, it would’ve been O.K..
As a school social worker I put up with many years of abuse. The point is once you have some time in, you feel like you’re stuck because it’s difficult to just throw away a pension – even one that’s not huge. What I learned also, is to do less. My husband laughed at me, when I’d tell him that. But it actually worked! When I did less, I was appreciated more and respected more. My husband is a NYC teacher and he is very low key, kind of under the radar, unlike me. But my do-less proverb has also helped him. At the dept of ed, when you’re an honest and outspoken person, it makes you a vulnerable person.
My pension is only 24,000. I pay an extra 3000 per year for an option that if I die my husband will get my pension until he dies.
I am just so pleased to be out of there alive and glad not to deal with all the craziness anymore. I learned over the years how to use my union rep, Ira Kurland, who was a very strong person and who stood up for me (and many other social workers) many times. He died a couple of years ago, just collapsed while walking down the street. Probably had an early death due to the stress and demanding nature of his job. Ira was the last of his kind. I’m glad to be out alive and still young enough to do other things.
How did you miss Soundview Academy in the Bronx for this list? 75% of the original staff are gone (most flew the coop), which speaks volumes for administration’s leadership abilities and real agenda for kids. The principal (William Frackelton)is being investigated for all types of union busting, ELL violations, Special Ed violations, allowing students to babysit for him, misappropriation of funds, and racism. If a staff member challenges him he will work to get them pushed out, denied tenure, fired, or destroyed. This youngster and his even younger 27 year old A.P. befriend the kids, belittle all staff, are condescending to parents, and are no type of educatonal leaders. See the math and reading scores for confirmation. It’s a cesspool.
Please investigate IS 339 in the Bronx. This past school year there have been numerous assaults on teachers where students only received a punishment of 3 days in the in-house suspension room. Numerous teachers were also terminated on the very last day of school (’10) without any warnings based on “bad classroom management” but no advice was given to these teachers from the administration. The turnover at this school is very high and it’s no wonder when the kids do not understand their boundaries since the administration is very inconsistent with rules and consequences. When teachers follow rules and systems initiated by the administration, there is no support. Please be aware.
I’d like to add PS 6, West Farms in the Bronx to this list. The principal there has ruined the lives of teachers by telling lies about them in order to get their licenses taken away. She rules the school through fear, intimidation and lies. Ironically, when questioned about it, she says she’s “doin’ it for the kids.” Amazing. The staff turnover rate is through the roof. Is that good for the kids? The teachers that have left, have done so becuase of her “leadership” and nothing else. New teachers quit or are forced out after a year or two. She has literally ruined peoples lives by taking away their careers. She yells at staff members like they are dogs, and is abusive to the children as well. Please do not ever apply to this school as a new teacher. Your life will be HELL for the next year, or your career could be attacked and destroyed. There are great schools out there in NYC! JUST PLEASE SAVE YOURESELF AND DO NOT APPLY TO P.S. 6 WEST FARMS IN THE BRONX!!!!!
I find it interesting that TAPCo was discussed on this forum. Somehow, the Theatre Arts Production Co. School was rated the number 1 school in the NYC-DOE report cards this past month. When the principal announced it, students fell over laughing. The reality is that Principal Passarella knows how to cook the books and play the system. I’m sure she’s not the only one doing it, she’s just the best at it. The report card grades various stages of academic progress … such as the number of credits each grade student has obtained.
This is interesting because TAPCo has an almost 100% graduation rate … funny, cause students who dropped out even graduated. Let’s see how this works:
- teachers are not allowed to fail students. No F’s or 55′s on report cards. Any 55 is changed to an NC (No Credit). Teachers are to give students EVERY opportunity to remove the NC … such as copying work from friends, cheating, lying, etc.
- teachers who do not comply and continue to fail students are terminated and removed from the school … even if it’s mid semester. Administration will just change the failing grades to passing ones.
- therefore, TAPCO does not have any failing students and thus, every student is on track for graduation.
- students are also given bogus credits for classes they never took … such as Phys Ed and Foreign Language.
- most TAPCo students “earn” up to 14-16 credits a year, far above the 11 required for graduation. They are given full credit for taking an Arts class once a week, a Theatre class once a week, Phys Ed classes which don’t exist, Foreign Language class once a week with a “phantom” teacher who is out on disability.
- Regents passing grades are a joke as well … especially in ELA and US/World History. The rubrics are vague, and the grading teachers give out 4′s and 5′s like candy. A cursory review of the essays indicate that most of these students can barely string together a legitimate sentence. Meanwhile, teachers are giving them 5′s.
