In early May of this year, thirteen new instructional superintendent positions were posted on the DCPS website with annual salaries ranging from 120,000 to 150,000. Many were aghast after learning of the news especially in light of the 528 million dollar deficit that DC government is currently facing as well as Rhee's overspending of the central office budget. Rhee and company's rationale for doubling the number of school superintendents is to improve teacher quality and raise student achievement.Once news of these management positions was broadcast, parents argued that if Rhee had the money to hire more senior level managers the money would have been better spent on bringing back the teachers and school staff who she (Rhee) laid off in November 2009, reducing class sizes or buying needed supplies at the local school level. A Washington Post article revealed that Rhee stated in interviews that although this increase in senior managers could cost as much as 2 million dollars, 'cuts to existing DCPS staff' will make the thirteen new hires- budget neutral. Reports are circulating that two vice principals were terminated from Jefferson Middle School as late as May 28. The Office of Special Education has been reorganizing and cuts to program manager positions and other reassignments were recently announced. Stay tuned as the story unfolds on whose job Rhee and her administration will cut next to make way for DC's instructional superintendents.
By the way, through a series of emails, I have learned that Rhee plans to promote five existing principals to the new instructional superintendent positions. My sources indicate that the following five principals will become DC's next instructional superintendents:
Amanda Alexander- principal @Ross ES- 1730 R St. NW, Wash. DC
Jeffrey Grant- principal @ Walker-Jones EC- 1125 New Jersey Ave. NW, Wash. DC
Willie Jackson-principal @ Elliot-Hines MS-1830 Constitution Ave. NE, Wash. DC
Wayne Ryan- principal @ Noyes EC-2725 10th St. NE, Wash, DC
Darrin Slade- principal @ Ron Brown MS- 4800 Meade St. NE, Wash. DC
Posted by The Washington Teacher
38 comments:
I had the privilege of working with Amanda Alexander at Park View several years ago, and I can attest that she is amazing. I've had many colleagues who have worked for Wayne Ryan, and they say he is an amazing and inspiring leader. It looks like Rhee made some great picks.
Anonymous 6:10 PM: I don't know Amanda Alexander but there are many who describe Wayne Ryan as a tyrant including me. I have to disagree that he is a good pick. Every year he has a very high turn over of his staff- perhaps you should do your research if you want to get the real truth on him.
Who is going to run Ron Brown now that Slade is leaving? I guarantee you that there is not another principal or AP in DC aside from Slade that can control that school. It is combined with the old Woodson building and is in one of the toughest neighborhoods in DC. Slade has done a pretty good job keeping that building under control, considering the circumstances. The funny thing is, the kids are probably happy he's going to be gone... it's party time for them!
Ron Brown is one of the worst schools in the district. They are shuffling these idiots up to make room for more Rhee flunkies not because they think these people are so awesome. Watch for next years RIF to include some or all of these former principals.
The real travesty here is that jobs will be cut to make way for these central office management positions which require 2 million dollars in funding. We have to ask the tough questions. Are these management positions really needed ? Is this any way to reform a school system by this revolving door approach to hiring and firing staff every year ?
The fact that Rhee needs more supervisors indicate that she is not happy with the current crew. Not enough poor IMPACT SCORES GIVEN BY PRINCIPALS.
So her solution is to hire new thugs to brow beat principals into making sure more teachers and others receive low Impact Scores.
Another reason to vote "NO" on the TA. Can you imagine how some of these folks with use this unholy contract between Rhee and GP.
Wasn't there a suspicion of DC-CAS cheating involving Walker-Jones?
Anyone who thinks Slade is awesome is obviously not in touch with the truth. This man allowed students to attack teachers and them blamed the teachers.
He is being promoted because he is a Rhee butt-kisser and willing to do anything she wants.
If the test scores went up, I would check to see if he continues to cheat as he has done in the past. He got rid of counselors and teachers who questioned his unlawful testing practices.
He is another crook from outside DC. A promotion for him is a great waste of DC resources and he should have been fired. However, it may be a good thing to limit his direct contact with students.
Look out principals who are under his control.
So Ross ES will get ANOTHER principal? After Smith, Hartsock, Gonzalez, and Alexander, this will be the 5th in 6 years.
And these new positions will be bullying principals?
