Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
The co-presidents, Sangida Akter and Tahiya Choudhury, were meeting with Ms. Jahoda with the hope of having the administration draft a letter to the community that would reassure them that such incidents are not tolerated, but the meeting left them them feeling “uncomfortable” and with the impression that Ms. Jahoda showed more interest in protecting the school’s image than addressing their concerns. One of the two left the meeting crying.... Student report
NY Times Townsend Harris High School is one of New York City’s most prestigious public schools, where 100 percent of students graduate on time and all of them are prepared for college, according to city metrics. But in recent weeks, the academic powerhouse in Queens has felt a ripple of protest, as students, alumni and teachers have battled with the interim acting principal, agitating for her ouster. On Thursday, parents piled on....
The resolution demanded that [Dep Supe] Ms. Pineiro and the city’s Education
Department apologize to Townsend Harris students, and asked that Ms.
Pineiro and the district’s superintendent [Elaine Lindsey] no longer oversee the school.
Note that the reporter doesn't ignore Jahoda's past:
This is not Ms. Jahoda’s first brush with controversy. In 2010, when she was an assistant principal at the Bronx High School of Science, another of the city’s elite schools, 20 of the 22 math teachers she oversaw filed complaints against her. In an official “fact-finding” report, an arbiter painted a jarring portrait of her dealings with teachers. The report said Ms. Jahoda had referred to one teacher as a “disgusting person,” and that teacher had called Ms. Jahoda a “dictator.” The head of labor relations for the Education Department at the time rejected the conclusions of the report.
How about naming the head of labor relations at the time and shaming for poor judgement? I'm sure if it was a negative report on a teacher, it wouldn't have been ignored.
Deputy Superintendent Leticia Pineiro talks down to students
I’m not [Former Principal] Anthony [Barbetta] and I’m not standing in the f*****g hallway.... Rosemarie Jahoda, acting principal Townsend Harris HS... Report from student web site ... (http://www.thhsclassic.com/) --
Jahoda joins Pineiro
I am a parent of a student at Townsend. This is so disturbing to me and many other parents. I can tell you… the principal doesn’t leave a warm feeling like Barbetta did. There are definitely big shoes to fill. I heard from another parent that the position for a permanent principal is not listed on DOE, leaving us to believe that she has already been given the position. I signed the petition, but how effective would this be? What else can we the parents do to make this go away???? Help!... Parent email to Ed Notes.
UPDATED COMMENT:
this past thursday
there was a PTA meeting at Townsend Harris HS and all the parents
signed a resolution to demand that Jahoda not get appointed principal of
THHS. Check out The Classic's Facebook page its all documented https://www.facebook.com/thhsclassic/
[Student made VIDEO excerpts below] Another Farina outrageous appointment. And it's not just Jahoda but Dept Supt Pineiro and Supt Elaine Lindsey (who was supposed to show but didn't have the guts), both of whom were despised when they were in the Bronx.
We know the Farina method - to put people like Jahoda, who wiped out the entire math dept at Bronx HS of Science when she was an AP there, into schools to go after staff. Why else put someone with her history in charge of what many people thinks is the best high school in the city?
Funny thing is, that it is not a case of Jahoda's past coming back to bite her but of her consistent behavior since the got there in September --- showing she has learned nothing - and that the DOE coddles people like her, as does the CSA along with, sadly, the UFT. [See Eterno on ICE this morning -
The UFT must choose between supporting its members and playing political football - and it always chooses the latter. Bottom line to DeB - stop the mayhem of Jahoda-like appointments.
I wrote this on Ed Notes which I handed out at the DA on Weds:
Townsend HS Students, Parents Protest Rosemarie Jahoda Permanent Appointment as Principal Carmen Farina has appointed yet another slug principal with a reputation for going after teachers, especially chapter leaders, this time to one of the city’s most prestigious schools. Students held an in school protest last week – see FB video http://tinyurl.com/gmakjzu and a petition opposing the Jahoda appointment has 3500 signatures. https://www.change.org/p/chancellor-farina-stop-rosemarie-jahoda-from-being-appointed-the-permanent-principal-of-townsend-harris-hs?recruiter=646940072&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink What Does It Take To Get Promoted to Principal in NYC? MORE’s Peter Lamphere as a math teacher and chapter leader at Bronx HS of Science, came under attack by Jahoda when he stood up to her when she went after almost the entire department, leading to most of the BHS math teachers leaving. Peter ended up with 2-U ratings under Jahoda and BHS principal Valerie Reidy. He fought one off successfully and had to hire a private lawyer for the other. The UFT "solution" was to parachute Peter out of the school, not to engage in a hand to hand combat with Reidy and Jahoda. Peter was the chapter leader and these two engaged in a direct assault on the union for him doing what he was elected to do. Read Peter’s entire piece at: http://nyceducator.com/2016/08/what-does-it-take-to-get-promoted-to.html#disqus_thread UFT cow tows to the CSA A UFT with guts would be picketing over the appointment of Jahoda as principal. And should contact the parents to protest. She is in the same vein of Monika Garg at CPEI -- a prototypical Farina rewarding people with a history of bad behavior and anti-unionism toward teachers and especially chapter leaders. Today, the UFT should be picketing Farina for this appointment. Jahoda is an education criminal for destroying the careers of so many teachers and harming so many students in the process. The UFT must stand up to stop people with a history of abuse and use media to expose them.
