Ed Notes Online: PS 29 Parents Call Out Principal From Hell Jennifer Jones Rogers

Monday, August 5, 2013

PS 29 Parents Call Out Principal From Hell Jennifer Jones Rogers

.....she came with a smile on her face and poison in her veins... Ms. Jones was argumentative disrespectful, and rude to every parent that I have ever spoken with. ... Dennis, parent at PS 29.

The comments have continued to fly over at SBS blog -- over 150 so far, including Rogers' mother and husband who made what I consider a threat (more on that in follow-up posts.)

Here I will extract some comments from parents -- I didn't find one parent comment defending the principal. In my experience, this outpouring of parent outrage is somewhat unique, as was the support coming from the greatest politician in this city, Tony Avella. (Video: State Senator Tony Avella Calls for Rogers Removal). There were a number of parents at the press conference and a bunch of teachers who I kept off camera due to the vicious retaliation Rogers engages in. You know that many Leadership Acad principals like Rogers go after and alienate teachers but often manage to manage parents. Not in this case apparently. Rogers didn't learn all her lessons at the Lead Acad.

I am the father of a former student of ps 29. Ms. Jones was argumentative disrespectful, and rude to every parent that I have ever spoken with. The teachers hated her not only because she is unqualified as a principal and leader but because she came with a smile on her face and poison in her veins. Any child that was marginal was deemed special needs by a principal who is more special needs than any child. PS 29 lost so many respectful qualified educators due to the shrew Ms Jones. Principal Jones needs to be removed so that our children can get the education they deserve in a proper environment. Let the teachers who have worked in her schools speak.What a shame that we have lost so many quality teachers. How is it possible that so many teachers are wrong and that this one principal is right. Get her out and give the children the opportunity to learn from time tested qualified teachers. In jennifers defense she is not the only problem the whole dept of ed is a disaster. She is just one of the tentacles.My daughter has since been removed and sent to be educated in a catholic school. Good Bye PS 29............
Dennis

Anonymous said...: WHEN IS THE SECOND RALLY TAKEN PLACE
IN SEPTEMBER ? I NEED TO TAKE A DAY OFF FROM
WORK TO JOIN THE TEACHERS. CAN THE
BRONX PEOPLE HELP WITH THE SUPPORT TOO ?

CONCERN PARENT. MY CHILD IS ENTERING
4TH GRADE AND WE NEED TO GET EVERYTHING
IN PLACE ASAP ! WE NEED A PRINCIPAL !

I JUST HEARD ALL ABOUT THIS YESTERDAY I WISH I WAS AROUND. THANK YOU SOUTH BRONX FOR ALL YOUR HELP !!!

She is a horrible Principal. She is condescending and rude. She took an innocent issue with my son and made it into a sexual issue. I was told from a family member that was a teachers assistant at PS 29 about all the sex talk that went on there between the teachers and Ms. Jones. She must have sex on the brain and assumes the kids do as well. He was questioned about his living situation at home and if he has ever seen or heard anything sexual from his parents. I was told to take him to a therapist from their parent teacher coordinator for a boyish prank. Seriously?? They were warned never to question him unless we (both mother and father) were present. After that we were called in for every little thing. He started to struggle after she started to bully him for every little thing. I am so happy he is out of that school. He did great until she came in. I really wish I knew all of this when he was attending the school I went to as a child. I would have pursued having her investigated. Get her out before more children suffer under her unprofessional ways.

And a former student chimes in:

Jonathan said...

Principal Jones,

You are the reason that I, Jonathan C was not able to graduate 5th grade with my friends from Kindergarten. Because of you I had to graduate with kids I barely knew. My yearbook is full of photo shopped pictures because of you! My only mistake was telling my mom what you did to me in school and you made my life MISERABLE at PS 29Q. So miserable that I begged my mom to take me out. Before the incident I loved going to school, seeing my friends, and teachers whom I grew up with. So what is it that you are proud of? The success of children leaving your school, making students cry?
You are so bad tempered and rude. You should really change your ways. What you did cannot be undone and unfortunately for me I could never have a chance at my 5th grade dance, trip, or graduation. When you are in elementary school all you look forward to is becoming that cool 5th grader and experience what graduates have told you about. You took that away from me! Don’t continue. You probably have the greatest memories of your elementary years why DENY us of ours?
FYI, my cumulative record shows a consistent rating of 3’s throughout my education endeavor at PS 29Q respecting school community, respecting rules and regulations. Not one suspension or detention.

Of course I wasn't perfect but neither ARE YOU! We all make mistakes and the important lesson is to learn from our mistakes.

Former student,

Jonathan C.

No comments:

"A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

What media call "philanthropy" for the public schools are actually seed monies to establish a private "market" in publicly-financed education - an enterprise worth trillions if successfully penetrated by corporate America. Cory Booker, one of the "New Black Leaders" financed by the filthy rich, is key to creating a "nationwide corporate-managed schools network paid for by public funds but run by private managers.

"Ed Reformers" want to cash in on public education and to control its content and outcome, not improve it. Provide great education? Baby boomers had as close as this country has ever gotten to it when we were growing up. The Ed Reform Movement has no interest in seeing such a well-educated, democratically astute population ever again.

http://blackagendareport.com/content/cory-booker-clear-and-present-threat-public-education

History of the UFT Pre-Weingarten Years

This award-winning series of articles by Jack Schierenbeck originally appeared in the New York Teacher in 1996 and 1997.