Will it be better than them bullying teachers, parents, and students?
I also heard program managers will be let go from the office of spec. ed and special ed specialists will now cover charter schools.
Has anyone else heard this?
Anonymous at 6:10:
Whether Rhee made "great picks" or not remains to be seen. Each principal who was promoted may have had good test scores at their persepctive schools, but who is going to take charge now that they are gone? Superintendents don't raise test scores and control discipline: teachers and principals do! In a time of crisis in DCPS, there is absolutely no logic in taking your best principals out of positions where they can do the most good for students and test scores and then placing them in positions where they can't really do anything other than fire staff. I will be interested to see whether or not test scores and discipline improve at the schools where they principals are "moving up".
I agree with the anonymous at 6:42 AM.
Slade is a known bully among teachers and principals.
There was suspicion that Walker Jones EC had cheated. An outside investigative panel came in and found that there was NO EVIDENCE OF CHEATING! As a teacher at Walker Jones, we worked hard last year. Our DC BAS scores are parallel to our DC CAS scores. Although we made tremendous gains last year, we didn't make AYP or Safe Harbor. So for those who question our scores, why cheat and still not make one of those benchmarks?! We have a great leader at WJEC and it's sad to see him go!
Michelle Rhee is not acting alone, she is doing what her Master instructs her to do. The woman is doing all wrong without any penalty. Instead, she is allowed to continue to employ her flunkies, fire competent and needed teachers and staff for no reason, refused to fund needed materials and supplies for the students of the District of Columbia, lied about almost everything and continues to lie. Folks, its time to say to Michelle Rhee that "Enough is Enough".
Add Willie Jackson to the bully list. He is awful! There is not enough room on this blog for me to discuss some of the dirty things he has done. I can't believe that he is being considered for a promotion. He makes Slade look like a church boy in comparison.
Clearly Ms Rhee runs DCPS like someone would run a street gang. Only the most ruthless and most evil rise to the top! What does that say about her?
When will this information be shared publicly? Ross parents think it's impossible that Amanda Alexander would leave after two successful years.
The parents of this school system's children are letting their children down. Michelle Rhee and Adrian Fenty are not called out enough on their incompetencies. The Fenty administration should be investigated by the Department of Education, for a lack of clear direction of how a school system should be ran. When Rhee/Fenty fired the teachers and school staff in November, 2009 for budgetary problems the parents should have been more vocal, and outraged. The DC Government does not have the money that a lot of workers think it has. The former mayor, Williams left this city with a surplus of money, and in less than three years the Fenty administration had to start using the "Rainy Day Fund". The Mayor nor Rhee can manage their budgets, and Rhee wants to hire more gangsters to further erode the WTU.
Are the principal firings done? What about Carolyn Cobbs at Ludlow Taylor?
And what about the principal at Kimball Elementary?
Since 2007, the Chancellor's Adminitration continuously overspends, overhires and fires DCPS employees.
The Chancellor believes that DCPS is an employment agency to recruit, hire and fire temporary employees.
The primary focus of education is to place funds in resources as needed such as:
books, materials, computers, college preparation, supplies, Art, Music, PE & Health, School Counselors, Social Workers, etc. that will provide direct services to all students to enhance their learning styles.
At the end of the day, DCPS needs a Superintendent who is financially responsible, experienced, an instructional leader that has qualifications with a Doctorate Degree in Education.
Enough is Enough, Rhee MUST GO!
VOTE "NO" to the WTU T.A.
We Can Do BETTER!
Another person already said it but I think it is critical to emphasize that pulling principals (especially successful ones) from schools causes great chaos. This holds true even more tragically for schools that have principals turnover every year or two like Ross.
Once again this shows that Rhee has no idea how severely her decisions will impact schools and students.
What about the principal at Jefferson? Now you want to talk about a bully, she is terrible. She can't control the school and she has no respect for her staff. She is rude and disrespectful. She needs to go but her guardian angel Wilhoyte has her back no matter how many complaints she has against her. The two assistant principals were fired but she still has her job so far. She threw them under the bus just like she did last year with the assistant principal, but I guess she will get a promotion too.
What about the principal at Ferebee-Hope? Any news? She was universally hated at her previous school and I can't imagine she was better to her teachers there in SE.
well, doesn't special ed need major restructuring and housecleaning due to consistent evidence of bad management, confused processes, waste of serious money? isn't what you report a good sign?
