From the Editor's Desk
By Howard Schwach, The Wave, March 25, 2005

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In February of last year, I got a disturbing telephone call from two of the people who I had worked with when I was a school-based staff development specialist for District 27, working out of JHS 198 and JHS 226.

Actually I first worked at JHS (now MS) 198 in February of 1965, more than 40 years ago. Can it be that long? What a different world the schools were forty years ago.

In any case, the telephone call last year led me to a meeting with more than a dozen teachers from the school at the Irish Circle after school one day.

There were a few teachers at the meeting who I had known for years, others who were new at the school and came after my time there.

The stories they told about Angela Logan, the newly-appointed principal at the Arverne School did not surprise me, but they did lead me to write a column at the time.

The conversation was about students who came to school with weapons, but were never punished nor suspended. It was about a principal who denied basic school and art supplies to her teachers but spent thousands of dollars on a machine that made plastic nametags. It was about a principal concerned more with bulletin boards in the hallways than with fights in the hallways. It was about a principal who deleted the school program the first day she walked into the building and then took a month to develop another one. It was about a principal who spent thousands on catering, designing and equipping her new office. It was about a principal who hired a parent coordinator from outside the neighborhood who disdained meeting with parents and who spent all of her time locked in the principal's office.

Logan, sure that the teachers were conspiring against her, closed the school's highly-respected Teacher's Center. Pat Ritter, who had helped dozens of new teachers to transition into the difficult school, was removed and the room was physically shuttered so that teachers could not use it.

A new teacher was given an unsatisfactory rating for having the incorrect number of staples holding up a piece of teacher work. Another was given an unsatisfactory rating for taking eleven minutes to do a ten-minute lesson.

The school's dean was told that she could no longer call parents without the express permission of the principal.

That was last year.

Just this week, I received an email from a teacher in the school.

The teacher, who asked me not to reveal his or her name, said that the staff just voted Logan "The Most Hated Principal In Rockaway."

I know that you are going to say that a principal who is doing her job is never well-loved by the staff and that comes with the territory, but this goes far beyond that.

"Her criticism of the staff continues to be insulting and degrading," the email says. "When Logan is questioned about the way she deals with staff, she denies that she ever said it."

The email charges that Logan still uses school money to throw "culinary spreads" for the school security officers and the office staff.

"We have tried to get somebody to come and see what is going on," the correspondent says. "Nobody at region seems to care."

"The school is out of control and nobody respects the principal," the email adds.

"She spends her entire day either at meetings trying to find something she can hang on the veteran teachers, trying to find a way to give them U [unsatisfactory] ratings. Often, her observation reports are completely fabricated, pure fiction designed to give a teacher who does not deserve it a U rating."

According to the correspondent, a number of senior teachers have gone to her, asking for transfers to other schools.

"You are lucky to have a job and by the time I'm done with you, you'll be fired and without a job," Logan has reportedly told a number of teachers who have requested such transfers.

Last week, a number of officials from the United Federation of Teachers, responding to teacher complaints, visited the school and started an investigation into the teacher's charges.

Union officials declined to comment on what they found at the school until their investigation is completed.

On Monday, March 14, Dr. Kathleen Cashin, the Region Five Superintendent, reportedly visited the school.

According to the email, Cashin ordered Logan to open an office on the fourth floor of the building.

"Hopefully, that will restore some order to the building," the email said. "At least the people on the first floor will get a little rest from her screaming."

The Department of Education will not comment on issues such as those raised in the email because they are a "personnel matter," and it is illegal for them to make a comment on teacher or administrator behavior – unless it is somebody who is arrested.

And, while many teachers believe that Logan should be led away in handcuffs for her incompetence and her ruthless behavior towards teachers, it is up to Region Five Superintendent Cashin to move the principal aside.

When Logan was first appointed to take the place of former principal Beth Longo, she said that Longo had been removed for "persistent educational failure at the school."

In the latest standardized tests, the school's students scored lower than ever before. Only nine percent of the students passed the eighth grade English Language Arts test. Only twelve percent passed the Mathematics test. Talk about "persistent educational failure."

In fact, District 27 is on the "Failing District" list for the second year in a row. According to the DOE, this district is "in need of improvement." Perhaps the superintendent should be held as accountable for that as her principals are held accountable for their schools.

I first worked in District 27 schools in 1965, before moving on the Brooklyn. I was involved with the long 1968 strike against the community control that forced all union reps (most of whom were Jewish) out of Ocean-Hill, Brownsville, the first experiment in community control.

