Call to discuss the state of Hardy 05/15/23

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

You know those budget cuts that the WTU is whining about? They are the result of funding formulas based on student enrollment. Typical DC teacher mentality to tell families you don't care whether they remain while complaining about budget cuts.

I understand how budgeting works. I don't think it's cute when people like you try and hold us hostage

I think you don't know what the word "hostage" means.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

In swift form, parents made it abundantly clear that they do not view us, as teachers, as equals. That's a significant development in this 'partnership.' Frankly, some of us are incensed enough not to be even able to look at you.

I’m not sure why you ever thought parents thought they were equal to teachers. They are different stakeholders. During covid teachers made perfectly clear that they do not share the interests of parents.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

Literal pp:

Anonymous wrote:Np, former Hardy teacher that left and teach in ward 7 now. Life is way less stressful. Hardy teachers, we have several openings, class sizes are all around 20 and parents thinking they can do my job better than I do are a lot rarer.

Was that person racist to take the job because they prefer parents who leave them alone?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

You are overstepping. I've worked in both. Have great relationships with families in both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

Literal pp:

Anonymous wrote:Np, former Hardy teacher that left and teach in ward 7 now. Life is way less stressful. Hardy teachers, we have several openings, class sizes are all around 20 and parents thinking they can do my job better than I do are a lot rarer.

Was that person racist to take the job because they prefer parents who leave them alone?

That was me. I stand by it. The parents trusted me to teach their children. We were in constant contact and they were super responsive. The difference is that those parents would actually listen and converse rather than steamroll and demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

I've been called these things multiple times on this thread.And I'm a Hardy teacher.

You are being called those things because the content of your parents suggest that exhibit such characteristics. That you may or may not be a Hardy teacher is immaterial.

Moving the goalposts again.

No one is doing any such thing. You are making false claims (again) that posters here are calling Hardy "teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent" by conflating reactions to your nonsense posted online to parents' regard of Hardy teaching staff generally. If I have to tell you how completely ridiculous this is, I am almost definitely wasting my time.

Hey, this is just a reminder that both the petition to remove PJ AND his actual removal were INTENSELY RACIST events in DCPS history. Congrats, Hughes.

Troll. English doesn’t seem to be your native language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

The idea of these teachers going to W7/8 out of protest is hilarious. They could have worked there the entire time, but they like working with UMC kids and PTOs that raise a ton of money. They like having kids who are at or above grade level. They aren't going anywhere, and surely not to W8 to teach the poor black kids. Easier to sit in their classrooms W2/3 and make unfounded accusations of racism than go teach [shocked voice] poor black kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

Literal pp:

Anonymous wrote:Np, former Hardy teacher that left and teach in ward 7 now. Life is way less stressful. Hardy teachers, we have several openings, class sizes are all around 20 and parents thinking they can do my job better than I do are a lot rarer.

Was that person racist to take the job because they prefer parents who leave them alone?

This isn't even what happened at Hardy -- it was the principal, not the teachers in general or any one in particular, who drew criticism. And Mr. "Don't you talk to your kids?" is not likely a teacher if he doesn't understand a) how challenging parent-teen information sharing can be, or b) how unreliable a teenage narrator can be when recounting a day's events at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

I've been called these things multiple times on this thread.And I'm a Hardy teacher.

You are being called those things because the content of your parents suggest that exhibit such characteristics. That you may or may not be a Hardy teacher is immaterial.

Moving the goalposts again.

No one is doing any such thing. You are making false claims (again) that posters here are calling Hardy "teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent" by conflating reactions to your nonsense posted online to parents' regard of Hardy teaching staff generally. If I have to tell you how completely ridiculous this is, I am almost definitely wasting my time.

Hey, this is just a reminder that both the petition to remove PJ AND his actual removal were INTENSELY RACIST events in DCPS history. Congrats, Hughes.

Troll. English doesn’t seem to be your native language.

Leave the PE teacher alone. He's doing his best...just like PJ!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

The idea of these teachers going to W7/8 out of protest is hilarious. They could have worked there the entire time, but they like working with UMC kids and PTOs that raise a ton of money. They like having kids who are at or above grade level. They aren't going anywhere, and surely not to W8 to teach the poor black kids. Easier to sit in their classrooms W2/3 and make unfounded accusations of racism than go teach [shocked voice] poor black kids.

It's incredible that some of you were calling teachers unhinged. I made more money over there from IMPACT and had a great five years. Looking forward to my return next year lot of great schools with healthier cultures out there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

In swift form, parents made it abundantly clear that they do not view us, as teachers, as equals. That's a significant development in this 'partnership.' Frankly, some of us are incensed enough not to be even able to look at you.

I’m not sure why you ever thought parents thought they were equal to teachers. They are different stakeholders. During covid teachers made perfectly clear that they do not share the interests of parents.

Many of us teachers are also parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

Holy Word Salad, Batman. Please tell me you "teach" PE.

You are literally proving the posters point.

Did you mean”the poster’s point”?

