On January 27, 2010 DC Council member Marion Barry and other council members held a press conference at 2:30 p.m. to call upon Chairman Gray to conduct a hearing immediately into Chancellor Rhee’s claims against fired DCPS teachers, to express outrage over Chancellor Rhee’s recent comments e.g. “had sex with children” hit them or had unapproved excessive absences and to demand that Chancellor Rhee comes forth with names and actions taken against alleged abusers. Stay tuned as this story continues to unfold.
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Does Michelle Rhee Deserve To Be Named Person Of The Year ?
You Gotta Be Kidding Me
I received this email alert today which is worth reading and was also posted on The WaPo online site by Efavorite. (click on Efavorite to see the comment). The suggestion that Chancellor Michelle Rhee should even be considered for Person of the year is unbelievable in light of her recent statements to Fast Company magazine in which she stated that she fired DC's laid off teachers because they had sex with students, abused students as well as their leave. Check out this video which appeared on channel 5 news on Friday at 6 pm and 10 pm about Rhee's comments.
This email alert reads:
ALERT: "In today’s print edition of the Post on page B2 (Outlook) there is a big paid advertisement from the Federal City Council that starts out saying, "Michelle Rhee deserves to be named DC Person of the Year.” It goes on to list all the usual lies (Baltimore miracle, DCs academic achievement attributed to her, etc.). It’s signed by Frank Keating, President of the organization and former Republican governor of Oklahoma. The piece doesn’t come up on the Post website, I suppose because it is an advertisement and not an article. I also couldn’t find the ad poking around a bit on the Federal City Council website, but perhaps others here could take a stab at it @ http://www.federalcitycouncil.org/
Also, check out the “contact us” link for emails of people to write to in protest of the ad. I’d say this ad is total damage control in preparation for the next big FACTUAL article on the latest mess Rhee has made. It looks like a Post editorial, but isn’t, really, so it appears that even the ed board is laying low on this one for now, using a paid ad to stand in for its usual fawning defense of Rhee. The ad is also misleading in that it suggests Rhee is being nominated for an honor, when it’s actually just a paid ad trying to embed that idea in readers’ minds." Signed --- Efavorite
I know the thought of this makes me sick to my stomach. Excuse me while I regurgitate. You tell me in your own words does Chancellor Michelle Rhee deserve to be named Person of the year ? Should we take actions to protest this action ?
Posted by The Washington Teacher, featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence
Rhee Says RIF'ed Teachers Abused And Molested Students
Rhee-Gate..... the plot thickens
In Fast Company's February magazine issue, Chancellor Rhee is quoted as saying that DC teachers were laid off because they hit children, had sex with children and missed 78 days of work. I am starting to get a 'brain cramp' from all of Rhee's variations of the truth about the real reason why DC teachers were laid off on November 2, 2009.
Hmmmm it looks like to me that Rhee is having one too many bi-polar moments and seems unable to keep up with what she previously reported on TV news stations, in print media as well as before the DC City Council under oath. If we are to believe the latest on what Rhee reports in Fast Company's February issue, then we have to ask ourselves is Rhee suggesting that 266 teachers are guilty of deviant acts such as child abuse , child molestation (like Kevin Johnson was alleged at St. Hope) and employees who abuse their sick leave ? Don't you find it a bit odd that we are just hearing about this, three months after teacher layoffs in November 2009. I don't know about you but I'm ready to recommend that Chancellor Rhee submit for a fitness for duty examination because these are the rants of either a 'mad or very confused woman.' I'd love to hear your thoughts on the latest Rhee-Gate episode of DC teacher bashing
BY: JEFF CHU
Mon Feb 1, 2010
"Eighteen months after we profiled Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee ("The Iron Chancellor," September 2008), she still hasn't won union approval of a new contract. After the October layoffs of 266 teachers and staff, the union claimed Rhee used a budget crunch as a pretext for dismissing veteran teachers, since seniority rules don't cover cuts for fiscal reasons. "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school," Rhee says. "Why wouldn't we take those things into consideration?" The release of 2009 test scores was good news for Rhee: Only D.C. and four states showed gains in math for fourth and eighth graders. "We're not good yet," she says, "but I'm seeing the quality of instruction improving."
Posted by The Washington Teacher, featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence, update courtesy of Fast Company magazine, picture courtesy of Ed Notes on line education blog.
Rhee's Leadership Drives DC Public Schools Students Out The Door
Education Notes On Line blogger featured an excellent piece on how our DC Public schools student population is shrinking under the helm of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee- 17% less than last year to be exact. Unfortunately, our mainstream press fails to adequately cover these news worthy details. The Washington Post and local news stations continue to heap tons of praise on Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee instead of asking why DC public schools has such a decline in enrollment over the last two years of education reform. I can't help but wonder, if education reform under Fenty and Rhee has been so successful- why then are parents voting with their feet and heading to charter schools ? Here are some insights:
Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s leadership continues to drive students away from DC public schools and to shrink the public school system
Since this post on Friday on the disappearing public school students in Washington:
Washington DC: How to Wipe Out a Public School System
and its attendant graphic
there have been some developments that make the situation worse than it seems and we may see these lines cross sooner than we thought. I actually heard another favorable report on Rhee on NPR (funded by Bill Gates) today where the commentator actually said Rhee was struggling to keep kids in the public schools. I had to pull over to the side of the road. They just don't get it. That Rhee - and Klein, et al. - were chosen to preside over the demise of the public school system, not its resurgence. Their goal is to one day have zero schools under their direct management so they can be left to go to press conferences at successful charters, whose $370,000 a year CEOs will bow and scrape in genuflecting thanks.
