UFT/Unity Splaining - UFT passivity in face of massive assault on teachers = complicity.

My theme for today is: The UFT being allies with CSA is like USA being allies with ISIS.
James Eterno writes:

The UFT will claim their behind the scenes strategy worked here. Let's hope this is not just an exception. It took an enormous effort just not to have one disastrous interim acting principal appointed permanently.

In fact it was the students who led the action.

But oh the distortions coming from the UFT leaders -- I'm too kind to call them outright lies -- but when I heard Manhattan borough rep Dwayne Clark get up at an ex bd meeting and defend the actions of District 4 rep in the CPE1 situation I almost spit up my Philly cheese steak sandwich - (well actually I was already in the process of doing so anyway - which is why some of us are eating BEFORE the Ex Bd meeting.)

Clark defended the district rep and uft reaction and there should be push back. When Peter and I met with with CPE1 people over a year ago a major complaint was UFT seeming to side with admin. I mean why else ask MORE to meet other than UFT wasn't helping? That it took you guys showing up a year and a half later is a sign of dysfunction in the UFT- maybe intentional dysfunction since we hear similar complaints from other districts. In most places there is little support and admin wins.

Why do so many teachers say UFT officials do not take their side but seem to take the side of admins?

UFT Splaining:
The UFT hierarchy does not view itself as teacher advocates but as mediators between the rank and file and school, district and central administration. For them to say they are working behind the scenes means they are negotiating -- but are they making minimal demands like the fact that almost the entire staff of CPE1 came under investigations that led nowhere and 3020a charges against teacher leaders makes Garg unacceptable as principal and the UFT must say that privately and publicly.

DOE communications to parents of CPE1 and to the activists show that they are not looking to remove Garg - which is not acceptable. (The DOE is offering "instructional support." Like master teachers in progressive ed need more PD.)

In fact, Jonathan Halabi helped parents write the reso rejected by the DA and the Ex Bd and sent it to Leroy Barr saying that everything in that reso is negotiable except for return of teachers and Garg must go -- he got no response.

In fact the UFT will never call for a principal removal due to CSA being an ally -- that's like Trump allying with ISIS.

Our reps on ex bd must continue to pound this point.

UFT passivity in face of massive assault on teachers = complicity.

James Eterno touches on this at the ICE blog where he reports on the end of the Jahoda reign at Townsend Harris HS

At the April Delegate Assembly, the UFT refused to support a resolution raised by the elected Delegate from CPE 1calling in part for the Union to work to remove Principal Garg from that school. The Union believes that back channel communication with the DOE is the best way to go. UFT Secretary Howie Schoor in speaking against the CPE 1 resolution said that once we pass a resolution calling for the principal to be removed, it stops all communication with the Board of Ed. That strategy is questionable after both the Delegate and Chapter Leader from CPE 1 have been removed from the school. Directly going after school union representatives is not acceptable...

JAHODA NOT APPOINTED PERMANENT PRINCIPAL OF TOWNSEND HARRIS

Watch the UFT take credit when in fact they should have been going after Jahoda after she gave Bronx HS CL Peter Lamphere 2 U ratings and wiped out the math dept.
The UFT had years to hound the DOE on leaving her out there but did nothing. Then put her in THHS? Wasted almost a full academic year?

The DOE can do that because UFT allows them to without repercussions. If some process was in place - checks and balances on who gets appointed, principals like Garg would never have been able to set foot in CPE 1 in the first place. 

The UFT leadership plays the dangerous game of offering up bogus and superficial support.

See NYC Educator:  UFT Delegate Assembly--We Still Love CPE 1, But We Still Won't Pass a Resolution in Favor of CPE 1


At this Monday's Ex Bd meeting, MORE/NA must hold the leadership's feet to the fire.

#Townsend Harris Update: Audio of Jahoda Throwing F-Bomb

The source continued that the “subject of the meeting was benign—how to improve school climate. Principal Jahoda’s vulgar remarks were uncharacteristic to the positive nature of this meeting.” They also disputed the claim that the comments were not “directed at anyone” and that Ms. Jahoda was “talking about [herself], no one else.” They explained that Principal Jahoda’s vulgar language was in direct response to a comment made by a subordinate and that the manner in which Ms. Jahoda responded reflected her behavior when dealing with colleagues..... sophomore Marsad Kabir expressed that, “It seems as if you’ve lied to our newspaper. How do you then respond to the reports of harassment that have happened in the past? If those accusations [the incident with the inappropriate language] were true, what about the rest?”  ...thhsclassic.com

OMG- I love these student journalists, Mehrose Ahmad and Sumaita Hasan, at THHS - The NY Times ought to hire them right now. Also thanks to Jonathan Halabi who has been on the case and has send me info and links to videos. And also his work at the UFT EB meeting last night in raising the issue.

This is our 2nd report of the day on THHS. Here are my reports in reverse order.

•  Townsend Harris Update: Jahoda Mocks Students in ...

• Townsend Harris Protest Update: NY Times Joins in ...
• Townsend Harris Students, Parents and Teachers Exp...
•  Peter Lamphere on Rosemarie Jahoda: What Does It T...

The THHS issue was raised at the UFT Ex Bd meeting by Jonathan Halabi of New Action - where Rona Freiser of the Queens office claimed the UFT was on the case all along -- though no one seems to know that -- that they protested to the DOE when Jahoda was put in. Fact is that given Jahoda's history of going after Peter Lamphere when he was CL at Bronx HS of Sci- a direct attack on the union, there are times for lines in the sand to be drawn.  I'll have more on the abusive principal issue we raised at the EB meeting and the response. Actually I have so much to report on that meeting I may do 5 posts today -- but it's cold out, what else do you have to do but read Ed Notes?
 
