Hearst Principal Leaving/Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

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

According to IDEA the LRE: class setting with their typically developing peers is always the goal. Inclusive education is the push for the neighboring districts as well as DCPS, however FCPS is known to label minority children as ED and take them out of the schools and place them into alternative schools, which is a nightmare!

In fact, it takes quite a bit to get a child suspended in any school district because of the laws. Some schools systems have a zero-tolerance policy for violence which may sounds good on the outside but children are expelled for behavior and are never given therapy, instead they are placed in schools with children that have even more extreme behavior problems and a poor learning environment. This is almost exclusively a problem for minority children, not that White children do not also have extreme behavior problems but the districts tend to "treat" the cases with more sensitivity. This is not a good alternative for the parents, child or society.

I also want to note that it's interesting that FCPS and MCPS are highlighted as good examples of education in this thread. I am a former educator and when I considered these schools systems I did a thorough check of the schools' performance. Guess what, these schools FAILED at educating low-income children and they failed at education AFAM children. The black-white achievement gap was disgraceful, which tells me that the quality of education was LOW. Some may disagree but as an educator I have turned down job offers in these districts and decided to go to the Title I, predominantly AFAM and Hispanic, HIGH performing schools because they were able to prove to me that they could educate children that didn't come from a cookie cutter background. In my opinion, if you can't effectively educate a diverse student population, children with special needs, etc then you (district, school, teacher) need to adjust, step up your game and take responsibility. So let's look at some of these issues with a more detailed lens.

My question is why are we so quick to want to push out children with behavior issues. Why do we think that schools and classrooms have to be filled with children that are all developing and behaving typically? That's not reasonable nor is it to be expected in a school system that estimates about 12-14 % of their children ages 3-5 have a special need(s). Oh and good teachers are able to efficiently handle children even with serious behavior issues/ED. I've been hit, threatened, etc and I never once entertained the idea of expulsion or even quitting. I stuck in it, addressed the behaviors and the overall well being of the children and don't you know that these kids are doing GREAT now! No behavior issues, no violence and they are performing great academically! Not to mention I had the highest performing class on my grade level and my students were and are still exhibiting great citizenship! We can't afford to give up on our babies.

I respect Mr. Kerlina, he made several points that are in line with my experience as a professional in DCPS but you only fail when you quit. He could have quite possibly used Hearst as an example/model school for school-wide discipline. He could have changed the culture completely and placed in-house solutions to the problems he addressed. Two years is not enough time to implement long-term change or to address any real issue in a school. He complained of salary...Do you know how much I made when I had to chase students who ran out of the building in the middle of my lessons while the Principal was in her office? He complained of the central office imposing...do you know how many DC principals, staff break DCPS policy and need a strong Critical response team to avoid lawsuits!? I'm not judging Kerlina but instead of attempting to work through or address the problems he cited he instead left the school with lower test scores, no system in place to deal with the issues. All poor excuses (IMO) to cover up his new business that he promoted in the article.

Hmmm....

One of the greatest downfalls of the "Rheeform" is the lack of tenacity and dedication of the staff she hired. TFA teachers leaves in two years, central office staff use the popularity of DCPS to leverage better opportunities and Principals leave to bake cupcakes...nice

[Anonymous]

I think it's interesting that he used that one student disciplinary issue as an excuse. We don't know the details of the case. The child may have been undergoing evaluations for his behaviors and if that is the case he CAN NOT be suspended or expelled for an issue related to the area that he is being evaluated under. So if a child has psychological issues that cause behavior problems they cannot be expelled for a behavior problem and they most certainly cannot be put out of the school. If this child was not a DC resident but moved into the district during the school year then DCPS did act accordingly. OOB seats are not given to students based upon good behavior. What's funny is that MANY principals try to push OOB special needs kids (autistic, LD, MR, etc) and kids with behavior problems out of their school and into their neighborhood school because they don't want to deal with the child or do not want to use their budget on hiring the therapists....so they research the families and try to do whatever they can to push them out. It sounds crazy but trust me it happens too often in other wards!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our family is caucasian and OOB attendee at Hearst. We are part of the increased enrollment because between the prospect of improvements DCPS-wide, and the economic downturn, our family couldn't fathom an annual $20k+ tuition PER KID at a private school. The promise of reform gave us an opportunity to stay in our beloved DC.

However I will admit Rhee leaving and now our principal makes me look twice at the burbs - sad!

If Rhee had stayed, you'd be in the same boat.

ITA. Rhee's legacy is no small part of the messed up system that drove your quality principal away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principal Kerlina was wonderful, but why is everyone convinced that he's the last and greatest option for Hearst and that all will fall apart due to his departure? How about a little optimism here? Perhaps everyone can learn from this and the parents and DCPS can find an even better fit for the school.

because there's every reason to think that the new principal, however great, will be dealing with the same dysfunctional system.

Kaya's non-grammatical brush-off is a major clue of that.

Exactly. The system gave two hoots about losing a by all accounts great principal--not. Even if you get a new, good one, give it two years.