Gary Imhoff writes in DC-based themail
Leah Fabel’s article in the Examiner is well summarized by its headline writer: “Enrollment in DC Schools Plunges as Students Go Elsewhere”(http://tinyurl.com/mc9moq).“By Monday’s first school bell, charters project at least 28,000 students, or about 2,400 more than last year, while DC Public Schools expect about 45,000, or 2,000 fewer than in spring.”
Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s leadership continues to drive students away from DC public schools and to shrink the public school system, and she continues to escape public criticism for it. But she realizes that her Teflon coating can’t last forever, so she also continues to make optimistic predictions that stand little to no chance of coming true: “Rhee said she expects regular public schools’ declines to level off by next year and enrollment to creep up soon afterward.”
One person who understands the importance of keeping an urban school district’s enrollment figures up is Robert Bobb, DC’s former city administrator and school board president, who this year is in Detroit as the emergency financial manager of its schools, trying to persuade and beg parents to keep their children in the public schools (http://townhall.com/news/us/2009/08/22/robert_bobb_hits_streets_to_coax_students_back).
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
Bill Turque in the Washington Post, August 24, 2009
37,000 to Start D.C. Public Schools Today, Well Below Budget Figure
Despite an advertising campaign and an early push to sign up students, the D.C. public school system will begin classes Monday with an enrollment of about 37,000 -- 17 percent below the total at the end of the last academic year, officials said over the weekend.
Enrollment in regular public schools often grows during the year, as students and parents complete paperwork and some transfer from public charter schools. But a spokeswoman for Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee declined to predict whether the system would reach 44,681 -- the audited enrollment figure from last school year and the basis for its $760 million 2010 budget.
Moreover, because the school system moved up the start of its annual enrollment process from July to April, the late surge could be smaller than usual."We anticipate a much smoother start to school with fewer families needing to enroll during the first few days," said Jennifer Calloway, Rhee's spokeswoman. She added that last year at this time, only 15,000 students had completed enrollment. In addition to a radio and bus sign ad campaign ("Go public and get a great free education!" said some spots), principals visited homes, held community barbecues and conducted enrollment fairs in concert with immunization clinics held by the District's health department.
Regular public school enrollment in the District has declined by more than half since 1980, while the public charter community has grown dramatically since the independently operated schools began in the 1990s. More than a third of the city's public students attend charter schools, which project an enrollment of about 28,066 this fall, up more than 10 percent from last school year's 25,363. Some analysts say public charter enrollment could surpass the regular school population by 2014.
The vastly different trends have made enrollment politically contentious. Rhee has said she expects persistent declines to bottom out, with the school system's numbers perhaps starting to edge upward. But the D.C. Council voted May 12 to hold back $27 million of the 2010 budget, because it found implausible her projections for an increase of 373 students, to a total of 45,054.
Council members contended that the charter schools would be drawing more students from regular schools. The council projected regular public school enrollment at 41,541, based on trends from the previous three years. Both sides eventually agreed to use last school year's number -- 44,681 -- as the benchmark.
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said Sunday that the 37,000 total is "probably low," given the school system's history of late enrollment. But he added: "I do question the likelihood of getting 7,681 enrolled between now and the first of October," when the first official count is taken.
Posted by The Washington Teacher, Story courtesy of Ed Notes On Line, Gary Imhoff-themail & Bill Turque/The WaPo
No Job For You Even Under Family Medical Leave Act !
A colleague forwarded me a link to a 7 on your side story about a DCPS employee who is still awaiting her job after taking medical leave. When I went to the WJLA site I was surprised when I watched the video of the DCPS employee, Sheila Jefferson who was writing to Channel 7 to appeal for help in getting reinstated to her job. I met Ms. Jefferson many years ago when I first entered DC Public Schools. My heart went out to her after learning that she had to request medical leave in order to care for her 19 year old son when he was diagnosed with cancer. Having a 19 year old son myself- I can only imagine the heartache she must have felt when faced with this life challenge.
Federal programs like the Family Medical Leave Act were designed to give all of us some assurance that when we leave our jobs on medical leave to care for our loved ones our jobs will be there when we return to work. This did not happen for Sheila Jefferson. To date, DCPS under the Rhee administration has not re-instated Ms. Jefferson to her job as required by law. If the Rhee administration's arbitrary termination of hundreds of workers often without due process doesn't make you sick, then I am sure this story will. One things for sure, if we all live long enough we are likely to face a medical problem that will force us to request leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. We can only hope that when we are ready to return to work we will get better treatment than 28 year DCPS veteran Sheila Jefferson. I also couldn't help but wonder why Ms. Jefferson's union isn't representing her interests in this matter ?
