WTU calls out Bully Principals at Lafayette ES, Truesdell EC, Orr ES, West EC and Jefferson MS

[Anonymous]

Teachers Union needs to cease...........It does nothing to help children.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, WTU people. Are you actively trying to drive more kids out of neighborhood schools and into charters? That strategy may not work out so well for you in the long run.

There are other ways to discuss this with parents if you really want them to be informed and working on your side.

[Anonymous]

"Some of the workplace bullying complaints that have been alleged right here on our doorsteps have occurred at Jefferson MS, Lafayette ES, Orr ES (2014), Truesdell EC, Watkins ES (2014), and West EC. Out of all of the complaints I have received on workplace bullying; only one teacher was willing to come forward."

Well, then it doesn't say much about either the complaints or the union's ability to handle them, now does it.

[Anonymous]

Did someone steal their lunch money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I were a teacher I would be embarrassed that Candi Peterson represented me in any way. What a bunch of bullshit, unsubstantiated mudslinging.

No wonder so many question the credibility of the WTU.

Thanks, DCPS. DC attends one of the schools mentioned and the new principal is a vindictive, hateful bully to teachers and parents, especially members of the HSA. This is accurate.

Sounds like we are both parents of children at the same school. I happen to think our new principal is a wonderful breath of fresh air who doesn't put up with the small group of parents that only acted in their own best interests and who apparently had a lot of influence over the previous principal. Also happen to think that if the teachers are unhappy they should consider that their previous leader set up an environment that catered to them and was unsustainable.

Lafayette is the only school that has an parent organization called an HSA. The others seem to have PTAs.

[Anonymous]

Some principals do bully and they have the power to give you a negative rating. The IMPACT rating system does not have any mechanism for a teacher to have the negative rating of a bully changed. They can only make complaints about the process such as the rating being completed by a certain date. Teachers who are bullied by principals fear for their jobs under these circumstances. Teachers have families, they have to pay for housing, raise children, care for aging parents, etc. A bullying principal can take away their source of income. That's why many are reluctant to come forward.

[jsteele]

I just deleted a post containing details from and a link to the child custody legal proceedings of a DCPS principal. DCUM has standards -- admittedly, very low standards -- but standards just the same. Discussions of the child custody arrangements of principals is below those standards.

[Anonymous]

Previous post shows the fact that the Lafayette Principal interviewed for 16 principal jobs in Bloomington, Illinois and did not receive one offer. The DCPS magically hires her for the largest elementary school in the district. This principal has harassed and bullied teachers and parents all year. Teachers are banned from talking to parents. The union has been trying to help teachers but everyone is too scared to even meet with union reps because of fear of retaliation. She constantly screams and berates staff. This is why Lafayette is listed in the blog as having a bully principal. If posters want to bash the union and teachers, perhaps they should dig a little deeper and look at the principals themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Previous post shows the fact that the Lafayette Principal interviewed for 16 principal jobs in Bloomington, Illinois and did not receive one offer. The DCPS magically hires her for the largest elementary school in the district. This principal has harassed and bullied teachers and parents all year. Teachers are banned from talking to parents. The union has been trying to help teachers but everyone is too scared to even meet with union reps because of fear of retaliation. She constantly screams and berates staff. This is why Lafayette is listed in the blog as having a bully principal. If posters want to bash the union and teachers, perhaps they should dig a little deeper and look at the principals themselves.

Just curious. If teachers are banned from talking to parents, what does that look like? If you send teacher an email, or ask a question at pick up or drop off, what does the teacher say? Are you allowed in the building?

[Anonymous]

How can teachers be banned from talking to parents??? That's a huge part of their job!!!

[Anonymous]

Parents are not allowed in the school at drop off or pick up. Teachers do not go outside and avoid talking to parents in public spaces. People take measures to hide conversations. Teachers and parents who talk to each other are targeted by the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can teachers be banned from talking to parents??? That's a huge part of their job!!!

