What's Going on With Prince William County Schools?

[Anonymous]

Apparently the Deputy Superintendent Rae Darlington is retiring and wrote a letter announcing this retirement, which has become public. In it, she notes that the last year has been terrible for her because she was threatened with demotion or firing. The comments on the story suggest that the system has been mistreating its employees for a very long time. A few teachers commented that the were also retiring and/or knew people who left the system because of mistreatment, bullying behavior, a spiteful unprofessional school board and a system that protected poor school leaders.

Interestingly enough, when googling to make sure I got Darlington's name and position right, I came upon an article about how SHE demoted a principal and seemed to engage in the types of shenanigans that have come back to karmically bite her in the arse.

Here's part of the Washington Post article "Principal Was Chided for Telling of Demotion", dated June 4, 2006.


Earlier this spring, Freedom High School Principal Dorothy McCabe was told by her boss that she was being demoted because, among other reasons, some members of her faculty had allegedly made offensive remarks and created a hostile environment at the school. But in the middle of May, McCabe found herself in her boss's cross hairs yet again because she had talked about her impending departure with Freedom's staff.

Her boss, Deputy Superintendent Rae Darlington, dashed off a sternly worded letter to McCabe threatening that she could be fired if she persisted.

"The direction I gave you was to refrain from informing staff that you would not be returning to Freedom High School next year, until after we had an opportunity to discuss a transition plan," Darlington wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. "As a result of these conversations taking place, the focus on student learning has been compromised. If you continue to not follow my direction and continue any acts of insubordination, I will have no choice but to recommend that further disciplinary action be considered."

So really, what gives with Prince William County?

And should we really feel sorry for Darlington for engaging in the very same types of bullying behavior that have now boomeranged back to her???

[Anonymous]

Another gem from that Washington Post article:

McCabe will remain principal until July 1. She has declined comment through her attorney, Steven Stone.

McCabe has filed several grievances against the school system, including one alleging that she was discriminated against based on her age. Stone said that when Darlington met with McCabe to discuss her status, Darlington "was asking questions about her age. 'How old are you? I can't believe you're that old.' "

"Darlington claims she was being complimentary, but I don't think it's appropriate for a supervisor to be asking about age right before they're going to tell them they're going to remove them," Stone said.

Sullivan said that McCabe, who is Freedom's first principal, had always received positive evaluations and that she should have been alerted to any criticisms of her performance before a decision was made. McCabe was told in early March that she was being recommended for a transfer, to become an assistant principal at another school, and then at the end of March was given Darlington's memo evaluating her work.


Several grievances???? So it does appear to be a school culture of poor treatment of its employees that dates back to at least 2006.

[Anonymous]

Surely there are PW teachers here who can chime in.

[Anonymous]

OP, you reference a letter Darlington wrote that has been made public. Can you post?

[Anonymous]

No one on here really cares about some random HR grudge out in PWC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one on here really cares about some random HR grudge out in PWC.

I agree. But clearly this is more than some random HR grudge. There seems to be a systemic issue. Kinda like black applicants being turned down in favor of less educated, experienced applicants in Fairfax is more than some random HR grudge.

[Anonymous]

Bullying of teachers is very common in school systems. PWC is not alone....there is bullying in most systems in this area. Since teachers are contract employees who cannot just leave with 2 weeks' notice like other people, managers don't think twice about treating them badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullying of teachers is very common in school systems. PWC is not alone....there is bullying in most systems in this area. Since teachers are contract employees who cannot just leave with 2 weeks' notice like other people, managers don't think twice about treating them badly.

True.