Here's the video courtesy of WJLA:
D.C. Public Schools Employee Fights for Job
"7 is On Your Side with a woman who is asking for help getting her job back. The D.C. Public Schools employee wants to know why she's been forced to wait seven months to report back after taking some time off from work. The employee says she was promised her job would be there when she was ready to return but says she's now getting the runaround. After 28 years of working for D.C. Public Schools, she says she deserves better treatment. Sifting through stacks of paper, Sheila Jefferson shows records of the last year of her life dealing with D.C. Public Schools. Jefferson says she's two months behind on rent and her car was just recently repossessed.
"It has been rough," she said. "As of today I still don't know how I'm going to make it." Battling medical issues last August, Jefferson took sick leave from her job as an administrative assistant. Records show the administration approved time off from the end of August through the beginning of January but at the end of November, the unthinkable happened: Jefferson's 19-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. "All I could do is collapse to the floor and I cried," she said. The diagnosis forced Jefferson to ask for advanced sick leave. She says the school system granted her 240 additional hours in mid-December, giving her six weeks to care for her son as he underwent treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. "If she would have stayed working I don't think she would have been able to care for me as much as she has been," said Jerome Boyd, Jefferson's son. In January, concerned about mounting bills, Jefferson told human resources she was ready to return to work. Now at the end of July, she is still without a position or any promise that she will ever get her job back. "[They say], 'Don't worry because we will take care of you,' but I have worried because they have not taken care of me," she said. "I've actually sat there and watched my mom walk into human resources and come back out with tears in her eyes because they haven't called her back," said Boyd. "She hasn't gotten a payroll check; she doesn't know how we're going to pay for my medications and things like that."
7 On Your Side did speak to a spokesperson for D.C. Public Schools who says they are looking into the issue but cannot comment on any personnel matter. On Your Side also contacted the Ombudsman for public education in the District . They say they plan to reach out to Jefferson to make sure she is being treated fairly. "
Posted by The Washington Teacher, video/story courtesy of wjla.com
I Thought We Were Broke ?
I thought that DC was in the middle of a budget deficit. Isn't this the rationale for DC mayor Adrian Fenty's cutting funds for the independent evaluation of DC public schools as well as city services to vulnerable residents? Someone please tell me where are the funds coming from to publicly fund LEA's for new teacher hires and highly qualified veteran teachers to transfer schools ? Is this money being funded by the stimulus money ?
According to a June 23 article on the WTOP website , "Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi's revised revenue projections, Washington faces a $190 million deficit in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, and a $150 million shortfall in the 2010 budget proposal approved by the Council in May. " That's a total of 340 million dollars.
You tell me what's wrong with this picture. Post here on The Washington Teacher
Subsequent to writing this piece, I wrote Jesse Rauch, Legislative Analyst for the DC City Council. Here's what he said about the source of the funds :
"Terese, my colleague in the Committee of the Whole, says that those are Title II funds coming from the Feds. I CC’d her if you have additional questions on those OSSE grants. Thanks Candi. "
Jesse B Rauch
Senior Legislative Analyst
Committee of the Whole
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 410
Washington, DC 20004
OSSE link: http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/seo/section/2/release/17666
OSSE Announces Funds for New Teacher Signing and Transfer Bonuses ( 7/21/09)
"The DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is pleased to announce to all public LEAs the availability of funds for highly qualified new hires and highly qualified veterans that transfer to schools with low numbers of highly qualified teachers and/or schools in NCLB corrective action status. Teachers in the following subject areas may be granted a $3,000 signing or transfer bonus:
Mathematics
English/Language Arts/Reading
Science
Art
Social Studies
For more information on taking advantage of the Highly Qualified New/Transfer Teacher funds, please have your LEA representative contact Valida Walker, Title II-A Coordinator in the Office of Educator Licensure and Quality at valida.walker@dc.gov or hqt.help@dc.gov "
Posted by The Washington Teacher, information courtesy of OSSE website, quote courtesy of WTOP.com
OSSE Says NO AYP Scores For You- DCPS !
Here is an update as posted from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) website. Sorry but you will have to wait. No AYP Scores for DCPS until August 5 ! Until then, I guess we will have to rely on our anonymous source who has been posting DC public schools scores here on The Washington Teacher. See the comment section under the July 22 post titled: Rhee's Model School Shaw TKO'd By Non-Contender Sousa : Is It True ?
JULY 28 UPDATE: OSSE will be releasing final & public data from the 2009 DC CAS on Wednesday August 5. Originally, preliminary data without AYP determinations was to be released today and final data on August 12. Over the next 8 days, OSSE will be reviewing appeals and petitions from schools and LEAs. Please check back on August 5 to view all final achievement data by school and AYP determinations for 2009.