- the latest insult to teachers is the development of the Inquiry Team … or more-so, the Inquisition Team. This is a group of the principal’s favorites who use their position on the team to intimidate other teachers. They are led by an angry, bitter little woman named Mrs. Acosta. Acosta does not teach any classes, but goes around criticizing people’s classrooms. Her fake smile is very transparent. She has used her “power” against teachers who have spoken up against her or disagree with her. Her role is to report back to the principal any dissension among the teachers.
- it’s interesting how the number 1 school in the City has a teacher turnover rate of about 45%. Don’t be surprised if that number is exceeded next year. But it’s ok … Principal Passarella knows there are plenty of teachers out there who will do anything and everything for a job.
Read more on TAPCo.
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/11/another-doe-scam-tapco-theatre-arts.html
Here’s what TAPCo students think of their school from FaceBook. Do you want to teach here?
Students have no respect for rules, authority, and teachers. They know they can do NO work all semester and pass.
Asialee Nelson
- you know you from tapco if you gotta curse out the teacher to pass w/ a 80 lmaoo
Karla Gutierrez
- You know you from TAPCo if you text in class & when you get caught you say dique “Mister I was checking the time -_-” lmaoo
Jayjay Mac Tyb
- You know you from tapco Wen you cut the whole quarter and pass lmao
Anastasia Irizarry
- Lmfao u noe u frm tapco whn u pass any classs
Paris Yone’t
- U kno u from Tapco when All u gotta do is threaten a teacher to get at least at 75on ur report card -_-
Jay Stephenson
- you know yoυ from TAPCo when you used to copy eachother work at the end of the semester to pass , like there was no tmrw lml
Amanda Cedeño
- You know you from tapco when you always got 80 and above for ms ana class for being in the hall 24/7
Jay Smooth
- Nahhhhhhhh ! you know you from Tapco when first period was StudyHall, class started at like 9:30 .. & your ass was still LATE!!! LMAO
Monei Modelcash
- YOU NOE U FROM TAPCO IF YOU DID ALL YA WORK AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER !
Luis Sanchez
- You kno you from Tapco when u see the same niguhs in the bathroom cuttin class every period
Jay Smooth
- YOU! know you from TAPCO when you could dead cut class into somebody else class & straight get away with it! Lmao
Jay Smooth
- you know you from TAPCO when you can cut class, skip school, callout sick ever other day, be on the News ! & just straight walk the Halls when ever &STILL get a “NC” LMFAO!
More from Facebook:
Kathy Idelfonso
- You know you from tapco when ms. Ana gave you all the answers to the state math test
This teacher, along with the principal, needs to be held accountable and fired. This is not the first time this teacher’s name has been attached to helping students on state exams.
Asialee Nelson
You know you from tapco if your teachers let you give in work when school is over & we taking regents lmao
Karla Gutierrez
You know you from tapco if you pretty much cut the whole year and then you do all your work last minute & it still counts
The Women’s Academy of Excellence in the Bronx. 60% of staff left last year, and we had a teacher “retire” in the middle of November this year.
Serious lack of resources, a principal who never taught and a vice principal who never taught high school and does not practice subject-verb agreement.
The school received a C on it’s first report card this year because of an F in environment (averaged with B’s in student performance and progress).
Please list these schools over at Teachervoice.com. This is a great site and teachers from all over the country review principals, schools, unions, and superintendents. The abuse of teachers is NOT unique to NYC; it is rampant throughout the country and in fact is the RULE, not the exception.
DO NOT APPLY to PS 147, The Issac Remsen School in Brooklyn, especially as an ESL teacher.
They are out of compliance in as many areas as possible, because they put budget issues above what’s best for the students. The ESL teacher will be expected to teach Social Studies and Science, but they won’t tell you this until it’s too late.
If you stand up for your students you will be targeted for insubordination and bullied until you are given a U or you resign.
No ESL teacher has lasted longer than a year at this school within any current teacher’s memory.
Jill Chaifetz Transfer High School should also be on the do not apply list as a warning to teachers new and/or tenured. The principal is guilty of negating the contract through the use of SBO’s misrepresented to the teachers by the chapter leader who is a lifelong friend of the principal, Anne Fennelly. This woman is an evil person who never smiles. The AP Bobbe Knutz is the smiling hyena. Don’t be fooled by her. They play “good cop/bad cop.” This admin is guilty of every violation mentioned in this blog. They get away with it because the teachers are not knowledgable and afraid. The chapter leader keeps them in the dark about everything and stated “he does not file greivances.” He gives the new teachers misrepresentations and supports the principal’s violations as valid. This year, the principal fired a teacher, discontinued another teacher who was on probation, tried to get a teacher to quit by telling the teacher is lost his tenure and was on probation again and she was going to discontinue him. He did not quit and found out he had tenure all along. She gave him a U rating instead. She gaved two other teachers with tenure U ratings because they stood up for their rights. She has extended the probations of every new teacher several times. The school opened in 2007 and NO teacher has ever received tenure at this school. The staff changes every year with the exception of four teachers who she likes. She cheats on Regents exams, makes teachers change grades, always gives negative observations, puts lies in letters to the file for minor issues, she curses during meetings, is not knowledgable about pedogogy, hold PD’s every week which consists of her copying something out of a book and saying “read this” and admits she does not understand the material herself so she can’t explain it or model it. There is no discipline in force. The list goes on and on. This school is a career ender foer new teachers and a guaranteed U rating for any tenuredx teacher to dares to stand up for their rights. Both the principal and AP are anti union. If you want to keep your career stay away from this school at all costs.