@Anon on May 30, 5:04pm:
I agree. I am a dedicated aide/instructional paraprofessional with DCPS, and I had to cover for one of my colleagues at Ludlow-Taylor for two days in February. It was the WORST experience I've ever had as a professional. That school has absolutely NO order whatsoever. I wonder how Ms. Cobbs got her job, because, after observing her for those two days, she had NO clue about how to run a school. But then again, this is Michelle Rhee's DCPS, which is like the Golden Corral, a free-for-all.
Amanda Alexander instructional specialist ???? This is completely absurd but I am not surprised at all. Most teachers and parents at Bunker Hill ES could not take her bullying any more but no one listened to them. At Ross, she had a small entourage of parents and teachers who defended everything she did. And she rewarded them with expensive gifts (trips to Disneyland, Disneyword, ski resorts and so on). She also forced every single person to no no more than drill to the tests. Children and parents knew the DC CAS exams had been opened and fed to the kids during the week prior to the test. No one listened to those parents who tried to understand why this fraud was committed. Also, ELL teachers were told NOT to do any pull outs (all year long) but take the same tests and do extensive drilling until everyone knew the answers -- in most cases without understanding the question. The ELL teachers were afraid to lose their jobs so they did what was required from them. Those teachers who tried to put children's needs first were fired. Ask any student and they will tell you how incompassionate she is. She has very strong backing and Rhee is just following orders of promoting her. What a joke !!!!
DCPS stinks and it will slowly continue to get worse no matter who is in office. That's why I'm getting the HELL OUT!
I am familiar with Amanda Alexander from Bunker Hill and the experience was less than favorable. When she lost BHill she prevented some teachers from getting positions at other schools by calling ahead to tell the interviewing principals that they were not worthy. In all of those cases she lied. Confrontation in any form is detrimental to your job - by hook or crook. Her best asset is book smarts.
What about the Principal at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School. She is outright neglectful of the needs of minorities. Her focus is on catering to the needs of affluent families.
In fact, her negligence has brought her an investigation. The US. Dept. of Education is currently investigating Oyster Adams for discrimination against African American and ESL students.
Enough with the BS, let's put in a principal who will work for all students.
Rhee wants to put a great show, and for her the numbers say it all. That's why she promotes those principals who look at students as variables for an experiment that's being conducted. Amanda Alexander, Wayne Ryan or BFF Maria Tukeva can lie or cheat because they are just being Machiavellian where the end justifies the means.
Principal Patton at Jefferson is disrespectful to everyone. For two years, the scores have fallen, teacher morale has been at an abysmal low, and parents refuse to come to the school because she's there. The building is filthy and unsafe. There is chaos daily. How did the APs get terminated when Principal Patton is the problem?
Darren Slade: inarticulate, unprofessional and a womanizer.
Wayne Ryan: tyrant and will cuss anyone out, drinks a lot.
Amanda Alexander: a black version of Rhee and a kiss-butt.
Willie Jackson: inarticulate, unprofessional, gossips like a girl and lacks subject-verb agreement.
Perhaps Anonymous at 6:10 pm on May 29th received one of the expensive gifts.
Anybody that has worked with Slade will tell you that he is one of the best principals that DC ever had. He teaaches classes, supports teachers with discipline, has their backs in crisis, etc. The man goes into the hood knocking on doors late at night to support teachers. The man is fearless. The kids love him. He has been doing these things for years long before Rhee's administration. He will make an excellent instructional sup.
Anon at 4:36PM
He also lies on teachers, fights with kids, pays kids to lie on other kids, disrespects women and is a thug.
Finally, you must have been paid to lie for him OR YOU ARE REALLY SLADE.
What a shame that promotions would be made based on nepotism and bias. It is time that someone wakes up and sees that the many administrators that were not given another year at their schools without due cause were ones who did work hard, spent many hours in their schools and had few problems that they worked out on their own. It looks like today it is good to cheat, be cruel, mean and demeaning in order to make it. What a criminal way to run a school system.
I have to disagree with Amanda Alexander becoming Superintendant because she is a bully to teachers and students. She gets what she wants because she friends with Rhee. Amanda gets people to kiss her behind and if they dont she makes hell for them.
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