Naturally, from a certain point of view. But, despite certain biases, Schierenbeck, a great guy, was one of the best NY Teacher reporters so this is worth reading. Jack suffered a debilitating stroke many years ago (I used to get secret donations to ed notes from him through a 3rd source.)

This chapter looks interesting:

Class struggles: The UFT story, part 3

“The schism in the union over radical politics [is] a major reason for stalling the growth of a teacher union for decades.” Revolutionary politics and ideology take center stage, as the original Teachers Union becomes a battlefield, pitting leftist against leftist and splitting the union.

Clarence Taylor's "Reds at the Blackboard" focused on the old Teachers Union which disbanded in 1964 after suffering from anti-left attacks.

Of course for another view, check out the review at New Politics of the Kahlenberg Bio on Shanker by Vera Pavone and me: Albert Shanker: Ruthless Neocon

Effective Union Organizing

A video series put together by Jason Mann from the British Columbia Federation of Teachers about social media and how to use it for effective union organizing.

The first series was called New Media For Union Activists Roadmap and it's still available on-line at:
http://www.newmediabootcamp.ca/welcome/
I watched some of them and need to rewatch as they are loaded with information.

The second series started last week and it's called "Online Campaigning for Union Activists"

You can sign up for this free series at :
http://act.bcfed.ca/online-campaigning-for-union-activists/

You Don't Have A Choice - Join the Revolt

Ex-Harlem Success Teacher Comments on Eva the Diva

Ex-HSA Teacher has left a new comment on your post "Fear and Loathing at Evil's Harlem Success Empire ...":

I am a former Harlem Success teacher. Not many people who work/worked for her like her very much. I once made the comment that she is very nice when I first was hired. Two of her closest colleague responded immediately almost in unison, "Eve is not nice!" Over time I realized that there was a lot of political games going on. Another colleague once said to me that he was tired of "being part of a political campaign." Sending out 15,000 applications for only 400 seats in a school is reprehensible. The money that paid for those mass mailings could have paid the yearly salary of another teacher not to mention the heartache of all those parents who applied but did not get a spot. She does good work trying to give disadvantaged students a quality public school education but at a great cost to staff AND the school's educational budget! school budget.

Davis Guggenheim Compared to Riefenstahl

“Waiting for Superman" is the second most intellectually dishonest piece of documentary work I have seen. It is surpassed only by Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will," the pro-Hitler propaganda classic, in that regard. Uses personal narratives of adorable children to create narrative suspense that overrides public policy discussion with pure emotion in unscrupulous attack on teachers and their unions, among others

Timothy Tyson
Professor of African American Studies and History
Duke University

How Teaching Experience Makes a Difference

Even as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and others around the nation are arguing for experienced teachers to be laid off regardless of seniority, every single study shows teaching experience matters. In fact, the only two observable factors that have been found consistently to lead to higher student achievement are class size and teacher experience, so that it’s ironic that these same individuals are trying to undermine both.
- Leonie Haimson on Parents Across America web site

Full article with charts here.

Weingarten/Gates Foundation announce drone-driven teacher evaluation

According to a press release issued by the Gates Foundation, the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, these three have entered a ground-breaking partnership to evaluate teachers utilizing the drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. A bird-size device floats up to 400 feet above a classroom and instantly beams live video of teachers in action to agents at desks at Teacher Quality Inspection Stations established by the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

When asked if the drones were authorized to drop bombs on teachers who exhibit inadequacy, Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, replied, "Don't be ridiculous. Gates money puts other methods at our disposal."

Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers said the powerful union has signed on to the drone project...

More at Substance

The Real Reason Behind Push for Standardized Tests: It's All About the Adults

On standardized testing in our schools

A must read article about the standardized test industry.
Written by an insider who has worked as a test scorer, the article outlines a multinational industry based on an army of temporary workers paid by the piece at $0.30 to $0.70 per test, translated in the need to grade 40 tests per hour to make a $12 salary. The article goes on to show how the companies gauge the grading "results" based on the need to ensure new contracts to continue profiting off of our youth. The original article is from Monthly Review. Here it is on Schools Matter blog.

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/12/on-growing-use-of-corporate-test.html

Parallels between America today and Germany in the 1920's and early 30's

"Resentment and obstruction are all the right wing in America have to peddle. Their policies are utterly discredited. Their ideology - even by its own standards - is a sham. They are so bereft of leaders, their de facto leader is a former drug addicted, thrice-divorced radio talk show host. That is literally the best they can muster. But they have built a national franchise inciting the downwardly mobile to blame the government, not the right, for their problems, exactly as Hitler did in the 1920s."

The US Is Facing a Weimar Moment

Published on Sunday, March 15, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Chicago View of Unity/UFT on Charters

After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings — though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.

Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance

Ed Notes Greatest Hits: HSA Rally and Founding of GEM

SEE MY VIDEO ON HARLEM SUCCESS RALLY 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEp7rg_L5JI

Angel Gonzalez and I attended that rally and used the footage to promote our conference on Mar. 28, 2009, which is where the concept of a group like GEM emerged. Until then we had basically been a committee of ICE working with the NYCORE high stakes testing group. The actions of Eva and crew helped spawn GEM. Mommie Dearest!!

I have more video somewhere. I was hoping to get Leni Riefenstahl to edit it but she died. We would have called it "Triumph of the Hedge Fund Operators."

Ed Notes Extended

Monday, August 5, 2013

PS 29 Parents Call Out Principal From Hell Jennifer Jones Rogers

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