This person has definitely worked at this school for this principal, Anne Fennelly. Much of what is said here is quite accurate. Add to this the fact that the principal had an elicit affair going on with the janitor, Lou, in her office during school hours.
do not apply to UA Performing Arts in Manhattan – teacher turn over rate is high – the entire mathematics dept left last year
also, every year there is a new theater teacher since the school opened
the theater teachers leave for new jobs – they are leaving on their own accord because of the horrific conditions
Do not apply to Ps/Ms 4
Has anyone ever heard of a teacher being accused of stealing tests as cover while the AP and her trusted circle scrub them to increase the scores, only for those same tests to miraculously appear 3 days later after the scrubbing was complete? How high up do you guys think it goes? Is this being tacitly approved by superintendents? The chancellors?
I am absolutely stunned that the Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science is not on the list! The teacher turnover rate only should qualify the school for this list: 50% every year, for the past 5 years (and the school has only been opened for 7!) The principal routinely abuses his teachers and will make no qualms about trying to terminate a teacher’s license. They illegally suspend kids to other schools so that the kid gets removed from the school but it does not show up on the school’s record. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Spend a month at the school and you will be appalled by the treatment of teachers and students
Seems that their goal is the same: GETTTING THE TENURED TEACHERS OUT! When are we going to digest it? It is time to get together and stop this! We, teachers, need to fight back! or are you ready to be the next one who is harrassed and accused of whatever comes their mind? Didn’t we worked hard to achieve a decent job? A job that not everyone will take? because it reaquires more than caring and dedication and it goes beyond the 6 hours school day? LET’S STEP IN TO THE PLATE AND GET UNITED, READY TO FIGHT BACK!
Has anyone ever heard of Academy of Scholarship and Entrepreunership
X270 In the Bronx. This 18 month teacher turned principal does not know what she is doing. Talk about the blind leading the blind. She is in it for the money to buy her customed made car in her school colors. Coming in to school when she feels like it (not before 9:30_10:00 am.) More worried about appearance than students. Loves to wrar het many fur coats mink, rabbit etc… Can we call PETA. Does she know Sarah Palin? Loves to change or adjust grades for graduation. Lives to threaten, intimdate, and riducule teachers. Has no sense of decency,decorum, or common sense and can kiss something cause shes still a principal. Her people skills are abysmal and her leadership skills are too. Its behind her rabid concietedness and blatant consumerism that she is unable to see the students within the school. I can only hope they do not see her as a role model. What a world that we live in that supplies us with innane sociopathic people from the Leadership Academy. I hope we can stop this now cause our students are in dire need of true leadership for the 21st century.
Yesterday, a middle-school student at one of our Rochester City School District brought a gun to school.
http://rochester.ynn.com/content/all_news/rochester/563792/handgun-found-in-book-bag-at-monroe-hs/
After reading your comments/concerns(I found this site by chance)I realize, no matter where work, we (teachers) are on the same boat.
Good luck to those who are trying to survive such challenges!!
Civic Leadership Academy in Queens. THE Principal rules by intimidation. THERE IS NO GUIDANCE and the PRINCIPAL had no experience with high school kids before becoming the school principal. She speaks super great about herself, but doesn’t stand on solid educational pedagogy.
Grady. Wait until Maione sinks her teeth in and “fundamentally changes the culture of the school” to an authoritarian hell like she did at FDR. Consider this a warning.
Bravo I applaud your actions; if someone were to perform a similar blacklisting of schools in timid little Singapore, he/she would face the full wrath of education authorities. People like you make the world a better place. Peace.
They would cane him, no?
Seriously Bronx Science is not that bad. I am a student and it’s actually really amazing, a lot of the faculty members claim that the school is actually very friendly. Yes, there have been complaints about Reidy, but that’s just that. Majority of the teachers are amazing, we have amazing events, such as the Faculty Talent Show, in which teachers get a day off and have a little fun, too. It’s seriously not that bad. This post is unbelievably disheartening because not only are you being biased but you are also jumping to conclusions and making assumptions. If I may ask, have you, yourself ever taught at Bronx Science? If you have, then fine, by all means feel free to prevent other teachers from applying. However, if you honestly, have not, I ask that you please stop being judgmental. I have studied at other schools (such as Life Sciences HS) and in no way can Bronx Science be compared to Life Sciences. Bronx Science is simply amazing, the students actually pay attention in class and listen to the teacher. In Life Sciences, students threw desks at one another and competed in shouting matches across the classroom.This post truly disheartens me.