Let's get right to the audio where Jahoda says she won't be like the previous principal who was so popular. I heard from a parent who wrote:

Townsend Harris Update: Jahoda Mocks Students in her Class at Stuyvesant, THHS Report on Jahoda Actions

[Stuyvesant] Freshman Audrey Hatch was participating in GLASS's annual Day of Silence on April 14 when.... her math teacher, Rosemarie Jahoda, made jesting comments about her and other students in class for their refusal to speak.....
"I found Ms. Jahoda and told her that I thought she was being rude and I wished she'd apologize," said Goldin. According to Goldin, things escalated from there, and disciplinary measures are now being taken against Goldin for his actions while confronting a faculty member.
.....May 15, 2003, http://stuyspectator.com/spectator/display.cgi?id=1224

“Change is always welcomed if the outcome is to improve things. 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.” ...... THHS Chapter leader

One of our ace correspondents (who likes to remain anon) dug up this 2003 gem from the Stuy Spectator from Jahoda's past when she taught at Stuyvesant, pointing to her consistent disrespect for students.

And below that is a report from the current students at Townsend Harris chronicling the kinds of changes made by Jahoda that has caused the reaction there.

As the evidence piles up, we must not just demand that Jahoda be removed from Townsend Harris but not allowed to supervise or manage anyone in the DOE. I can just see them making her an ATR supervisor, where she will fit in quite comfortably with the other slugs. Note that Jahoda seems to have spent her career from teacher to AP to temp principal only in the top schools. No working at schools with struggling students for Jahoda because they would have slaughtered her.

I'll be back with another post with audio of Jahoda throwing the f-bomb despite denials, thus having students catch her in a blatant lie. Jonathan Halabi from New Action raised issues about the school at the UFT Ex Bd meeting last night and also called for actions against the Supt and deputy supt.

Student's Feelings Hurt by Teacher for Silent Protest During Class

Townsend Harris Protest Update: NY Times Joins in as PTA Calls for Jahoda's Endgame

Student reduced to tears after meeting with Principal Jahoda following an incident in November....

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....

A follow-up to my earlier post: Townsend Harris Students, Parents and Teachers Expose Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda and Dept Supt Leticia Pineiro

Soon after posting I opened up the NY Times and found this:

At Elite Queens High School, PTA Calls Embattled Principal ‘Rude’

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/nyregion/townsend-harris-high-school-principal-jahoda.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

I loved this part the best:

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.

Then there are these reports from students:

http://www.thhsclassic.com/2016/12/16/parent-teacher-association-calls-on-chancellor-farina-to-remove-ia-principal-jahoda-immediately-from-thhs/

http://www.thhsclassic.com/2016/12/15/student-reduced-to-tears-after-meeting-with-principal-jahoda-following-an-incident-in-november/

Townsend Harris Students, Parents and Teachers Expose Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda and Dept Supt Leticia Pineiro

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 -

ICEUFT Blog RANDI HOLDING FUNDRAISER FOR MAYOR DE BLASIO WHILE AFT MEMBERS IN NYC INCLUDING MY WIFE SUFFER UNDER MAYOR]

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.”

Look at the video: https://youtu.be/-Nnyf4Y7GIg

Published on Dec 10, 2016

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.

====
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161209/flushing/townsend-harris-high-school-principal

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.”

Peter Lamphere on Rosemarie Jahoda: What Does It Take To Get Promoted to Principal in NYC?

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.

Over at NYC Educator, Peter Lamphere, one of the key players in MORE, has some story to tell about his former vicious supervisor, Rosemarie Jahoda, recently appointed acting interim principal at Townsend Harris High School - one of the premier public high schools in Queens.

Read his entire piece at: http://nyceducator.com/2016/08/what-does-it-take-to-get-promoted-to.html#disqus_thread

Peter ended up with 2-U ratings under Jahoda and Bronx HS of Science 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.

Today, the UFT should be picketing Farina for this appointment.

One of the roles MORE needs to play is in exposing these people and putting pressure on the UFT to take stronger stands.

Jahoda is a criminal in my mind for destroying the careers of so many teachers and harming so many students in the process.

Peter is leading a MORE initiative to strengthen the ability of school chapters to organize themselves to fight back against abusive principals. Tomorrow MORE is beginning that effort:

With the MORE caucus this coming year, I plan to help run a series of chapter organizer training workshops, to help support educators mobilize the power of their coworkers to defend themselves against the insanities of our education system, and their abusive representatives.  Please join us at tomorrow's forum about the nuts and bolts of chapter organizing, and share your own stories of organizing against abusive administrators below.  Collectively, we can work toward building sanity into this system.

Daily News: Former Bronx High School of Science teacher Peter Lamphere gets ‘unsatisfactory’ rating reversed in Supreme Court

Lamphere was among 20 out of 22 math teachers who filed a special complaint in 2008 against assistant principal Rosemarie Jahoda, alleging repeated harassment. They also charged that Reidy wrongly denied them tenure and gave arbitrary “U” ratings. An independent investigator found that the teachers were being harassed.

And this quote from the brother of a supreme court justice:

“It was understood at Bronx Science that Reidy used ‘U’ ratings and denials of tenure for nonpedagogical reasons,” said Mark Kagan, a social studies teacher who left the school this year.