Race, Class and P.S. 20's Controversial Principal
This weekend the Local’s Andy Newman followed up the extensive blog reporting on P.S. 20 he’s been doing with an article about Sean Keaton, the elementary school’s love-him-or-loathe-him principal. The story describes Keaton, who missed the Fort Greene school’s graduation last week—he was barred from attending by Dept. of Ed officials owing to assault charges…
This weekend the Local’s Andy Newman followed up the extensive blog reporting on P.S. 20 he’s been doing with an article about Sean Keaton, the elementary school’s love-him-or-loathe-him principal. The story describes Keaton, who missed the Fort Greene school’s graduation last week—he was barred from attending by Dept. of Ed officials owing to assault charges he’s facing for allegedly beating up a teacher’s union rep—as being at the center of a race-class divide: “In the resurgent brownstone bastions of Fort Greene, Boerum Hill and the fringes of Park Slope, affluent parents with one set of expectations for their children’s education — progressive, hands-on, emphasizing freedom — are clashing with longtime, working-class residents who prefer stricter, more structured educational models like the one Mr. Keaton favored, leaving principals caught in the crossfire…At P.S. 20, some of the conflict has been tinged with race: Mr. Keaton is black, as are three-quarters of the students, while many of the families who said they found him hard to work with are white. Much of it has to do with class. Some comes down to personal style: Even many of Mr. Keaton’s supporters say he can be abrasive and inclined to escalate rather than defuse tensions.” In a poll of Brownstoner readers a couple months ago that ran before the assault charges, 47 percent of you said Keaton should be removed from the school; 17 percent said he should stay; and 36 percent said you didn’t know enough about the issue to have an opinion one way or the other.
As Cultures Clash, Brooklyn Principal Faces Assault Charges [NY Times]
PS 20: It’s a Long Story [The Local]
Time for PS 20 Principal to Get The Boot? [Brownstoner]
Photo from the Bridge & Tunnel Club.
rf- if it’s not one conflict, it’ll be another. I would be looking at Keaton for his accomplishments, but beating up another person- a colleague no less- really makes it a moot issue. If anything it is much more important that school management be able to work through difficult situations without freaking out.
On the other hand bridges really does address another problem- the air of entitlement many people have- and they probably were making Keaton’s life difficult. But he was doing himself no favors- in his position it was up to him to resolve conflicts, work with parents and teachers, and show real leadership. A bad situation all around and the kids lose.
“You actually should have an “ignore” feature, hopefully by September…
Posted by: brownstoner at June 29, 2009 4:39 PM”
Please do it! Thank you so much Brownstoner just kill the site! Thank you thank you!
Th What (Victory)
Someday this war is gonna end…
PS20 is NOT a failed or failing school. It has excellent test scores and sends its graduates on to success in middle school and high school.
There’s certainly no defending Keaton for what he apparently did to the union rep. But the conflict between old timers and newbies will re-emerge. I really hope the principal who is selected is able to handle both groups with respect.
bridges that is incredible! The American spirit is in serious decline these days.
You actually should have an “ignore” feature, hopefully by September…
I’m inclined to pull for Keaton. It just sounds like an attack by twee parents on a principal who isn’t toadying to their dictates.
Listen, I worked at an extremely large, blue chip firm, a firm so besieged by parents calling to find out why little Chloe or Nate wasn’t being promoted faster and mentored every step that HR was finally forced to dedicate an office whose sole function is to field calls from parents. From fighting to get their kids in the right preschool straight through to college, these parents are accustomed to dictating to school personnel to ensure their kids’ career track.
Comparing Keaton to Mugabe is typical of the mindset…because anyone who doesn’t follow their directives is just the WORST…PERSON….EVER!!! That’s the mentality.
nsr- agreed. What is desperately trying to be relevant and so failing.
dave,
I think he understood exactly the context of what you said, but he saw it as an opportunity to use it as a stick to beat you with.
So, he worked up some fake tears and pretended to have his sensitive little soul wounded and then whined and whimpered for days and days and days until Brownstoner said nobody is allowed to say that big bad word where What might read it, because we all know how easily he is offended by harsh language.
I had very little respect for him before. I have none for him now.
If he doesn’t get banned soon or we don’t get an “ignore” feature soon, I’ll find another web site to browse while killing time at work.
He no longer posts here to express a point of view. He posts here to take pleasure in being offensive. I suppose one could argue he wasn’t always a worthless troll, but that’s all he is now.
And my tolerance for his contrived litany of complaints is nearing its end.
sorry, but pushing and stressing is just what happens to people in positions of power. if they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be in positions of power. particularly ones involving children.