I taught there and am glad to be out.
It became the Bronx High School of tutoring.
Reidy took away class instruction time for “small group instruction” at the end of the day.
She dismantled the Technology Department and demolished the Math Department. Only 4 teachers remain in Math who signed the original complaint against the unfair treatment of new teachers in the Math Dept by the chairperson, Jahoda. Now even the Fox had to leave.
Why?
Do you think sometimes principals and admin-friendly teachers and APs write in as students? I know one principal that started a PR campaign set up a webpage and browbeat teachers and students to write nice things about her so she could save her job. We had to or else we were on the shit list. I put nothing past principals without principles.
I would like to say your being judgmental about Life Sciences! You claim to have gone to the school but your talking about the few students when in truth we have many good children! Most of the kids who graduate form Life Sciences have done greater things so please don’t put your input about 1 school when your talking about another.
shes crazy
acholic bitch
she also thinks she bad with her little self
It’s amazing how Geraldine Maione, formerly of the failed and reorganizing FDR has been entrusted to turn around another failing school, Grady. More amazing still is how the building union rep she actively campaigned for has according to sworn testimony been accused by 4 independent women over the years of sexual harassment, and that she has backed him up tooth and nail. All but one were in good standing before the accusations, but got fired or transferred when they complained. There have also been written complaints of abuse from children, also silenced with the help of higher ups in the system who have denied the letters even exist. They do. I and numerous other teachers at FDR were witnesses and have seen them. I wonder if they’re still floating around. Let’s see how this multi-million dollar federal civil suit the DOE, UFT, Maione and Mitey, and another of her capos have tried so hard to make sure no one finds out about plays out. Why is everyone so afraid of holding administrators accountable? Are teachers cowards by nature, or is it just that they have us all by the stones? That would be understandable. When one teacher complained on behalf of abused students, he was told he would be “arrested” if he didn’t button up. For what? “For whatever I say,” Maione responded. I’ve heard her threaten arrest on than one occasion including someone who was being mentored. At least one teacher was sent to the Rubber Room, and many have been fired, seemingly arbitrarily. Others were accused of theft. There are too many examples to name. Email me if you want more, or have some of your own to share. Look, I was in the system and am ashamed to say I’ve contributed my fair share of looking the other way, but I never broke the law or let anyone get seriously hurt. I’m retired from teaching now and so have nothing to fear. People wonder what’s wrong with Education. I think those of us on this page know that there is a concerted effort in Education to prevent the rest of America from finding out what a cluster it is. As we know, it takes only a few rotten assholes, peppered throughout the system, to bring that whole system down. The damage that abusive administrators do in schools, where there is so much social leverage, is incalculable. As a student of mine said, “what comes around goes around,” and eventually I have faith these people will meet with some sort of reckoning. Let’s hope they don’t ruin too many more lives before then. Who knows, maybe for once, a broken system and those who sustain it will be held accountable, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Read the COURT TESTIMONY testimony here: http://www.box.com/s/c0z2axm55yrzlyuu15qo
Ive heard shes a narcisistic psycho from about three teachers there. Apparently everyones scared shitless to expose her. Its great that someone created a forum like this where we can speak up and create a little awareness. Now, if only we had some more media connections.
Casey Jones from Innovation Diploma Plus is another result of the Leadership Academy who has done tremendous harm to students and teachers in just the three short years he has been Principal. I know of multiple cases where teachers were harassed and bullied, then falsely accused of completely fabricated allegations. He trash talks adults, students, and parents, has been caught falsifying attendance records and school surveys by fellow staff members, and talks students 18 or over to sign themselves out of school (despite the nature of the school; it’s a transfer high school.) He hires mostly first-year teachers in order to avoid being confronted or exposed.
I second the above writer’s testimonial of Casey Jones, and commend them for their courage. He has a tendency to intimidate teachers into not speaking out about his unfair treatment.
put this child in her place
Or at least teach her to watch her speed.
DO NOT APPLY TO 24th STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in LOS ANGELES< CALIF.
