Dwan Jordon: Bully With A Capital B ?
Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence
Quite naturally McCrummen's reporting led to complaints from Sousa teachers who were interviewed for the Post's story. Washington Post writer Jay Mathews attempted to save the day with a follow up piece on his Class Struggle blog in which he asked whether "Jordon is a hero or bully? His Post newspaper column had a noticeabley different title than his blog with the same story and appeared as "Results of D.C. principal's controversial methods need to outweigh criticism." I imagine that Mathews was trying to appease the would-be complainers and in order give the appearance that the Post is committed to some modicum of objectivity. As Mcrockett1 posted on Mathew's blog on July 13: "The question that Jay Originally posed - hero or bully?about Dwan Jordon seems to have been answered by the posters: Bully with a capital B. If even half of what the various posters have said is accurate, Jordon does not belong in an administrative position (or in any position in education) no matter what test scores are achieved. Give a person like that a gun and a badge, and there's an incident waiting to happen. "
Having first written about the Sousa story last July 2009 on The Washington Teacher blog, McCrummen's article sparked my curiosity so I asked some of the former Sousa teachers I know to enlighten me about their side of the story. What intrigued me most is that no matter what negative attributes Jordon and the Post ascribe to the former teaching staff, we all must admit that 'teachers raise test scores, not principals.' Principals create the conditions for good teaching and learning to occur and isn't it their job as our educational leaders to do just that ? So unless Jordon is willing to admit that he cheated on DC-CAS standardized tests, I am perplexed as to why he didn't attribute not one iota of praise on Sousa's former teachers who helped to improve their school's test scores. Whether you buy into Jordon's portrayal (as written by McCrummen) of Sousa's former teachers as humiliated, resistant, abusive, traumatized and incompetent, these former DCPS teachers helped to make the highest DC-CAS gains within DC Public Schools in school year 2008-09, like it or not. Here's to the hard work of Sousa Middle School Teachers (former and to those who still remain from SY '08-09) ! The reading scores for Sousa in spring 2008 was 22.84% and in spring 2009 they went up to 39.42%. The math scores for Sousa in spring 2008 was 16.75% and they went up in spring 2009 to 41.83%.
I agreed to publish an account from a former Sousa teacher because I think the general public has the right to hear both sides of our public education reform story not just the picture of us living and working in the world according to Chancellor Rhee that the Post is so intent on portraying. I am slightly disappointed that this former teacher shared mostly about the tyranny Sousa teachers endured under Principal Jordon instead of how they persevered in spite of Jordon and ultimately were successful in helping DCPS students achieve. Perhaps that's a story for another day. Due to the climate of fear that exists within DCPS under the Rhee administration, I am not at liberty to reveal this teachers' identity. Here's the other side of the Sousa story as told to me first hand.
The Other Side Of The Sousa Middle School Story
as told by a former Sousa MS Teacher
" On Monday, July 12, 2010, Dwan Jordon, Principal of Sousa Middle School was the subject of an article by Jay Matthews in the Washington Post. The basis of the article was AFTER Sousa had the highest DC-CAS gains in any DCPS middle school in 2009, why in the world would most of his staff leave? Well, Candi, I was there in 2008-2009, and let me tell you--it was the worst work experience of my life. Many of my colleagues and I , would rather dig 12 foot ditches filled with foulness, then ever come upon the likes of Dwan Jordon again.
A total of 50 teachers and staff members left the year that I was there. Jordon terminated 10, but 40 left on their own.To have 50 staff members leave from one school ( Sousa) is unheard of in any district. We complained to the union, and they were helpful but overwhelmed by the sheer volume of complaints. Our union Field Representative was either taking complaints or doing mediation at Sousa at least twice per week in school year 2008-2009. There were at least 45 complaints filed with the WTU and DCPS central office about Jordon. A lot of the staff, including me, worked around the clock to increase the test scores. Prior to Jordon coming to Sousa, we always had a lot less resources and many more students. When Jordon arrived our enrollment was down 60 students. All of our class sizes ranged from 10 to 25 students at most. Also, we did not have any other administrators (i.e., asst. principals) many years before Jordon came. When Jordon arrived, he was given two assistant principals, two coaches, and a dean of students. We only had 230 students with over 56 staff.