The poster who keeps misspelling school names and only recently learned what DMV stands for has a real problem with possessive nouns in English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This really shouldn’t need to be pointed out yet here we are. The sole piece of evidence that this effort was motivated by (subconscious or otherwise) racism is that the principal was black and some - but not all - of the parent organizers are white. That’s it. So any criticism by white Wizards fans of Bradley Beal’s performance after signing a $251m contract must be racist. Likewise, any criticism by black Redskins / WFT / Commanders fans of Snyder’s tenure is anti-Semitic. Does it really need to be spelled out how pitiful this is? It’s a line of argument that doesn’t help whoever is advancing it, certainly doesn’t help whoever is being falsely accused of racism, and makes us considerably poorer as a society. The Israeli government and the likes of AIPAC have been lobbing false accusations of anti-semitism against anyone who takes issue with human rights abuses committed against Palestinians and look at where that has led things. Be better, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

The people saying they're teachers on this thread are really teachers. The ones that say they're currently at Hardy are currently at Hardy. Saying they're lying is troll behavior. There's no reason for people to come on here and lie about their connection to the school. No one is getting paid for their fiction here.

The only way you could possibly know this would be if there is only one person posting on here that is actually currently teacher at Hardy and that person is you. Which, suffice to say, narrows things down a bit. And that others would rather believe that you are a Macedonian troll than an actual teacher speaks volumes about your coherency on this thread.

Or...Hardy teachers talk to each other? And we're all laughing at your responses? haha We're trying to calmly explain the things you're misunderstanding but everyone's perfectly happy to pretend everything is great. Okay, cool. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!

As much as we may struggle to believe that you are actually a teacher, it's even harder to believe that you would admit to others of posting to DCUM - let alone admit to the detritus that you've deposited on this here thread.

I swear there's a few parents on here who would do anything to avoid accepting the fact that the staff isn't throwing a gd party for the petitioners who caused all this.

We disagree with what you did. We've explained it rationally multiple times. You are still choosing to not hear us

+1

The hubris of PTO leadership thinking that this would be well received by teachers is astonishing.

They really misread the room and have irrevocably damaged staff/parent relations in the building. We literally want nothing to do with the PTO at this point.

Go ahead and respond that “I’m a bad teacher” and that you were just advocating for your child and that is your right and that you’re the only ones who care about Hardy and are saving the school, etc. Whatever. Anything you have to do to avoid 30 seconds of reflection that your actions maybe were a little hysterical, brazen, and unwarranted. And (trigger word) slightly racist, though subconscious (if this helps the whole thing be a bit more palatable to you).

This just befuddles me. Were you expecting logic like this:

"My child was upset about the brawl that took place at recess, but I'm not sure that the DCPS know what's happening. I could email, but I'm sure the teachers would want me to do a Survey Monkey of their views first."

"I could complain that I did not get notified for weeks that my child had no teacher in one class. But that could be upsetting for other teachers so maybe I won't."

"We can advocate for change or we could move out of DC. Probably we and other families should just move. We don't want to bother the teachers."

We know the parents are befuddled. It's evident by the responses every time we try to explain. So let me try to respond to each of your scenarios.

Point 1: if you think DCPS is going to intervene over recess fights, you have no idea what happens around the district. No it's not great, but there aren't magical behavior techs that can be conjured to fix that.

Point 2: why do you need a notification from school. do you talk to your child?

Point 3: moving is a great option. Wouldn't bother me one bit!

Re the PP who wondered how many of these putative teacher-posters actually teach at Hardy:
We know at least one does, bc he repeated several earlier posts to the WaPo. Maybe it's this guy.
But posts like this inspire disbelief in parents who want more for their kids/better value for their tax dollars than Mr. "I can make my same salary at an underenrolled MS across town where parents expect nothing of me, so why don't *you* privileged folk pull up and move your whole family to a different school district".
So we sure hope it's not a Hardy teacher who looks at our kids and thinks this way.

You should probably stop protesting being called racist now. Embarrassing that's how you view families in other parts of town

No, that’s what some teachers have said here. The NW parents are so “overstepping” that they will get jobs in W7 and 8 where parents are not organized.

Literal pp:

Anonymous wrote:Np, former Hardy teacher that left and teach in ward 7 now. Life is way less stressful. Hardy teachers, we have several openings, class sizes are all around 20 and parents thinking they can do my job better than I do are a lot rarer.

Was that person racist to take the job because they prefer parents who leave them alone?

That was me. I stand by it. The parents trusted me to teach their children. We were in constant contact and they were super responsive. The difference is that those parents would actually listen and converse rather than steamroll and demand.

Your reply is nonsense and hollow words, the meaning of which you seem not to understand. Hardy parents and orgs were in constant contact with the principal. Improvements were not made. Problems persisted. Then things were escalated and conversations occurred with DCPS and the principal. Parents and the principal listened but the objectives and acceptable outcomes were not the same from both parties. At that point, DCPS was engaged.

In your small little brain, if you ignore parents and they don't sit back and allow you to ignore them then they "steamroll" you if your boss decides you are wrong. Logic and English not your strong suit it would seem.