I just want to say that this is a great site that has been very informative, as a second year substitute teacher I have encountered similar experiences with unprofessional administrators and teachers who are jealously threatened by any outsiders that often goes unreported or noticed due to the nature of substitute teaching. I only wish there was a place like this for substitutes
Be careful. UFT building reps form alliances with administrators at the expense of teachers rights. Read federal case Maione, Mitey, and The DOE vs. Rosenberg, posted here: http://www.box.com/files#/files/0/f/142797920/1/f_1069399894/0/comment. When such alliances exist, the union, the city and administrators also make things like corporal punishment and or abuse cases go away, like calling special services kids retards. See ignored testimony here: http://www.box.com/files#/files/0/f/142797920/1/f_1151841969/0/comment . That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. I know from years of experience, when you’re tenured, you can almost do what ever you want, or do nothing even. In your first three years though, you young’ns are likely to be tortured. Kids are silenced regularly with threats of retaliation and if their parents are immigrants it’s even worse. I’ve seen it in suburban schools too, but not as much. Any questions feel free to email me at retiredtchremail@gmail.com. Best of luck to you all.
solution :
bring guido into the mix and make offers they cant refuse !
plain and simple
Great information :)
One other principal should be included as one worst principals in nyc. Principal Melodee Khristan Fron Liberty High school. 8 teachers this year ( senior ) have received Unsatisfactory Observation report. She indeed have done great Job over 10 years by spending mostly her time doing cafeteria duty 3 period straights, 10 years did not observe mostly of teachers. Staff as discouraged and feel demoralized. A.P Carlos Carmona ( former principal who was demoted to A,P) is now in charge of doing hatchet job . DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS SCHOOL TO TEACH, you will regret
@RetiredTchr: Obviously, you have issues; otherwise, you wouldn’t need to post here, and I get that.
I also got your spam emailed to my DOE account — as did dozens of others I spoke to this morning. Seriously, spamming an entire building with the links you posted above? I know that no one clicked on them because there figured it was a phishing expedition or some kind of viral attack.
I only have one request and one question: First, stop sending me your spam to my DOE mailbox (btw, nice little trick “personalizing” every letter and using the Bcc so it seemed like you sent it just to me). Second, if you are “Retired”, why do you feel the need to hide by some anonymous email address. Come on out.
@JD2718: I apologize for using your forum for this, but this is the only place I found references to RetiredTchr and the same links that he spammed our entire building (apparently) with.
Hi there. Thanks for your interest. Yes, I do have issues, issues with emotional child abusers, sexual harassers, and power abusers who regularly cover up malfeasance. They’re dangerous, and in some cases, display signs of sociopathy. More than that, I have issues with people who aren’t sick, but are in denial, willfully look the other way, and defend emotionally abusive behavior. Which category are you in? Educators, like physicians, should have to take an oath, and part of that should be to protect the emotional wellbeing of their students, and not cover for their cronies. Look, the fact is kids were assaulted with a cane, and Special Ed kids were called “retards,” and this was representative conduct of Maione’s close functionaries and the teachers who follow them. To frame it properly, this handful of incidents is just the tip of the iceburg. You want to clear the air in this forum? Or meet up for a coffee? Okay. Would it be appropriate to have the kids write in, or is this blog just for educators? Look, most of the teachers at FDR and Grady are good people, but it only takes a few rotten ones to spoil a school, as has been clearly demonstrated with our school failures. The outsized damage done by a few is not fair to the kids or the mindful and skilled teachers there. Anyway, this is nothing personal, not even to the bullies themselves; I realize they’re just victims of the system. Many of them were tortured, and learned to torture and encourage torture by proxy from Ms. Vocel (who, surprisingly, I managed to get along fine with). I wonder if she would have tacitly approved of sexual harassment, assault, or the sustained emotional abuse of special needs kids (the “test incident” was not an isolated incident, but a window into a longstanding pattern). Truth be told, the system of unaccountability and corruption, and a culture of fear and blame, and looking the other way, and patronage and protection are the real culprits. The racket is the culprit, for this is racketeering, plain and simple, just instead of cold hard cash it’s lucrative assignments and protection. But you must already know this. I mean, it’s no one’s fault in a sense; we’ve all been victims of this system. Here’s the thing, if it damages children and the community writ large, it needs to be changed, and as the history of looking the other way in the face of authoritarianism has proven, this same sort of social structure can do untold damage, and we’re all responsible for keeping it in check. Look, I’d love to count you among the aware and committed, and there’s too much at stake to get into a contest, but sure, if you give me your email address I’ll be happy to remove you from my contact list, but I can’t do that if you remain anonymous. Having said that, have a nice summer and search your heart for the strength to do the right thing. That is, when you see something, say something, and if you don’t see anything, please, by God, open your eyes.
@JD2718: I thank you for providing this forum. Holding these toxic educators accountable and warning other teachers is my understanding of exactly what this blog is for, and for that, so many of us are forever grateful to you. Keep up the good work!