This is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are not allowed in the school at drop off or pick up. Teachers do not go outside and avoid talking to parents in public spaces. People take measures to hide conversations. Teachers and parents who talk to each other are targeted by the principal.

Wow. I'm a principal (in FCPS) and we encourage parents to walk their child to the classroom door so they can say hi to the teacher. If there's something the teacher needs to know, ie, "Larla had a rough night with coughing, so if she seems tired she might need to go to the nurse." I've never had an issue where a parent stays too long or tries to have a full blown conference. People are trying to get on to work, but appreciate that very quick hello.

We don't allow parents in the building at dismissal because it would cause too much chaos as kids are exiting classrooms while parents are trying to get to classrooms. But teachers walk their classes outside and often have short conversations with parents.

I can't believe that is allowed to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are not allowed in the school at drop off or pick up. Teachers do not go outside and avoid talking to parents in public spaces. People take measures to hide conversations. Teachers and parents who talk to each other are targeted by the principal.

but this is common for elementary schools. we are at Murch, and drop off and pick up are on the playground. this to avoid the mess and safety problems of having hundreds of adults inside the school at pick up and drop off, and to allow the kids to be more independent. kids line up on the playground, the teacher pick them up outside and take them inside. are you saying that at Lafayette kids go inside by themselves?

as outsiders, it is difficult to assess the situation. other posters pointed out that the under the previous principal the HSA held a lot of sway and some parents almost ran the school. some parents also complained that there were some subpar teachers who were not dealt with, including apparently teachers (or aides, I can't remember) screaming at little pre-k or k kids. it this principal not good, or is she simply changing the long standing "power structure" at Lafayette?

it would be interesting also to know how the principal can "target" parents talking to their kids' teachers. does she beat them up? kick their kids?

also, at Murch we have teachers' e-mails, and since drop off and pick up are very busy times, we do not normally talk to teachers during those times (it's just common sense). we send e-mails and the teacher responds. are you saying that at Lafayette you cannot contact a teacher by e-mail? or that the Principal hacks into the teachers' e-mail and read them? also, since conversation between parents and teachers mostly concern issue with the kid and not gossips, why is the principal preventing parent-teacher conversations? is "does little Larla need more practice with sight words" a dangerous conversation?

it is hard to buy what these posters are saying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are not allowed in the school at drop off or pick up. Teachers do not go outside and avoid talking to parents in public spaces. People take measures to hide conversations. Teachers and parents who talk to each other are targeted by the principal.

but this is common for elementary schools. we are at Murch, and drop off and pick up are on the playground. this to avoid the mess and safety problems of having hundreds of adults inside the school at pick up and drop off, and to allow the kids to be more independent. kids line up on the playground, the teacher pick them up outside and take them inside. are you saying that at Lafayette kids go inside by themselves?

as outsiders, it is difficult to assess the situation. other posters pointed out that the under the previous principal the HSA held a lot of sway and some parents almost ran the school. some parents also complained that there were some subpar teachers who were not dealt with, including apparently teachers (or aides, I can't remember) screaming at little pre-k or k kids. it this principal not good, or is she simply changing the long standing "power structure" at Lafayette?

it would be interesting also to know how the principal can "target" parents talking to their kids' teachers. does she beat them up? kick their kids?

also, at Murch we have teachers' e-mails, and since drop off and pick up are very busy times, we do not normally talk to teachers during those times (it's just common sense). we send e-mails and the teacher responds. are you saying that at Lafayette you cannot contact a teacher by e-mail? or that the Principal hacks into the teachers' e-mail and read them? also, since conversation between parents and teachers mostly concern issue with the kid and not gossips, why is the principal preventing parent-teacher conversations? is "does little Larla need more practice with sight words" a dangerous conversation?

it is hard to buy what these posters are saying

So, the union, teachers, staff and parents are all lying? Really? That's rich.