OSSE website: http://nclb.osse.dc.gov/index.asp
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Rhee's Undercover Hiring Practices of DC Teachers
As early as March 2009, there were record numbers of prospective teachers who had not even finished their bachelor degrees but were hired anyway by some DC principals for teaching positions. These interviews were conducted via telephone in many instances. Unfortunately, DC teachers were not given the same opportunity to interview for these positions because interviews were conducted on the DL (down low) before job fairs were even held or vacancy positions had been announced. I have posted the email below just to give you a glimpse of what's still going on in DCPS with deceptive hiring practices. This doesn't sound like the transparency we were promised under the Fenty administration. Many questions that need to be answered are posed in this email from a DC insider:
Dear Candi:
"It appears that principals are still interviewing new teachers for vacant positions. Friendship personnel has been in Anacostia SHS interviewing new teachers behind locked doors. This was happening as late as yesterday.
Also, under the new Friendship program, Anacostia SHS will have 4 principals including two new principals and an Assistant Principal who was once demoted from a principal position. They are still seeking a fourth principal. Check out the school profiles listed on the DCPS website. In addition, four deans of students who will not only work with students but will work with teachers in the classroom providing instructional support. This is a new approach for deans. What are their qualifications? Where is the WTU? What happened to the July 15 cutoff date ? Rhee and her partners cannot be trusted to keep their word. Many people are waiting to be placed and yet, principals are still interviewing new teachers. " Signed DC insider
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Rhee's Gaming The NCLB System
She's Got Game !
"Gaming the System means, simply, using the rules, policies and procedures of a system against itself for purposes outside what these rules were intended for. Most of the time, a set of rules will be put in place towards a simple goal. People who study the rules closely can then use this massive (often contradictory) ruleset to play the "game" their own, unexpected way."
On paper, DCPS has showed gains in improving its standardized test scores. But WaPo staff writer Bill Turque's article on July 17 as well as a July 20 WaPo letter to the editor by James Crawford support that Chancellor Michell Rhee is manipulating statistics to make DC Schools appear better than they really are. A review of the literature reveals that it isn't uncommon practice for jurisdictions to game the system under NCLB by finding loopholes in the 2002 law that measures annual progress of all students' reading and math at grade level by the year 2014.
A few of the common tactics used to game the system include:
1. limiting the number of test scores used to chart progress in closing the achievement gap between minority and white students. The higher a jurisdiction sets a subgroup size, the more groups such as disabled students and other subgroups are excluded. For instance setting a group to a size of 40 may exclude disabled students if the school does not have a population of of 40 disabled students.
2. Another commonly used tactic is using the performance index which gives jurisdictions half the credit for students who aren't proficient. This tactic makes it easier for local jurisdictions to make annual progress. In 2005-06, the state of Alabama used this tactic. Since they had up to 85% of their students at the basic level, almost half of their students were counted as proficient using this tactic even though they weren't proficient.
Both the recent Bill Turque article and the Crawford letter (listed below) both underscore the need for an independent evaluation of Chancellor Rhee's reform. This independent evaluation would provide us with an objective overall measure of progress that looks at a many variables other than just DC-CAS score which can be manipulated. Some of the other variables that would probably be considered include high school graduation rate , National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) a test taken by a cross-section of students in each jurisdiction as well as a number of other critical factors. The editorial titled Education Chicanery in the District by James Crawford from the Institute on Language and Education Policy delves into what Crawford characterizes as deceptive testing tactics by the Rhee administration that provides misleading results. Here it is in its entirety:
Educational Chicanery in the District
"Bill Turque provided some valuable insights into the manipulation of student test scores for political advantage ["Testing Tactics Helped Fuel D.C. School Gains," Metro, July 17]. Removing low scorers from the testing pool is an effortless way to raise average scores and create the illusion of progress for D.C. schools. But it prevents any fair comparison with test results from prior years.
Intensive teaching to the test, especially for students on the cusp of "proficiency," is even more pernicious. It destroys the validity of academic assessments, which are designed to sample a broad range of skills and knowledge. Narrowing instruction to items expected to be on the test is like holding a match under the thermostat. It produces misleading results, not to mention an impoverished curriculum.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee have taken credit for what they call "steady gains" by students. But pumping up test scores by artificial means tells us nothing about whether children are learning. It's too bad The Post relied on a euphemism -- "improved statistical housekeeping" -- to characterize these deceptive tactics. A more accurate description would be "gaming the system."
JAMES CRAWFORD
President
Institute for Language and Education Policy
Washington
Posted by The Washington Teacher
editorial courtesy of WaPo, definition courtesy of wiktruth
DCPS In Search Of 24 New Principals !
The Rhee administration will replace twenty-four principals this school year. Some principals RESIGNED, some RETIRED and some WERE FIRED by the Rhee administration. Some panel interviews for principal selections were held at the School Without Walls beginning last week.
*According to the DCPS website 24 of the principals listed below, with the exception of Luke C. Moore Academy are To Be Determined (TBD) . Ironically Dr. Reginald Elliot is still listed as of 7/15/09 even though he reports he was not re-instated by Rhee.
Here's the list of schools (below) awaiting new principals officially or have principals yet to be determined. *This to be determined (TBD) list was identified on the DCPS website on 7/15/09 and not by The Washington Teacher. Any concerns about certain principals not being listed officially should be directed to DCPS.