Mr. Jordon was very gifted at analyzing data and implementing longer school days. Some teachers even came to work from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily to please him. We were scared as he threatened us with being fired at least three times weekly. In Jordon's (July 6) front page Washington Post article written by Stephanie McCrummen, he wanted to paint a picture of all of the 10 teachers he fired under the 90 day plan as being incompetent. Yet, four teachers retired and six were given their jobs back because many of them had never had a bad evaluation prior to him. Also, Jordon lied and omitted many components from staff evaluations. Based on the 2010 IMPACT preliminary Final Report, these are the ratings of the six teachers who Jordon fired but were reinstated with the help of the WTU: one teacher Minimally Effective, three teachers Effective, and two Highly Effective.
Jordon was very cruel. For instance, one teacher that Jordon did not like had an allergic reaction and needed medical attention. Not only did Mr. Jordon refuse to call the ambulance after the teacher begged him, but he walked down the hall and told the other staff members who witnessed it that they would be in trouble if they gave helped to stabilize the teacher.
Jordon would regularly demean teachers by screaming and yelling at them in the hallways right in front of students as he saw fit. Jordon intimidated many teachers by standing outside of their classroom doors during their lunch periods. Many teachers would go into the bathroom for privacy. It was not uncommon for teachers to be found crying in the halls.
It was very common for most teachers on the 90 day plan to be observed at least three times a day, yes three times a day. Jordon illegally used his Literacy and Math Coaches who both still work at Sousa to officially observe teachers. The teachers had a meeting with the union field representative for Sousa, and the field representative explained to him that the coaches are ET-15's and cannot officially observe teachers.The next day Jordon went to every teacher's classroom that was present in that meeting and wrote them up if they did not have their lesson plans. The Math Coach reported to Jordon all the names of the teachers that were at the meeting. We did not want the coach at our union meeting as she was a snitch; however, the union allowed it because she was also a member of the union. The Literacy and Math Coaches still continued to officially observe teachers until the end of the 2009 school year. All their observations were placed in the teachers 90 day plan file with Jordon's forged signature. Even when asked by teachers, It was seldom that the Literacy and the Math coaches modeled effective instruction.
Jordon was always saying how unprofessional the 2008-2009 staff were; however, he was one of the most immature men that any of us had ever met. Jordon would talk about teachers negatively (without saying their names) in front of their faces almost daily in our morning collaborative meetings. Additionally, he told our students that he was going to get rid of certain teachers, and sure enough those teachers were terminated. Jordon would also bring you into his office, along with his administrative team, to question you if he thought that you talked about him to anyone. Jordon continued to bad mouth many of the former teachers after they left Sousa. Jordon lied on many of our evaluations just so that many people could get bad ratings. He never gave positive references when other administrators called. He even bad mouthed teachers that he did not terminate. However, the few teachers that Jordon liked were given good evaluations and special privileges. For instance, there was a white female teacher that Jordon liked who still works at Sousa. She had no classroom management, was an average Language Arts/Social Studies teacher, but had an Ivy League degree. If a student so much as hiccuped, Jordon would get the student out of her classroom immediately and she never got into trouble. Yet, he would write up other teachers if students misbehaved in their classes. This teacher ended up being on Jordon's administrative/recruitment committee to interview new teachers, and received an Exceeds Expectations rating at the end of 2008-2009.
In contrast, there was an African-American male teacher, who had received many Ward 7 Teacher of the Year awards, had the highest test scores averages in the entire building, and had the best classroom management ever as he dealt with the most behaviorally challenged students at Sousa. He was the best teacher in the building in terms of academic rigor and integrating technology. His students loved him. Jordon even offered to nominate him for Ward 7 teacher of the Year in 2009. However, this male teacher had integrity and continued to still speak and interact with many teachers that Jordon did not prefer. Jordon did not like that he could not control this excellent teacher. Therefore, Jordon got back at this teacher by giving him a lesser rating of Meets Expectations rating at the end of 2008-2009.
