Friday, May 13, 2011

Walcott Appointee David Weiner: Report from the Trenches

I reported earlier on David Weiner's (vampire John White's replacement)  meeting with Evan and Sydney which generated this report from a former teacher who worked under Weiner with an unsurprising perspective on the UFT role in so many closing schools - not as an opponent of the DOE but as a partner:

David Weiner was appointed as principal at PS 314 in Sunset Park Brooklyn – his first job as a principal in NY.  It lasted for two years, the first year he spent all his time on closing the school and  excessing 60 % of the senior teachers he kept all the young ones.  At that time teachers at PS 314 were furious as the 27, or 28 year old was closing the school - with the help of the UFT. Weiner and the UFT had a hiring committee, They interviewed and selected teachers for the new schools -- some complained but the UFT did not do anything to stop this discrimination.  The Dist. Rep.(Ellen Driesen) was part of the problem.  One BIG circle of corruption! (UFT, DOE, Weiner).
During his second year Weiner was the principal of one of the mini schools PS 503, most of his teachers were young, He used to go drinking with some of them on Fridays. Part of his second year-- he did not work at the school on Fridays, because he attended Columbia University to get his PHD in Urban Education-- it seems that he did not finish yet, because he is not called DR. Weiner.
He must be in his early 30s and he is well connected to Klein.  People at the school used to say that Weiner's father was Klein's heart doctor. Plus, at PS 314, teachers always  wondered-- what the hell this man from Boston, educated at Harvard  was doing in Sunset Park, Brooklyn with Spanish immigrants--- The answer was... he was using this school as a stepping stone.  He did not speak (Spanish) to work with the big ESL population -- it was pure politics.
Weiner worked in California as a kindergarten teacher for 2 years before working in Brooklyn. He calls himself a Literacy specialist, however he doesn't have any knowledge about it.  He has no personality or social skills,  He used to walk around the school and ignore all the teachers.

3 comments:

wfs said...

Thanks for that wonderful article shared to us.

Anonymous said...

A view from California...
Weiner was Principal at Alvarado Elementary. From the get-go he was arrogant, devious, and spiteful. He targeted older teachers, trying to drive them out of the school. He instilled tremendous fear into a very collaborative, effective faculty, especially since there were hints of his strong connections downtown. This man is a manipulative liar.

Anonymous said...

The damage created by David Weiner in P.S. 503 lives on today. The administration in place are carbon copies of the ineffective leadership in which he left behind.
They continuously pat themselves on the back praising said "accomplishments", without the proof of increased reading scores.
One big smokescreen.