[Anonymous]

People are jumping on Henderson for her grammar but "everything ain’t for everybody,” is actually a popular saying. I'm sure she knew it was poor grammar but it was a quote which means we don't know what came before or after or how she delivered it. Shoot, "everything ain’t for everybody,” is one of my favorite lines!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting that he used that one student disciplinary issue as an excuse. We don't know the details of the case. The child may have been undergoing evaluations for his behaviors and if that is the case he CAN NOT be suspended or expelled for an issue related to the area that he is being evaluated under. So if a child has psychological issues that cause behavior problems they cannot be expelled for a behavior problem and they most certainly cannot be put out of the school. If this child was not a DC resident but moved into the district during the school year then DCPS did act accordingly. OOB seats are not given to students based upon good behavior. What's funny is that MANY principals try to push OOB special needs kids (autistic, LD, MR, etc) and kids with behavior problems out of their school and into their neighborhood school because they don't want to deal with the child or do not want to use their budget on hiring the therapists....so they research the families and try to do whatever they can to push them out. It sounds crazy but trust me it happens too often in other wards!

The child should have been expelled for living in PG county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
People are jumping on Henderson for her grammar but "everything ain’t for everybody,” is actually a popular saying. I'm sure she knew it was poor grammar but it was a quote which means we don't know what came before or after or how she delivered it. Shoot, "everything ain’t for everybody,” is one of my favorite lines!

It was a ridiculously poor choice of words for the Chancellor of a failing school system. She should lead by example -- and it just should not be too much to ask that the Chancellor speak in grammatically correct sentences while sitting for an on-the-record interview. BTW, one of my favorite expressions when I screw up is "Oh F@#K!...but you won't catch me saying that to my boss or to the press when interviewed for my job. Enough with the low expectations of professionalism. It is all part of this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
People are jumping on Henderson for her grammar but "everything ain’t for everybody,” is actually a popular saying. I'm sure she knew it was poor grammar but it was a quote which means we don't know what came before or after or how she delivered it. Shoot, "everything ain’t for everybody,” is one of my favorite lines!

write her a letter and tell her to use it more often then. she could use the support. Most people, including me, think it was a dumb thing for a school leader to say.

[Anonymous]

maybe 14:53 is floating responses to Kaya's ain't line to see what works.

Back to the drawing board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. Why is Kaya saying "ain't"?

Wonderful spokesperson; yikes! Is she trying to be 'just folks'? Not the right moment in a situation meriting a serious, reasoned response.

--former DCPS teacher who give thanks every day for my good fortune in escaping....

So many take-aways in this article. Good on the Principal for putting his real thoughts out there.

That said, when I read "ain't" coming out of the Chancellor's mouth in an on-the-record interview with the Post, my first thought was: she should be fired just for that.

Can you imagine a CEO being interviewed in, say, the WSJ, about a key executive's departure and hearing the word "ain't" in her answer. Please!! Just ridiculous. Standards are set from the top. What a joke.

You can usually tell the folks who are insecure about their education, since they always tend to focus on the wrong things. "The Schools Chancellor said aint! There goes all DCPS' credibility!!"


Why, can you imagine a CEO being interviewed in a major publication and using the word "ain't"? The idea!!!

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/11/aig_ceo_this_ship_aint_going_t.html

Reminds me of the non-scandal from a few years ago where some grant-writing team repurposed some standard boilerplate in their grant, and all the semi-educated folk got up in arms about "plagiarism". "What will our children think!!!!"

Whatevs.

[Anonymous]

Frankly, I thought Kerlina came off as a whining idiot in the article. Most of the problems he cited - certain pushy parents, in-bounds families that didn't want to attend, OOB kids who may bring more discipline issues to the school, etc. - were in existence when he signed-on. Other schools are successful in making it work despite dysfunctions within DCPS. Did he think it would be easy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting that he used that one student disciplinary issue as an excuse. We don't know the details of the case. The child may have been undergoing evaluations for his behaviors and if that is the case he CAN NOT be suspended or expelled for an issue related to the area that he is being evaluated under. So if a child has psychological issues that cause behavior problems they cannot be expelled for a behavior problem and they most certainly cannot be put out of the school. If this child was not a DC resident but moved into the district during the school year then DCPS did act accordingly. OOB seats are not given to students based upon good behavior. What's funny is that MANY principals try to push OOB special needs kids (autistic, LD, MR, etc) and kids with behavior problems out of their school and into their neighborhood school because they don't want to deal with the child or do not want to use their budget on hiring the therapists....so they research the families and try to do whatever they can to push them out. It sounds crazy but trust me it happens too often in other wards!

Yet another fucked up thing about public education in the US. Is there any behavioral problem that aren't caused by "psychological issues"? The reason DCPS has a much higher percentage of SN kids than surrounding jurisdictions is because poverty and home instability fuck you up.

[Anonymous]

Here, here!

[Anonymous]

The "Here, here!" is in reply to 15:35; not 15:37.

[Anonymous]

As I said earlier in a response on another post. Kaya is nothing but the reincarnation of Nell Carter for DCPS "Ain't Misbehaving." The visual with the response would have meant the smacking of the lips, the rolling of the eyes and the shifting the neck back and forth. Lest not forget the hands on the hips, shifting back and forth.

When people show you who they really are, believe it.