Anacostia SHS
Bancroft ES
Barnard EC
Browne EC
Garfield ES- principal resigned
Garrison ES
Hamilton EC
Hearst ES
Janney ES
Johnson MS
Kelly Miller MS
Leckie ES- principal retired
Luke C. Moore Academy
Mamie D. Lee School - principal retired
Mcfarland MS
Maury ES
Murch ES - principal resigned
Patterson ES- principal resigned
Powell ES
Proscpect Learning Center- principal retired
Roosevelt STAY
Smothers ES
Spingarn SHS
Stoddert ES
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Rhee Fires More DC Principals !
A very reliable source contacted me and confirmed that the principal of Kelly Miller middle school located at 301 49th Street, NE was terminated on Thursday. Other principals were alleged to have been terminated by the Rhee administration at a recent principals meeting as well.
You're Fired !
Got a tip about principal terminations, email saveourcounselors@gmail.com
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Where Have All The Teachers Gone ?
Answer: Rhee has fired everyone
I received the email below from a concerned insider about Sousa Middle School's high turnover rate of teachers and staff under the helm of Principal Dwan Jordan. Sousa is located at 3650 Ely Place, SE Washington, DC. Little has been reported by the mainstream media about the impact DC teacher/principal firings and high staff attrition rates will have on returning students come August. The Washington Post has limited coverage on teacher terminations and no reports to date on the recent principal terminations and staff attrition rates. Little wonder why given that The Washington Post has a proclivity for covering up the news rather than reporting the news.
Soon I imagine that we will be singing the song - Where have all the teachers gone ? (to the music of Pete Seeger's -Where have all the flowers gone ?)
Where have all the teachers gone ?
Long time passing
Where have all the teachers gone ?
long time ago
Rhee has fired everyone.
When will she ever learn ?
When will she ever learn ?
Dear Candi
"Sousa Middle School has experienced the highest teacher and staff turnover rate in its' history, under one year of leadership with Principal Dwan Jordon. Dwan Jordon terminated 8 teachers that he placed on the 90-Day Plan; however, more than 30 additional staff members have either transferred, resigned, or left in the past 10 months Principal Jordon has been on the job. To have more than 30 people (including janitors) voluntarily leave a brand-new, 20 million dollar plus, state-of-the-art- middle school should be very telling about Mr. Jordon's treatment of teachers and staff.
Students, parents and community leaders are outraged at this high turn-over rate as it will effect the human ecology of their neighborhood. As such, they have signed petitions, and have called for Principal Dwan Jordon's termination to Chancellor Rhee. On Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 3:00 p.m., students, parents, and community members met at headquarters with CHANCELLOR RHEE and presented compelling evidence as to why Principal Dwan Jordon is not a good fit for Sousa. They presented CHANCELLOR RHEE with all the names of the teachers and staff members who were no longer at Sousa. Also, they provided personal testimony regarding their experiences at Sousa.
THIS WAS THE RESPONSE OF CHANCELLOR RHEE TO THE SOUSA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS ABOUT PRINCIPAL DWAN JORDON:
"Well, I will investigate the various allegations that you have brought against Mr. Jordon. However, I feel that Mr. Jordon is an awesome, awesome, principal who sets very high standards for his teachers and staff. Therefore, I do not agree with terminating Mr. Jordon. At the very least, Mr. Jordon deserves another school year as Sousa Middle School's principal."
Can all the teachers and staff-members be wrong? Can all the teachers and staff-members who accuse Principal Jordon of being mean-spirited, uncaring and a tyrant be incorrect? What is going to happen to all the students who are returning to Sousa in August when they realize that only 5 teachers out of the original 24 will be back? Also, how will the students respond to 19 new teachers who don't know anything about the neighborhood or its' student body ?
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Rhee Gives More Pink Slips To DC Principals
It's Official - Chancellor Rhee Fires Stoddert Principal !
June 30th is typically the day when Chancellor Rhee sounds her trumpet of doom as she gives some DC principals their pink slips. Remember last year ? A little central office birdie told me that as many as 60 DC administrators including principals and other managers are likely to be terminated this summer by the Rhee administration.
I received a post on my blog inquiring if Stoddert's principal, Dr. Andriana Kalapothakos (known as Dr. K) had been terminated. Stoddert Elementary School is located at 4001 Calvert Street, NW. Prior to the end of this school year, some Stoddert parents had expressed concerns that Dr. K may possibly be terminated by Chancellor Rhee effective June 30. It was reported that Chancellor Rhee stated in a small meeting with some of Stoddert's parents that as soon as she finds a 'rock star' she had plans to replace Dr. K. Hmmmm very interesting. Well this morning I confirmed, it's official Dr. K is no longer the principal of Stoddert elementary school after a 3 year term. Interviews will begin sources state as early as next week possibly.
Stoddert elementary school met AYP in 2008 in both reading and math according to the OSSE website and students were 88.10 % proficient in reading and 78.57% proficient in math in the white and non-hispanic grouping. No available data was available for other minorities or special education students as they had less than 25 students tested in these categories.
These draconian tactics of firing even principals whose schools do well begs the question, why would termination even be a consideration. Of course in an at-will environment, anything and everything is possible. What we have seen is that this current administration throws the good out with the bad often in exchange for a not so great replacement. For what its worth, here's what a Stoddert ES parent said about Stoddert and the leadership under Dr. K on the great schools website. By the way Stoddert parents gave the school a 10 out of 10 rating.