Jordon would try to discourage many of the teachers from talking to each other. He would even tell teachers that other teachers had said bad things about them. Yet, he would never identify the teachers in question. Also, Jordon had many very questionable personal relationships with female administrative staff members that we could not prove. Yet, he called himself a role model.
Jordon never rewarded his staff for our hard work except once during the year. Once during Teacher Appreciation Week, he got his Math Coach to bring in 3 dozen stale donuts, which none of us ate. An 8th grade parent felt so bad for all the teachers' that she used her money to cater us lunch from Chick-Fil-A that week. Jordon tried to stop the luncheon. Jordon was reported to the union for not returning the teachers' $400.00 in hospitality dues as he never even sent a card to any sick person in 2009. Also, one teacher had to come out of her pocket and pay $40.00 in cash for a missing textbook in June 2009. None of these monies were ever returned. Yet, he went to "Things Remembered" in Pentagon City and purchased plagues for his two assistant principals, dean of students, and coaches with our hospitality money in 2009. We are still waiting for him to return our money. He blamed it on a former counselor by saying that she was responsible, and took the money when she quit before the school year ended. He also promised us an end of year luncheon but he did not even buy us water in 2009. However, the last week of school in June 2009, he took his administrative staff ( Asst. Principal's and Coaches) to Jasper's Restaurant in Largo, MD using the remaining teacher hospitality funds.
In Closing Candi, Jordon will never mature and teachers will continue to be tormented and ridiculed at Sousa. He has such a high turnover rate that many teachers will never know the full extent of his terror."
A total of 50 teachers and staff members left the year that I was there. Jordon terminated 10, but 40 left on their own.To have 50 staff members leave from one school ( Sousa) is unheard of in any district. We complained to the union, and they were helpful but overwhelmed by the sheer volume of complaints. Our union Field Representative was either taking complaints or doing mediation at Sousa at least twice per week in school year 2008-2009. There were at least 45 complaints filed with the WTU and DCPS central office about Jordon. A lot of the staff, including me, worked around the clock to increase the test scores. Prior to Jordon coming to Sousa, we always had a lot less resources and many more students. When Jordon arrived our enrollment was down 60 students. All of our class sizes ranged from 10 to 25 students at most. Also, we did not have any other administrators (i.e., asst. principals) many years before Jordon came. When Jordon arrived, he was given two assistant principals, two coaches, and a dean of students. We only had 230 students with over 56 staff.
Mr. Jordon was very gifted at analyzing data and implementing longer school days. Some teachers even came to work from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily to please him. We were scared as he threatened us with being fired at least three times weekly. In Jordon's (July 6) front page Washington Post article written by Stephanie McCrummen, he wanted to paint a picture of all of the 10 teachers he fired under the 90 day plan as being incompetent. Yet, four teachers retired and six were given their jobs back because many of them had never had a bad evaluation prior to him. Also, Jordon lied and omitted many components from staff evaluations. Based on the 2010 IMPACT preliminary Final Report, these are the ratings of the six teachers who Jordon fired but were reinstated with the help of the WTU: one teacher Minimally Effective, three teachers Effective, and two Highly Effective.
Jordon was very cruel. For instance, one teacher that Jordon did not like had an allergic reaction and needed medical attention. Not only did Mr. Jordon refuse to call the ambulance after the teacher begged him, but he walked down the hall and told the other staff members who witnessed it that they would be in trouble if they gave helped to stabilize the teacher.
Jordon would regularly demean teachers by screaming and yelling at them in the hallways right in front of students as he saw fit. Jordon intimidated many teachers by standing outside of their classroom doors during their lunch periods. Many teachers would go into the bathroom for privacy. It was not uncommon for teachers to be found crying in the halls.