I came back to this district in 1982 and remained here in various roles until my retirement in 2001. I have never seen the cronyism that we find today, even in the bad old day of the suspended school board.

Perhaps it is time for a new superintendent who can move the district ahead, rather than back to the good old days of cronyism and failure.

Why then is Logan still at the helm of the MS 198? Only Cashin can answer that question. Perhaps Logan has the same Brooklyn connection as the last principal of MS 180, who is now long gone and others who seem to have no qualifications save for being friends or colleagues (or relatives of colleagues) from Brooklyn.

That is what our schools have come to. Bulletin boards, test-taking skills and cover you're a__.

From the Editor's Desk
By Howard Schwach, The Wave, February 6, 2004

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Middle School 198 in Arverne has been a difficult school for many years, largely because a school board, many years ago, zoned it for failure by sending all of the bright kids zoned for the school to MS 180 instead (that's a topic for another column, however).

Actually, I first taught at the then JHS 198 in February of 1965. I had just been discharged from active duty with the Navy, and took the position of a teacher who had been excessed for a poor performance.

I had an honors class that included many bright kids, some who went on to have bright careers. I also had a low exponent class that drove me to move to another school in the new term.

I came back to MS 198 several years ago as part of a staff development team run out of the district office. By that time, the school had become one of the most dangerous in the city, best-known for a bullet that had been shot through the window of the school in previous years, aimed at an assistant principal, but hitting the desk of a teacher next door to the AP's office.

I was friendly with the school's principal, Beth Longo. She was tough on both teachers and students and ran as tight a building as anybody possibly could under the circumstances.

She was removed last September for "persistent educational failure." The fact that she inherited a building in which only a handful of kids could read on grade level did not seem to concern the Department of Education or Region Five supervisor Kathleen Cashin. It was "off with her head," all over again.

In her place, the region put Angela Logan, a woman who seems to have no skills, either people or otherwise. Logan is reportedly the sister of a supervisor's union vice president, but I have not been able to corroborate that fact.

Last week, I met with more than a dozen teachers at the school, some of whom I have know for years and know to be good solid teachers, concerned with their student's education and well-being.

We met at the Irish Circle, over a couple of beers and buffalo wings, but what I heard made me blanch at the hot food.

Their discussion with me was re plete with kids who had weapons and were not punished; with supervisors overlooking fights in the hallways to check on bulletin boards; with a principal who denies basic supplies to her teachers yet spends thousands of dollars on a machine that makes name plates; with dozens of teachers out of work with injuries, including the school's chapter leader, who was hit in the back of his neck with a screwdriver; with thousands of dollars spent on catering; with no set teacher or student schedules and with a parent coordinator who comes from outside the neighborhood and disdains meeting with parents.

And, those are Logan's positive attributes.

It all began on the first day of school, teachers say.

Longo and her programmer had left a full program for Logan.

That program was given to teachers to place on the chalkboards for students to copy and follow.

About an hour into the first day, however, Logan scrapped the entire program and sent copies of the new (and terribly incorrect and confusing) program to teachers to give to students. There was chaos for the first week, with neither teachers nor students sure where they were supposed to be.

The new parent coordinator, hired by Logan, did not meet with parents or wander the school, meeting with teachers and students. Instead, she reportedly spent all of her time in Logan's office putting together the hundreds of dollars worth of new furniture ordered for the principal's new office. The coordinator, who is supposed to know the community and act as a liaison between community and school was from another community and reportedly made no attempt to get to know the school's community. I was told by a number of local parents that they submitted resumes for the job, but were never even contacted for an interview.

Just last week, the parent coordinator issued a newsletter for parents. The newsletter is replete with grammatical errors with errors of both tense and syntax. If a teacher had issued such poor work for public consumption, he or she would have been sanctioned immediately. The parent coordinator, who earns as much as a starting teacher although only a high school education is required, was not.

The highly-respected teacher's center, run by Pat Ritter, a long-time and respected teacher, was shut down because the principal reportedly thought that teachers were using the room to plot against her. The room was locked and no teacher was allowed to enter it under threat of being fired.

During the first week of school, the school's Aspects 27 counselor, Tom Kazalski, who had been in the building for many years, was reportedly asked by the principal to cut a check from his funds. When he asked for a receipt that showed what the funds were used for, Logan reportedly refused. Kazalski was transferred from the building to Beach Channel High School. Kazalski refused to speak with me about the issue, apparently worried about his job, and calls to Logan for comment went unreturned.

A mentor for a number of new teachers was ordered from the building because Logan saw an empty coffee cup on his desk.