Dear forum members, I promised a group of emotionally abused special needs kids someone would read the complaint letters that E. Sanchez, G. Maione, and the DOE and the rest of the complicit say never existed, that would be some sort of accountability. Having exhausted the official channels, I had to “out” the bullies as a last resort. Please, out of respect for them, have a look at some of their covered-up testimony at: https://www.box.com/s/8z1as3h2dzph7ztm4ys6. And to the those who’ve been downloading these and passing them on, on the kids behalf, I thank you.
I’m glad that there’s a forum like this as well. It means that you don’t have to spam an entire school anonymously using their Dept of Ed email accounts from your anonymous gmail account, and then expect each of us to opt out of the mailing list. (You should check that you aren’t violating any federal laws as you do this.) As for my anonymity, click my username, everything pops right up. It’s a wonderful thing, this Internet.
Well, it’s good we agree on that. I was just trying to do the right thing, honest. If I used my name, my checks would have started coming late, and you know it. No laws broken, I checked. And I’ve said all I have to say for now. Whew, glad I got that off my chest. I’m not as internet savvy as you clearly. Your blog is neet, by the way. You’re very creative. Maybe a blog would be good, this one here for the teachers, but another open forum for the kids. Turn this all into something positive. Well, take care now.
Please add M367 Academy for Social Action. The school is out of control. The principal is incompetent, nasty and classless. Read the following article about her here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/education/08education.html?pagewanted=all
Makes you wonder how someone involved in a grade changing scandal as an assistant principal is able to be promoted to principal.
She does not know how to lead, spends most of her time in her office and allegedly “sleeps with male staff members and other male principals in the building. The students are able to be as disrespectful as they want to both administrators and teachers without any consequences. The school safety agents in the building HATE the school because it is constantly out of control with constant fights and riots. The principal acts as if nothing is wrong and will blame others when things go wrong. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY TO THIS SCHOOL. Since she has been there there has been constant turnover of teachers who can not deal with the craziness and instability of this place. BEWARE!!!!!
Please add M367 Academy for Social Action. The school is out of control. The principal is incompetent, nasty and classless. Read the following article about her here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/education/08education.html?pagewanted=all
Makes you wonder how someone involved in a grade changing scandal as an assistant principal is able to be promoted to principal.
She does not know how to lead, spends most of her time in her office and allegedly “sleeps with male staff members and other male principals in the building. The students are able to be as disrespectful as they want to both administrators and teachers without any consequences. The school safety agents in the building HATE the school because it is constantly out of control with constant fights and riots. The principal acts as if nothing is wrong and will blame others when things go wrong. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY TO THIS SCHOOL. Since she has been there there has been constant turnover of teachers who can not deal with the craziness and instability of this place. BEWARE!!!!!
Please add M544 Independence High School. Principal Ron Smolkin is completely incompetent. During his tenure, he has taken an A rated school and turned it into a C rated school. He has driven a majority of the teachers out because he cannot stand to have anyone question his leadership (see link below), though he provides no leadership at all. He is a vindictive little man who is so, so sad and incompetent. He abuses his staff and has been fined by the DOE for having his secretary type his papers for graduate school. The place is toxic, Bloomberg should be after this guy.
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/136187/ny1-exclusive–city-principal-investigated-in-retaliation-probe
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/141901/manhattan-principal-admits-to-using-school-funds-for-private-side-project
So true. Smolkin will stop at nothing to destroy a teacher’s career, including forging anoymous letters falsely accusing teachers of pedophilia. NY1 has done 4 strories on this guy, and the DOE refuses to act. He destroyed what was a high-performing alternative HS. He is fearful of students, however, so the kids get away with anything, and teachers are always to blame.
DO NOT apply to PS41 in Staten Island, NY!!!!!!!! The principal, Elise Feldman, is a soulless, incompetent ego maniac. She cares NOTHING about staff nor students. The only person she cares anything about is HERSELF. She is a miserable person and takes it out on her staff on a daily basis. If you look at the NYC DOE Learning Environment Survey, which is anonymously filled out, you will see just how unhappy her teachers are. Elise Feldman is the ultimate BULLY!!!!!! She’s an ugly, little woman who obviously feels better by picking on others…only because she knows she can. So, a true coward in reality. She jumped from staff developer to principal just because of who she knew, so was never even worked as an assistant principal. She also loves to brag about how she has been teaching for over 30 years, even though she was primarily a SETTS teacher, barely spending time in a full classroom. A fraud in every sense of the word, she will take her miserable life out on you for sure. That’s why the school has a revolving door of teachers coming and going…..going on THEIR own too. Keep in mind that her little crony Adele Carbonella, the assistant principal, is the same animal with a fake smile to boot. She will do anything Elise Feldman tells her to do….ANYTHING! So, stay FAR away from PS41. It is THE most corrupt school in all of Staten Island, if not New York.