"Stoddert is an excellent school and they are doing great work with the kids. It is a very small school (less than 250 kids I think) so everyone knows each other. The Principal Dr. K is wonderful and highly experienced. She has a great personal touch with the kids and so far, the teachers are great. There is a great librarian and computer lab teacher and solid services for non-native English speakers. Special ed services are uneven (as they are in all of DC). There is also a great before and after care program run by the PTA and staffed by current and former Stoddert parents as well as some of the teaching staff. They offer a homework club and extra activities like basketball, languages, knitting, etc. There is also a highly active PTA. The parents are in the school all the time and take an very active role." Submitted by a parent
Stay tuned for updates on this unfolding story.
visit OSSE website for latest AYP scores: http://www.nclb.osse.dc.gov/aypreports.asp
Posted by The Washington Teacher. Quote courtesy of Great Schools website.
Be Careful What You Write on Twitter !
This article below was written by Nikita Stewart of The WaPo on June 25. Somehow I overlooked it. I think it is interesting particularly since it is about a Dept. of Employment Services (DOES) summer contractor who regularly made disparaging comments about Anacostia SHS ( his place of employment) and loafing, on his Twitter page. I find it curious that many people think they have the right to publicly make 'racially insensitive' comments about Ward 8 where Anacostia SHS is located. DOES contractor David Le's comments are akin to the alleged statement made by Donald L. Hense of Friendship-Edison when Hense explained that the reason Anacostia SHS students can't learn is because their mother's are on crack cocaine (see 6/28/09 entry on this blog). Had this same type of offensive comment been made in a more affluent part of the city like ward 3 where residents are more politically astute, I believe that it would not have been tolerated by DC schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and would have resulted in an immediate investigation by the Rhee administration .
All I know is be careful what you say publicly out of your mouth. People are watching. Here's the story:
D.C. Summer Jobs Contractor Fired for Posts on Twitter
"The D.C. Department of Employment Services fired a contractor who was working with youths in the city's summer jobs program after officials became aware of messages on his Twitter site that Anacostia is "ghetto" and that he was loafing at work.
David Le, who was working as a participant service specialist, was terminated yesterday, said Mafara Hobson, spokeswoman for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). "He no longer works for DOES," she said. "I can't talk about personnel issues."
The firing came a day after The Washington Post showed Hobson a month-long string of tweets from Le's page. "In america's ghetto anacostia... If I get scared i will just yell chinese carry out! They will not shoot me," a message read on June 22. On June 15, a message read, "thank goodness my boss is making things easy, he told me to pretend to do work so he can mark me down for hours."
Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), chairman of the committee that oversees DOES, called the messages "unprofessional, wrong and racist." "To do that, I don't think it represents the high standards of the Fenty administration," said Barry, who represents Anacostia. "You can excuse one [tweet], but he has a series of them. It's excessive."
Reached through Facebook, Le declined to comment. In a Twitter message, he said he is Asian. The profile photo shows him shirtless and in sunglasses. Hobson said he began working on June 10 and was paid $13 per hour to oversee participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program. His Twitter page was brought to the attention of the Post by David Hoffman, owner of an employment placement firm whose agreement to find jobs for 400 to 500 participants was terminated this week by the city. Officials said the firm improperly assigned some participants to go to development and construction companies to see if they were complying with a city law to employ District residents.
City officials said they knew nothing about the assignments. But Hoffman said the employment-services department endorsed the idea because the agency needed an activity that could employ large numbers of participants. When the city terminated Hoffman's agreement, Le was one of the employees who contacted participants to tell them they would be getting new work assignments.Hoffman said he found the tweets disturbing. "One of the schools I am in charge of is Anacostia [High School]. If you are from here, you know ANACOSTIA . . . about 100+ murders in one year," said a tweet from June 15."
Posted by The Washington Teacher. Story courtesy of www.washingtonpost.com
A DC Teacher Speaks Out From East Of The River ...
A DC teacher from Anacostia senior high school wrote me several e-mails about the inequities in excessing of DC teachers and school counselors at Anacostia senior high school which is located @ 1601 16th Street SE where Rodney McBride was the principal . This teacher's email parallels other emails that I have received about similar occurrences at reconstituted schools in DC schools. Here's a copy of the email:
Dear Candi:
"More than 50% of the staff were excessed at Anacostia SHS including all the school counselors. Initially it appears that the restructuring/reconstitution process consisted of weeding out the senior teachers. Interesting many of our colleagues who are Teaching fellows or Teach for America were selected to remain without all of the proper credentials. The grief in this crime is that our students and our schools are further being left behind. These issues are not just NCLB mandates, rather our students and teachers are being harmed. Where is the justice in this?
I'd like to suggest tracking the number of teachers being "EXCESSED' and terminated in our school system. The Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) should be keeping the data on this. I believe that DC teachers that are being excessed are tentatively scheduled to be fired in the near future. Yesterday, I was jogging on a Montgomery Co. school track where I met a young man who was just hired to teach in DCPS from Chicago. What's the sense in this if this new teacher will be terminated next year ?