A new teacher was given an unsatisfactory rating by Logan because he did not have the requisite number of staples holding the material on his bulletin board.

The school's dean, who is responsible for discipline, may no longer call parents without Logan's direct permission although the job in every other school requires parent contact.

A long-time teacher who was given instructions to fill 90 feet of bulletin board complained to Local Instruct ional Superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey that she could not possibly fill that much space. She was reportedly told, "If Mrs. Logan tells you to fill every bulletin board in the school, you'll
do it."

The same teacher, an art teacher with many awards to her name, must now teach "Art through Social Studies." Music teachers are also being told to teach Social Studies through their subject area.

The most dangerous incident to both teachers and students, however, oc curred shortly after the year began.

A construction crew working next to the Peninsula Hospital Center hit a gas main, spewing a plume of gas into the air.

The Department of Education or dered the school to be evacuated for the safety of the students.

It was a cold and rainy day. At first, the teachers were told to walk the kids to Beach Channel High School. As the students were exiting the building, however, the orders were changed. Students were to be walked in the rain from the school, at Beach 56 Street to PS/MS 43 on Beach 28 Street.

While teachers walked with students, trying to keep them from going home and trying to keep them from panic (many believed it was another 9/11 and that their parents were in jeopardy), Logan drove her car alongside the long line of walking students.

Logan had failed to call the school to tell them that MS 198 was coming, and nobody at PS 43 had any idea of what to do with the 400 students who showed up.

Logan reportedly ordered the teachers into the building to receive instructions, leaving the kids on the street. There were at least five fist-fights in the street in front of the school and dozens just disappeared onto Seagirt Boulevard and went home.

Several of the teachers told me that Lloyd-Bey was at the school and saw the chaos, but said nothing.

When the situation was ended and the students who remained were walked back to the school, Logan placed letters in several teachers' files, citing them for "being disorganized" and for "dereliction of duty."

At least one of the teachers who got the letter was absent that day.

This is the brave new world of the Department of Education and Region Five.

Logan will retain her job despite chaos and dangerous conditions. It is no longer about education. It is all about politics and spin.

MS 198 School Report Card

More on the status of teachers in New York City:

School Scope
Run Kids Run, The Teacher Contract is Killing You
By Norman Scott, The Wave, May 20, 2005

LINK

The New York Daily News has taken on the task of correcting the educational ills of New York City schools by using daily editorials to squarely place the blame for the problems in the schools on the teacher contract. Under the guise of protecting the children of this city from the excesses of the UFT contract, the editorialists at the News have swallowed the BloomKlein line hook, lie and sinker.

Now, anyone who has been working under this golden contract finds these harangues almost laughable, if only things weren't so serious, as indicated in this recent email I received: "...after all the abuse that I've been through over my past 13 years or so of NYC teaching I've decided to resign. My husband makes a decent salary, (certainly not rich, but decent) and I will be starting a course for a new career. The working conditions in my school have become so deplorable, that I just can't take it anymore."

But the Daily News is telling us on a daily basis just how good the working conditions in the schools are for teachers, considering the wonderful contract. Yet, almost everyone I speak to complains about the working conditions.

At one school, the first year principal, a graduate of the Klein/Welch School of Ogreship, has so alienated the staff that many veteran teachers want to transfer. As they started to line up jobs at other schools they discovered that they are not so free to move. There is a limit on how many teachers may transfer from any one school (someone quoted a number of 5%) and all those teachers who had basically been thinking they were al-al-ready gone – to quote an Eagles song – are finding out the wonderful contract they have makes them indentured servants. They will have to wait some time before singing the Eagles anthem. I got an email from a teacher who received a disciplinary letter because he was absent for 11 days. The UFT contract allows 10 days and going one over triggers threatening letters. If the UFT contract said "3 days" they would get a letter for being absent a 4th day. (Hmmm. Maybe the News is right about a wonderful contract.) This is apparently due to pressure from the House of Tweed since it is occurring all over the city.

For people with children who get sick sometimes and need someone to be home with them and the illnesses one often gets in schools (especially new teachers who are most susceptible but after a few years of teaching become immune even to Ebola virus) it is possible that one could go over the limit without being a goldbrick. As with everything else, the DOE policy is a blanket one – teachers who are taking excessive days off should be spoken to. But when teachers who have cancer and need some extra days off are treated like criminals, there is something seriously wrong.