From where do kids learn to bully?
I would like to add MS 287, The Forward School. I don’t teach there, but I was an ATR there this past week and my former school (which should also be on this list, but won’t because they are closing next year – yay!) was not this bad. My first day a 7th grade female student jumped in my face because screaming at me because I wouldn’t write her a bathroom pass. The second day I was hit in the face with a bottle from an 8th grade student. I asked the school secretary for the papers to file an incident report. She tells me they don’t have such a thing. I was like bullcrap. She told me to tell the Principal. I told the Principal Ms. Phifer and she sent me to the Parent Coordinator. He was eating lunch and said he would get it to me before the end of the day. He never came to see me so I went to the office at dismissal. His office was already locked and he was gone. The following day, in the same class, I was almost hit with a book this time thrown by a male student. Luckily, the school’s UFT rep saw it and removed the boys. However, they returned to class 10-15 minutes later. The paperwork was still not forthcoming. As I was leaving for the evening, the Parent Coordinator asked if I ever got the papers. I said no because he never gave them to me. He asked if I told the AP what happened and again I said no and that the incident still needed to be put in writing. Finally, I went to the AP and he gave me the paperwork. I left them with the Principal today, but we’ll see what happens.
The kids are off the hook in that school. When I went to interview and do my demo lesson there, as the class entered the classroom, one student yelled out ” what the f!@k is this? All of these people in the room.” I knew then that I did not want the job if I had to teach this class. No one controls them as they run through the hallways making noise and cursing at each other. I don’t know how this school got an A rating.
Do not attend LS3! I am a student of this place and I believe we need to start a petition to have this school shut down like ASAP. Lets begin with teacher. The teachers while some are really good and friendly others are rude and treat kids as if they are in jail. One teacher in particular starts with an M and ends with a T. She’s rude, disrespectful and talks to students as if we are dumb. In my sophomore year of HS she gave me a low grade in English and then couldn’t explain why I got the grade I did, she said it was everyone in the class! That’s unfair grading. The second thing is the officers in the school. They do nothing but sit on there lazy asses all day. They see kids cutting class, in the staircase when they aren’t, smoking and doing things they shouldn’t and they do nothing. It’s only when Mr. Gilhooley comes down do they take action. Third parent corrdinator does nothing. She sits on her ass all day and does nothing. She gets paid to basically be in an office and collect money for school shows. She doesn’t really inform the parents of anything she is a worthless item to the school. Fourth is guidance. Oh how I hate the guidance office. They do not by any chance help students at all. Like on in particular her name is Cantres, she need to retire. She does not help seniors with college apps all she says is print it out and make an appointment when she only sees 4 people a day! Mind you she’s only a Counciler for seniors. She also makes a big deal if you don’t have a guidance folder, you can go in for one thing and then it’ll turn into a subject about something totally irrelevant! She also threatens students to call ACS like seriously who does that?! Next issue is the principle herself Ms. Genevieve Stanislaus. She is one of the worst principles! She yells at you as if you are in jail, she always has a bad additude, she interogates you and then accuses you of being a liar, she grabs students and then when they push there arm away, claims that she got pushed and violated when in fact she disrespected you. All she ever cares about is the image of the school when in fact this school is the worst god awful school EVER! The funny thing to is when teachers know they are going to be observed they tell kids to act good and listen and act like we are good students. They put a show on for observers. This school getting an A is a damn lie! It’s all fake. Also lets point out this school is so small for a middle and high school. Students can barely get a seat in class anymore it’s overcrowded and gross. Things are throw around like garbage. The first floor lockers always smell of weed, the bathrooms are gross, they have mice and ants everywhere. And they have a poor excuse for a gym. Oh and the lunchroom! You do not want to be in there. It’s so hot and crowded, it’s so tiny not many people can go in even though they force the kids to go inside. Lets also talk about the school uniform! The school uniform is so stupid it’s not even funny it’s a button up or polo shirt with a science logo. No one really follows it and yet they in force it like its a big deal. They will literally make u go home just to put on “proper” uniform. They also make you miss class. I don’t believe a uniform is as serious as a students education. This school is the worst school ever! It needs to be shut down. Do not send your children here, trust me you will regret it.
Awwww. Hang in there kid. I feel you. There are a lot of mean teachers and principals in this system. Try to transfer to a different school. If you’re trapped and being tortured my mean educators (I’ve seen it happen), try to not take it personally, and form an informal support group with your friends who are going through the same thing, and keep a sense of humor about it. Sometimes that’s the only way to survive. Look up Victor Frankl. He talks about it. It’s not your fault. A lot of us teachers understand what you’re going through. I wish kids like you would get together and start a web page or a support blog or something. Keep your chin up and don’t let them make you mean too. If you do, then they win. Take care.