Isn't that what was done with Monika Garg at Central Park East 1? And she did the same at LaGuardia HS - in essence a vocational school for talented kids in the arts looking for careers - where the principal, who came from Townsend Harris - is trying to turn the school more towards academics -- which will turn kids and teachers away. Townsend tudents have a web site http://www.thhsclassic.com/ and here is a report from them:
Sources provide accounts of interim acting principal’s behavior
December 9, 2016 By Mehrose Ahmad and Sumaita Hasan, Managing Editor and Editor-In-Chief In the recent sit-in that occurred at Townsend Harris High School, Deputy Superintendent Leticia Pineiro asked for evidence to support the claim that Interim Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda has harassed members of her staff. The Classic has confirmed evidence of such behavior. We have obtained irrefutable evidence of a conversation in which the principal speaks in the following manner in response to a suggestion from a colleague that she be more present in the school’s halls: “Standing in the hallway is not gonna make a difference… I’m not [Former Principal] Anthony [Barbetta] and I’m not standing in the f*****g hallway. I’m not gonna do what Anthony did… I’m not gonna stand and hold the door open.” In reference to this statement, Ms. Jahoda responded, “Let me explain something to you: I don’t talk like that. I don’t speak to people in that manner.” Other sources, however, confirmed that “such language is not unusual.” Another said, that this type of discussion is “characteristic of their interactions,” explaining that the dismissive tone has led to a negative culture in the school, where ideas are disregarded and individuals feel harassed for expressing themselves. In a wide range of conversations, we have heard specific examples of people in the building being spoken to in a manner that has been described as “rude and condescending.” One source described interactions with the principal that were similarly dismissive and inappropriate as above and left the source in tears following the meeting. We confirmed that multiple individuals witnessed this source’s emotional response to the interaction. Of the aforementioned example, Principal Jahoda stated, “I don’t recall that.” Beyond the source that provided the evidence of the quotation about standing in the hallway, our sources were unwilling to consent to us providing specific quotations of their interactions with Principal Jahoda due to fear of retribution, but we can confirm that other such evidence exists. One person we spoke to said, “We believe she [Ms. Jahoda] would retaliate personally against us. I fear retaliation.” Another person, when asked if they refrained from allowing us to provide specific quotations on the record due to fear of retribution said, “100%” and added, “I have heard clear indication [from the principal] that if you cross [her] path, you’ll get it. I’ve heard from many people about fear of retaliation.”
Townsend Harris students held a sit-in on Thursday, 12/8 in protest of the potential appointment of Rosemarie Jahoda as the new principal of the school. Deputy Superintendent Pineiro interviewed students about their reasons for protesting; these interactions have since become controversial within the school community. Here are some clips from the event.
Ed Notes received this report from a Bronx teacher who has dealt with Pineiro and Lindsey re: the video:
That is Jahoda next to her. Pineiro seems to browbeat the kids and to speak down to them. She puts words in their mouth's. She accuses the meek boy of being physically aggressive towards her. And that's bizarre because she's pushing a nasty [finger?] towards him. The interactions with the kids or inappropriate beginning to end. If this were a classroom demeanor I would read it unacceptable – forget ineffective. Near the end she tries to force a kid to clarify what the complaint is – and the kid says I don't feel comfortable saying it in front of Jahoda, and the supe keeps pushing her anyway But from my point of you, the most of noxious part, is when the Boy says please speak with our teachers, let them explain how they're being harassed. And she says no you tell us how they're being harassed, and then accuses the boy of trying to represent the teachers. She says very clearly that she's focused not on what teachers have to say but on what students say.
QUEENS — Students and educators at Townsend Harris High School are outraged over the possibility that their interim principal might soon be installed permanently at the elite school on the Queens College campus in Flushing. Students staged a sit-in on Thursday, live-streaming their protest on Facebook against Rosemarie Jahoda. Also, a change.org petition demanding Jahoda's ouster garnered more than 3,000 signatures in a few days. “The principal of Townsend Harris High School should have a high respect for the humanities tradition, preferably with a background in the liberal arts and/or the classics,” the petition states. “Like Townsend Harris himself, the principal should be a first-rate diplomat, someone with an open-door policy who is approachable and serves as a natural magnet for students, teachers and parents.” In three months that Jahoda has been interim acting principal, however, she has been a bad “fit,” many said. “This semester, there have been rumors of numerous instances of faculty harassment, significant changes to programs and course offerings without input from the faculty and [Student Leadership Team], and as time has passed, less parent engagement,” the petition said. “Our children have not been insulated from this. Several have complained about her being aloof or even combative.” In their dealings with Jahoda, teachers and students expressed frustrations over things like field trip procedures, creating uniform grading policies regardless of the level of coursework difficulty and lacking sufficient time when scheduling certain assignments, according to an article in the school newspaper, the Classic. “Change is always welcomed if the outcome is to improve things,” Social Studies teacher and UFT Chapter Leader Franco Scardino told the Classic. “Townsend Harris is a well-oiled machine. It has always been a well-oiled machine and that does not mean some things might need to be changed. There are directives that have to be adjusted to, but if all the plumbing in your house is working and maybe one faucet is leaking, you would just change the washer in the sink, you wouldn’t rip out all the pipes.” Jahoda did not immediately respond to request for comment. DOE officials noted that the official principal hiring process, known as C-30, has yet to begin. “Principal hiring and assignment decisions are made by the superintendent in accordance with the Chancellor’s Regulations, and based on consultations with members of the school community,” DOE spokesman Will Mantell said. “We listen closely to the feedback and concerns of all school communities, and engage them as part of the C-30 process.”