An AP on the other side of the coin: We've been profiling good administrators in the NYC school system as we run across them. Laurie Nearon is the Assistant Principal for Science at Aviation HS in Queens and has pushed the barriers of science education with her dedication and hard work. This year she got the school involved in the First Robotics Competition, where 50- 70 students built and programmed a robot, in addition to creating presentations, web sites, handling publicity, etc. This effort was an amazing collaboration between Laurie, students, and their teacher/advisors Samantha Gian and Michael Koumoullos.

Hanging out in Laurie's office, where during the intense six-week period of robot building she could be found as late as 9 .pm., is always illuminating, as teachers, students and administrator mix so easily.

The kids involved in the robotics program have been absolutely wonderful. I spent some time with a bunch of student volunteers from Aviation at the FRC competition in NYC at Riverbank State Park a week after they competed in the Long Island tournament. We worked traffic control together and they totally took charge, leaving me little to do but watch in appreciation. Having worked mostly with elementary students, the experience made me consider doing some subbing in high schools. Wellllll, maybe I'll think a little more about that idea. To celebrate the achievements of students in Region 4's middle school robotics programs, a Robotics Pentathlon will be held at Aviation High School located at 45-30 36th Street and Queens Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens on May 21st.

Stephen Shapinsky, Region 4's robotics staff developer, wrote in a recent press release, "Region 4's intermediate school students have designed, constructed, and programmed their own robots. Such an experience makes invaluable connections for students in the world of math, science, and engineering. It also enables them to develop and strengthen their problem solving abilities. In the hangar of Aviation High School, amidst airplanes and helicopters, these robots will compete in five events designed to showcase the skills and abilities our students have developed. The event will also be an opportunity for younger students and the community to see some of the great programs and facilities at Aviation High School, including their own award-winning robot, the Quantum Samurai, and the amazing team that built it."

Stephen and I spent a day recently in the hanger building the courses for the Pentathlon amidst the vintage planes – truly a unique experience.

Make fear, not love: As the teachers were leaving a Rockaway school at the end of the day, the principal and Region 5 Superintendent Cashin were at the door. A number of teachers came up to the principal to say goodbye. The principal told Cashin, " See, my teachers like me." Cashin was heard to retort, "You are here to be feared by teachers, not to be liked." The principal was out of there not long after and replaced by someone who is feared, hated and a total incompetent to boot. Nice work!

JFK high school Assistant Principal changes English Regent Test scores: English teachers at John F. Kennedy high school in the Bronx were outraged to learn that the Assistant Principal in charge of programming took it upon himself to change at least 15 failing scores of the English regents given last January to passing without notifying the teachers, many of whom had marked the exams originally. They found out when children they thought had failed informed the teachers they were passing. The fact that the AP is not even the English AP emphasized the fact that the decision to change the grades was all about making the passing and graduation rates at JFK look better than they were.

JFK is one of the largest high schools in the city and has been put through the squeezing-of-space-cataclysm-by-small-school-invasion, even losing their automotive vocational program despite a valiant fight.

Teacher wins 100-minute lottery: A teacher was called out of the much despised bi-weekly Monday extravaganza known as the 100-minute professional development – where teachers get to stay late to hear pearls of wisdom on how to improve their skills – to assist some visitors and was told he did not have to return. One would think he had won the lottery as he practically leaped for joy over his good fortune. He was last seen working happily with a group of students (taboo during the 100-minutes) who had stayed after school to prepare for a test.

I know we're not in Kansas anymore: I've been reporting on the evolution/intelligent design controversy going in Pennsylvania and particularly, in Kansas. Now it is all creeping into NY. The pharyngula.org website reports: Assembly Bill 8036, introduced on May 3, 2005 and referred to the Committee on Education, would require that "all pupils in grades kindergarten through twelve in all public schools in the state ... receive instruction in both theories of intelligent design and evolution." It also charges New York's commissioner of education to assist in developing curricula and local boards of education to provide "appropriate training and curriculum materials ... to ensure that all aspects of the theories, along with any supportive data, are fully examined through such course of study." A08036, if enacted, would take effect immediately. Richard Firenze, who teaches biology at Broome Community College, remarked, "This bill is completely absurd. Those of us in New York who are concerned about our children's science education should sit up and take notice: it's not just in places like Georgia and Kansas that creationists are trying to sabotage biology education." The bill's sole sponsor, Daniel L. Hooker (R), represents Assembly District 127, encompassing parts of Greene, Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie, Ulster, Columbia, and Chenango counties.

We close this week's festivities with the words of Nineteenth-century English social scientist Herbert Spencer: "Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution as not adequately supported by facts seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."

Related Story:

A NYC Math Teacher Fights Back After Receiving an Unfair 'Unsatisfactory' Rating from a Principal