Hearst Principal Leaving/Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"It is the only elementary school in DC that serves children from all eight wards in the city."

And PG county?

Seriously, I'm with you except on the above quote. Not true.

I happen to have the breakdown of the Ward 3 schools. Stoddert, Eaton, Hearst, Mann and Oyster serve children from all eight wards. Janney and Key serve children from seven of the eight wards and Mann serves six.

The difference being that the other schools mentioned actually serve the ward in which they reside. If Hearst did the same they wouldn't have room for pencil stabbing Prince George crazies.

[Anonymous]

They need to expel the Thomson principal too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is sending dozens of violent kids back into schools. The kid at Hearst was a known discipline problem before stabbing another student with a pencil. There's also the story of the student who attacked a Spingarn teacher who only told the student to quiet down. That teacher now needs reconstructive surgery on her face. How will DC schools ever get better if there isn't a serious effort to ensure that schools are safe by removing students who threaten school safety?

I completely understand Principal Kerlina's frustration. However, I feel the most for the families without the means to go elsewhere and the teachers who have to work in these conditions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/was-vicious-attack-on-spingarn-teacher-avoidable/2011/06/24/AGPyoBjH_blog.html

wow. and now I know why moving to the burbs of Virginia was the right choice. sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He'd never been a principal, wasn't going to be one in Montgomery County, and lasted only his first couple of years as a DCPS principal. And wanted more salary. There's not really a story here that I can see unless it's one about elevating someone who doesn't have what it takes.

Like Betts? Like Cahall? they were assistant principals in Montgomery county too.

Sounds like sour grapes to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relatively new DCPS teacher here. I just do not understand why these discipline problems are not met with strict consequences like they are in successful school districts. How would student pencil stabbings and teacher attacks be addressed in Montgomery County? Would Fairfax County allow ED students to be mainstreamed? Would past records of these students be kept from classroom teachers?

Do you know what it takes to get a student expelled or even suspended (and all the paperwork/hurdles involved) in DCPS?

Why do we have different standards in DCPS? Is it because these students are predominantly AA and low income? Is this a race thing? Why the exception? Why aren't we allowed to make these students and their families accountable? Is it really the teacher's problem exclusively? If a principal can't handle these issues effectively how can a teacher be expected to do so and teach the children who want to learn? Does this process advocate for them?

Until we get a grip on disruptive learning environments in failing schools we will not move forward.

PS. Is this an example of high expectations for all? Not only do we not address bad behavior effectively, we promote students to the next grade level who have no business being there.

Guess you haven't heard -- good teachers are supposed to be able to handle all discipline problems. Central office is counting on you and doesn't have a clue, otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Shocking to think a troubled student from Maryland would be allowed back into Hearst against the principal's wishes. The family should have been made to pay tuition and sent to their in boundary school. I am a Thomson parent who can tell you there are many students from Maryland attending Thomson (and, no, student are not being picked up by nannies who happen to drive cars with MD plates). How can neighborhood schools develop if spaces in popular schools go to MD kids?

DCPS enrollment is up -- thanks to MD kids

[Anonymous]

Gee, what happens to the score of an IMPACT teacher evaluation when the teacher uses "ain't?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gee, what happens to the score of an IMPACT teacher evaluation when the teacher uses "ain't?"

There's no scoring for grammar -- perhaps its not considered important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"he is leaving education altogether ... to go into the gourmet cupcake business"
what more do we need to know?

He's looking to try something he may love that doesn't have a negative impact on his health. Sounds like a smart choice to me. At some point, we all have the right to make choices about how we want to live our lives, fleeting as they are. If DCPS weren't such an unhealthy environment, he and many other talented personnel might choose to stay.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that our Council asked Kaya Henderson softball questions during her confirmation? What a sham. We are so underserved by our elected representatives.

[Anonymous]

Not only principals, but teachers, students, and parents have suffered. DCPS is broken. Time to look at what they did in Detroit and New Orleans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"he is leaving education altogether ... to go into the gourmet cupcake business"
what more do we need to know?

What you were trying to imply by that, for instance.

Would it be acceptable to you if he were going into international banking? entering a monastery?

Just what is an acceptable 2nd career for burned out DCPS principals, or should they stick around until their contracts are not renewed and then go quietly?

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of discussion, rightly, around why DCPS looks the other way regarding out-of-state residents, and it's one of the most blatant crocks of **** the media lets DCPS central get away with: They allow non-residents to use our schools because of the enrollment numbers!! If every single non-resident were tracked down and un-enrolled DCPS wouldn't have the gains that they (and the press) like to attribute to the great new successes of "reform". Maybe a real news paper like DC City Paper could go after this story! There was a principal I knew well who began tracking license plates and kids in the first year of Rhee, and in no time at all the calls were out for racism. Central looked the other way and sided with the parents who ganged up on the principal, questioning her motives but never did bother looking into the number of DC residents vs. Maryland/VA. The school was Ross ES.

[Anonymous]

I am 17:22. Sadly this makes sense.

[Anonymous]

The difference is that now the budget can't sustain the PG County freeloaders any longer. And there are PG kids creating havoc in every school - Thomson, Francis-Stevens, Hearst, and more.