My recommendation is to gather front line teachers to get together to collaborate this summer in a round table work discussion with a facilitator that will allow us to collect the data to build a case. " Signed an Excessed Anacostia TeacherWhat's happening in DC public schools poses some interesting "Questions About the Future of DCPS" as written by Roger Scott in his June 24, 2009 piece in 'themail' (1 word) , an online magazine publication by Gary Imhoff .
"In response to “Chancellor Michelle Rhee Is a Terminating Machine” by Candi Peterson [themail, June 21]. I have three questions for Ms. Peterson, other DCPS teachers, and those in the know on DC Watch.
1) With all these mass layoffs, terminations, and retirements, who is going to replace these teachers? Is Chancellor Rhee only pulling teachers from the teacher prep programs? No disrespect intended to any individuals who completed such programs, but I doubt that veteran teachers from the surrounding area would want to enter our system at this point.
2) Are there any other examples of this kind of “teacher crackdown” in the nation as a baseline for such a practice? This kind of thing seems unprecedented.
3) It feels that Chancellor Rhee is plowing ahead with her agenda full-stream, with no checks, stays, or reviews. Is there anything that can be done to validate that this “slash and burn” process is actually good for the future of DC youth and the school system? Logically, it does not seem to be an effective way to achieve the end result. That is, assuming the end result is to improve the quality of education and create better and stronger public schools."
Posted by The Washington Teacher
Chancellor 'Terminator' Rhee Fires 8 DC Teachers At Sousa Middle School
I received this email from a DC Teacher who was terminated from Sousa middle school where Dwan Jordan is a new principal. Sousa is located at 3650 Ely Place, SE in Washington, DC. I have removed the names of teachers who write me in order to protect their right to confidentiality.
Given that Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee signs off on all of these teacher terminations, it is concerning that there is no right of appeal. What if the principal was wrong in his/her assessment of the teacher and the teacher is not ineffective ? Who bears the responsibility for any errors that are being made ? What would you do if you were wrongly terminated ?
Here are some of the details regarding what happened to the teachers at Sousa. More details will be provided to you as they come in.
Hi Candi:
"I had been teaching at Sousa and never received a bad rating in all my ten years working in DC Public Schools. However, I was placed on the 90 day plan and have been terminated also. I was wondering if you could add this update of factual information to your blog.
The principal Dwan Jordon is a first-year principal, formerly an Assistant Principal from PG County, who placed 8 veteran teachers on the 90-day plan and terminated all of them. Interestingly enough, early reports are rumored that Sousa made some of the highest middle school gains with the DC-CAS, so how can all of our teachers be ineffective? Sousa has less than a total of 25 teachers so a third of them were terminated."
Posted by The Washington Teacher.
Rhee Fired DC Teachers Without Evaluations
Despite what Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's termination letters stated that DC teachers were evaluated by their local school principal, some DC teachers were fired without ever being evaluated as we heard on WJLA, channel 7 yesterday on the 5 p.m. news.
When Rhee signed off on the terminations of 21 teachers @ Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) given the standardized test scores as reported on The WaPo site- it leaves me wondering whether Principal Maria Tukeva ever cheated in some back room. How is it that the entire middle school teaching staff at CHEC were all ineffective ? Based on The Washington Post's 'Fixing DC Schools' report on line, there were only approximately 32 teachers in total at the middle school level.
How is that the entire special education department at Ludlow Taylor elementary school where Carolyn Cobbs is principal were terminated ? Was the whole department ineffective ? Stories like these and many others defy probability and reason and suggest to me that it's not about removing ineffective teachers.
Some of us are determined to ensure that due process of law occurs. A committee is being formed now to secure representation for many of our DC teachers who have been wronged. We are in search of of an experienced labor attorney willing to represent a class of DC teachers pro bono.
If you can help in any way, please contact: savedcteachers@gmail.com
(posted by The Washington Teacher)Video courtesy of wjla.com
Chancellor Rhee is a Terminating Machine !
Quote from a CHEC teacher: " If so many probationary teachers are being terminated ... what does that say about those hiring them and the supposed amazing pool of people available for hire? So many questions, so little answers, but plenty of finger pointing towards the teachers... including unfortunately, many good ones."
These updates are being provided to you in real-time. Because so many teachers have been fired, I am having to stay near to my computer and phone as I report what's happening on our educational landscape. Stay tuned for updates ! As I receive additional updates, I will post information.
Columbia Heights Education Campus (updates)
21 DC Teachers Terminated
Principal Takeva gives the boot to her middle school teachers @ CHEC
I just received this update. There have been 21 DC teachers fired from the Columbia Heights Education Campus where Maria Tukeva is the principal. This has just been confirmed. Most of the terminated teachers are probationary teachers. As emails are coming in, I will continue to provide you updates .Terminations of this many teachers at one school are unprecedented.
Ludlow Taylor Elementary School
7 DC Teachers Terminated
Rhee fires 7 DC teachers at Ludlow Taylor elementary school @ 659 G St. NE where Carolyn Cobbs is the principal. Our own fellow education blogger Dee Does DC was terminated too. The special education department at Ludlow Taylor was wiped out by Principal Cobbs.