Do Not apply to the Academy of Language of Technology in the Bronx. The kids are wonderful and you will never have to deal with discipline problems. The deep issues lie within two areas, the principal a d the environment.
The principal, Arisleyda Urena, is a soulless ego maniacs who cares only for herself. She uses intimidation to bully teachers. I am a first year teacher there and for the 2012-13 school year she hired ELEVEN new teachers out of a teaching staff of 23. The school has always had a revolving door of teachers because no one can stand her. She plays politics and loves to hijack department meetings and forces teachers to constantly adopt the latest ideas. Then midway through developing a new program she will make us stop and create a totally different program from scratch. And on and on again.
She has rated 20 out of 23 teachers as Uneffective and offers you no meaningful support to improve. She will call you a “lost cause” (her words) and will deny you counseling/support. She says she is acting in the best interest of the children by purging the school of “uncommitted” teachers but she is so incredibly out of touch with reality. She is abusive and cruel to teachers and students.
She is denying our ELL population with access to bilengual Ed classes and is in denial of the fact that 90% of our population needs remediation since they all come from schools whose educational systems are underdeveloped. She has fostered an environment of mistrust and fear. She takes advantage of her students by encouraging them to write to her if they dislike a teacher. She says she is teaching them “self reliance” and how to be accountable for their education but she is really taking advantage of minors. This is abuse. She encourages tracking and promotes discord between the students.
Because the teachers are mostly untenured, we all are scared of her. No one trusts each other. Urena encourages teachers to snitch on each other to her if you suspect someone is not doing a stellar job in the classroom and is not 100% committed to the schools mission and values. We live in fear of having letters placed in our files. Urena observes teachers without offering warning of a coming formal observation, which is against contract. The UFT representative is Urena’s bitch who loves to kiss up to the principal so if you complain that Urena is violating your union contract you can kiss your job goodbye and say hello to a U in your file. Teachers are unknowledable about their rights, Urena is anti union.
You need to call the state about the principal not providing the services to the ELLs as per NYSED Part 154. You can make an anonymous call to the state and they will send a monitor to the school.
Do Not Apply to M.S. 322 in Washington Heights. Erica Zigelman is the principal.
In 2006, Gregory Atkins who has recently (2012) been in the news for sexually assaulting a child at P.S. 87 was working at M.S. 322 where he engaged in inappropriate conduct with a student. Erica Zigelman resolved the matter by giving him a letter of recommendation and the opportunity to work with students at other schools.
In 2008, Erica Zigelman was brought up on charges of conflict of interest because she had several DOE members tutor her daughter. As a result, she was fined $3,000 and the matter was over.
As with so many of these situations, it’s what you can’t Google that is just as bad or worse. Like the many terrible and ineffective principals mentioned in this thread, Erica Zigelman bullies and harasses staff, parents, and students resulting in a large turn over in staff every year, resignations, and a drop in student enrollment. Even worse though, is the misappropriation of school funds and the direct denying of legally mandated services to students.
Parents and staff reached out to every level of the DOE and beyond (city council members, the mayor, the media) and worked with the UFT and to no avail. Erica Zigelman has described herself as “untouchable” and apparently she is right.
Whatever this post from Bhakt is — it has NOTHING to do with NYC public schools. It’s making your website look bad. Please remove it.
Mott Hall High School Manhattan district 5
The worse school since V started her dictatorship. Just like most dictators, it was a smoke screen for insecurity. Her regime was about making things look good and that is where her money went. Teachers would ask for PD and she cried broke, except for those teachers she knew would not challenge her position; but that was either because they knew how to not rock the boat or because they were afraid. She rules with fear. If you disagree, you have a problem. She will create a case against you. The first year almost half the teachers left and it took time for them to trust again. She turned a truly collaborative staff of highly intelligent teachers against each other. And had her APs put their names on all her dirty work. The first year, she said she would bring the school to an A rating from the B that she and the network tried to claim was a C before the ratings came out in order to make them think their performance was poor. That year she got a lower B instead. The next year (last year) she got a C. A low C. Students continue to complain that they are not learning anything and seniors are not getting the guidance support they need. The teacher turn around is high every year. It is a miserable place. No chance to make suggestions, no chance to collaborate, no chance to save yourself. She has threatened to call her lawyers if teachers send any correspondence out side of the school about school issues. It’s just getting worse and worse. And please don’t be fooled by her ‘victim’ act. She is vindictive and will turn on you in a minute. She even went after a student who asked to get the honors classes back (she got rid of AP and honors classes when she got there). Her leadership and organization skills are poor; she had over 100 students scheduled for gym at the same time in her first year. Her relationship skills are poor; she never addresses the students as one group. That’s just the beginning and hopefully it is also close to the end.