Time for PS 20 Principal to Get The Boot?
In an article about how the Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene is now harder to get into than Harvard today (play-by-play of the lottery is here), The Brooklyn Paper points to the unpopular principal at PS 20 (where a new gifted school is scheduled to open next year) as one of the reasons…
In an article about how the Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene is now harder to get into than Harvard today (play-by-play of the lottery is here), The Brooklyn Paper points to the unpopular principal at PS 20 (where a new gifted school is scheduled to open next year) as one of the reasons why so many parents signed up for the charter school lottery. The sentiment echoes numerous comments on the schools thread we had on Brownstoner earlier this week, where even the school’s critics and defenders seemed to agree that the principal was a big problem. A commenter on Inside Schools says something similar: “The principal is a disaster. He is authoritarian, defensive, and almost incapable of taking input seriously.” And speaking of PS 20 in a recent thread on the Times’ Local blog, one commenter said, “The DOE needs to clean house.” So the anecdotal evidence against this principal is sounding pretty compelling. Let’s see if a poll backs that up—and then maybe someone who has a connection to Joel Klein can forward the feedback. At the very least, perhaps he can be persuaded to change his ways. If you live in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, please vote below.
Hi Rentoown – I guess that was my point about the pre-k classes being diverse while the others are less so. Those pre-k kids aren’t staying at ps20 and 11 in nearly the same numbers.
Tests and class size are bigger issues to me. I can deal with an unfriendly pricipal if my kid is getting what he needs in the classroom.
(But we’ll see if I change my tune next fall!)
We went to an open house at PS 20 a year or so ago. It was our first time visiting a NYC public school, so we were not sure what to expect. The Principal (the one that some people don’t seem to like) was very nice, students looked happy, the school was clean and there were plenty of classes in music, art etc…Our son is still a few years away from attending School and we will probably move into a different zone (more for living space than school district).
Anyways I thought the School was pretty nice.
My wife did visit PS 11 on her own, she really liked it.
I’ve taught high school since 2000, around the beginning of this godawful movement to test, test, test, test young kids to death. Tests DO NOT measure the ability to think critically. They don’t measure curiosity or creativity or anything except the ability to regurgitate what the test-taker has already read. Most of the grading standards (at least in the high school Regents exams) are set so ridiculously low that non-special ed students would have to be quite brain-dead not to pass, or have absolutely no support from their teachers and parents. What’s the biggest difference between my students in 2000 and 2009? My students now have been “educated” with ten years of test prep. They are by and large terrible critical thinkers, poor writers, and uninterested in anything beyond themselves and their two friends. There are exceptions, of course, but I got far more out of my students seven and eight years ago, and I had much less experience back then and was not as good or well-prepared teacher as I am now. I remember back then students were free-spirited and curious, and this seems to have been killed.
I constantly ask my students their opinions on the historical events we study. Earlier this year a student and I had the following exchange:
Her: Why are you always asking us what we think? Why don’t you just tell us what you think?
Me: I want you to develop your opinions on your own, without being influenced by me. I want you to debate each other and not simply repeat everything I say. I don’t want you to be robots!
Her: So?
I have no opinion on PS 20 and know nothing about it, but the idea that it’s a good school because it has high standardized test scores is simply absurd.
renttoown, its a foregone conclusion among the FG/CH stroller set that PS20 is a bad school and the principal is squarely to fault. I hear it repeated often at Underhill playground, FG Park and even here on Brownstoner.
I find the whisper campaign pretty offensive on several levels.
First, the actual students, you know the 5-10 year old boys and girls that currently attend the school, are scoring at or near the top of their district. They should be applauded, not clouded in “Get the Principal fired” rhetoric.
Second, what about the teachers of the above students? No mention is made of their efforts and achievements? “Clean house” isn’t very encouraging or supportive of the teachers who are passionate and work their asses off everyday at that school. They seem to be thrown under the bus in the “Get the Principal Fired” rhetoric as well.
All of this just because a couple of parents find him to be a big old meanie, who’s authoritarian, defensive, and almost incapable of taking input and… he doesn’t smile.
Bricka,
I’ve always assumed that the upper grades at 11 and 20 were less diverse because of gentrification. I.e. the neighborhood was less diverse when those upper grade kid were in pre-k. i suspect that the upper grades will be more diverse as the current pre-k classes move up. btw, from my experience, the pre-k and k classes at 11 seem diverse, not just the pre-k.
Don’t know the school so not voting. But agree that this has the ring of a familiar gentrification complaint, as a new set of parents with different opinions move in. Sounds verbatim like what I’ve heard in the past re: 282, for instance (where the out-of-zone parents who sought out the school loved the administration).
Parents seem to strenuously object to being “excluded” from the school by the principal. Perhaps they are used to being deeply involved in their child’s pre-school or daycare. Do they feel something is being hidden if they aren’t allowed to participate actively?
I’ve been on two ps20 tours and the individual classes seem indistinguishable from other local classrooms (indeed the actual building is better than most with great big windows and plenty of daylight). The teachers seem nice and the kids are cheery and well-behaved. It’s quite true the principal isn’t a warm person (no smiles!?), but is that really the only measure of a school.
Interestingly, on both tours the pre-k class had a truly diverse population as well as rave reviews from parents. For whatever reason however, the kindergarten classes are substantially less diverse. This seems to happen at ps 11 too by the way. What happens in that year – private school? Charters? New Jersey?!
I know it’s Brownstoner’s prerogative but I agree that the topic of the post as worded is distasteful and way too simplistic. Perhaps it could have just asked to people to comment on PS 20, without singling out the principal.
The primary job of a principle is to make sure the little savages don’t set each other on fire every day, so far it looks like he succeeded in his mission.
Kudos to him.