Garfield Elementary School
1 DC Teacher Terminated
Rhee fires 1 DC teacher at Garfield elementary school @ 2435 Alabama Ave SE where Tammy Thomas is the principal and one of the DC departing (resigning) principals. ( The Washington Teacher).
News Update About DC Teacher Terminations
15 DC Teacher Terminations @ CHEC Now Reported
Read it and weep. This just came in. There are now fifteen (15) confirmed DC teacher terminations at Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) located on 16th Street in D.C. It is reported that 13 of these terminations were probationary teachers, 1 teacher was as a result of a 90-day plan termination, and 1 not yet known. (Posted by The Washington Teacher).
Rhee Delivers Mass Terminations of DC Teachers, Begins Today
Updated news @ 10 p.m. with post from a terminated teacher
Teacher Firings up to 12 at CHEC, Mostly Probationary Teachers
Did you know that some DC Teachers have started receiving notices of terminations today ? These notices have been sent out to some teachers via email. Some teachers were given a copy of their termination letter in hand mid-day signed personally by Michelle Rhee .
Here's what two DC teachers from Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) had to say about today's terminations:
"I am one of the probationary teachers who was terminated at CHEC today. My frustration at the situation does not, as many of you suggest, have to do with Michelle Rhee or her mission. Instead, my frustration is focused entirely on the administration at CHEC, for the way that they are handling the firing process, and for the amount of truly amazing professionals they are terminating. One of you suggested in an earlier post that the probationary teachers who are being fired at CHEC (both DCTF and otherwise) are under performers, but this is not the case. The amount of extra work required of teachers at CHEC is unbelievable, and all of the people that I know who have been fired embrace that extra work because it will ultimately benefits students. There have been several terminations that I know of where teachers were not even placed on any sort of improvement plan. (I was not on any sort of a plan...no 90-day, no anything...). I just find the entire situation sickening, because the people at CHEC work extremely hard and receive this sort of treatment. All throughout the year, I felt under appreciated, unsupported, and unfairly treated. This termination just comes as the final straw. I do not want any of you to get the idea that the teachers who are being terminated at CHEC somehow deserve what they are getting because I can assure you, they do not. The work environment at that school is poisonous, and this is just the latest thing. May this just be a lesson to everyone that as educators, we need to stick together, support each other, and remember that we are ultimately all here for the kids. They are what kept me going all year, and they will continue to keep me going in the future. " Signed Terminated Teacher
Second quote from a teacher who still remains at CHEC :"This year at CHEC, there was an obvious shift in the way the administration "graded" the PPEP rubric and evaluated teachers. Teachers who "exceeded expectations" in the past were given "meets expectations" or "needs improvement" and the overall morale in the school was gravely effected by this seemingly arbitrary and change in rating teachers. To me, this sounds like pressure coming from powers higher above? This shift definitely created an US vs. THEM mentality in the school and I can't see how that will diffuse much after the way things have been handled. Many of us don't feel like we are being treated as PROFESSIONALS and we have a very diverse, talented, and caring staff. We have made great strides in the quality of the education being implemented due to the hard work of the great teachers (past and present) that have developed curriculum and challenged our students.
That being said, many teachers have been harassed, disrespected, unsupported, and pushed away due to unprofessional pressures from some of the administration. I find it very disheartening to see SO many of my fellow talented and hard working teachers leave my school each year (voluntarily and involuntarily). I am also VERY frustrated that each year the dramatic turnover results in retraining and reinvesting in new staff which also GREATLY effects the school's potential to grow and improve. When and how are the administrators evaluated? Is teacher retention considered in the way a school and administration is evaluated? If so many probationary teachers are being terminated at my school... what does that say about those hiring them and the supposed amazing pool of people available for hire? So many questions, so little answers, but plenty of finger pointing towards the teachers... including unfortunately, many good ones." Signed DC CHEC teacher
Chancellor Rhee is following through on her promise to get rid of a significant share of her teacher workforce as outlined in her 5 year educational plan. Rhee also makes good on her threat (plan B) of firing teachers when she couldn't gain approval for our DC teacher contract. (known as the red and green tiers)It seems like it's not only veteran teachers that Rhee is giving the axe to but also newly hired probationary teachers. Sound eerily familiar to what happened to DC's 78 probationary teachers who were fired last year without regard to their performance ? What perplexes me is that I thought that it was the 'newbie teachers' that Rhee was aggressively trying to recruit ? Hmmm-Some how no one is safe regardless of their job performance or years of experience. Would you agree ?
Keep your emails coming about terminations of DC teachers and principals c/o saveourcounselors@gmail.com
News Flash
12 DC Teachers fired @
Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC)
Also known as Lincoln MS and Bell Multi-Cultural HS
3101 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20010
Principal: Maria Tukeva
Of the 12 teachers to be fired, 10 are probationary teachers and 1 teacher was on a 90 day plan. It is suspected that there is a 2nd teacher on a 90 day plan but this must be confirmed.(Posted by The Washington Teacher).
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