It was very common for most teachers on the 90 day plan to be observed at least three times a day, yes three times a day. Jordon illegally used his Literacy and Math Coaches who both still work at Sousa to officially observe teachers. The teachers had a meeting with the union field representative for Sousa, and the field representative explained to him that the coaches are ET-15's and cannot officially observe teachers.The next day Jordon went to every teacher's classroom that was present in that meeting and wrote them up if they did not have their lesson plans. The Math Coach reported to Jordon all the names of the teachers that were at the meeting. We did not want the coach at our union meeting as she was a snitch; however, the union allowed it because she was also a member of the union. The Literacy and Math Coaches still continued to officially observe teachers until the end of the 2009 school year. All their observations were placed in the teachers 90 day plan file with Jordon's forged signature. Even when asked by teachers, It was seldom that the Literacy and the Math coaches modeled effective instruction.
Jordon was always saying how unprofessional the 2008-2009 staff were; however, he was one of the most immature men that any of us had ever met. Jordon would talk about teachers negatively (without saying their names) in front of their faces almost daily in our morning collaborative meetings. Additionally, he told our students that he was going to get rid of certain teachers, and sure enough those teachers were terminated. Jordon would also bring you into his office, along with his administrative team, to question you if he thought that you talked about him to anyone. Jordon continued to bad mouth many of the former teachers after they left Sousa. Jordon lied on many of our evaluations just so that many people could get bad ratings. He never gave positive references when other administrators called. He even bad mouthed teachers that he did not terminate. However, the few teachers that Jordon liked were given good evaluations and special privileges. For instance, there was a white female teacher that Jordon liked who still works at Sousa. She had no classroom management, was an average Language Arts/Social Studies teacher, but had an Ivy League degree. If a student so much as hiccuped, Jordon would get the student out of her classroom immediately and she never got into trouble. Yet, he would write up other teachers if students misbehaved in their classes. This teacher ended up being on Jordon's administrative/recruitment committee to interview new teachers, and received an Exceeds Expectations rating at the end of 2008-2009.
In contrast, there was an African-American male teacher, who had received many Ward 7 Teacher of the Year awards, had the highest test scores averages in the entire building, and had the best classroom management ever as he dealt with the most behaviorally challenged students at Sousa. He was the best teacher in the building in terms of academic rigor and integrating technology. His students loved him. Jordon even offered to nominate him for Ward 7 teacher of the Year in 2009. However, this male teacher had integrity and continued to still speak and interact with many teachers that Jordon did not prefer. Jordon did not like that he could not control this excellent teacher. Therefore, Jordon got back at this teacher by giving him a lesser rating of Meets Expectations rating at the end of 2008-2009.
Jordon would try to discourage many of the teachers from talking to each other. He would even tell teachers that other teachers had said bad things about them. Yet, he would never identify the teachers in question. Also, Jordon had many very questionable personal relationships with female administrative staff members that we could not prove. Yet, he called himself a role model.
Jordon never rewarded his staff for our hard work except once during the year. Once during Teacher Appreciation Week, he got his Math Coach to bring in 3 dozen stale donuts, which none of us ate. An 8th grade parent felt so bad for all the teachers' that she used her money to cater us lunch from Chick-Fil-A that week. Jordon tried to stop the luncheon. Jordon was reported to the union for not returning the teachers' $400.00 in hospitality dues as he never even sent a card to any sick person in 2009. Also, one teacher had to come out of her pocket and pay $40.00 in cash for a missing textbook in June 2009. None of these monies were ever returned. Yet, he went to "Things Remembered" in Pentagon City and purchased plagues for his two assistant principals, dean of students, and coaches with our hospitality money in 2009. We are still waiting for him to return our money. He blamed it on a former counselor by saying that she was responsible, and took the money when she quit before the school year ended. He also promised us an end of year luncheon but he did not even buy us water in 2009. However, the last week of school in June 2009, he took his administrative staff ( Asst. Principal's and Coaches) to Jasper's Restaurant in Largo, MD using the remaining teacher hospitality funds.
In Closing Candi, Jordon will never mature and teachers will continue to be tormented and ridiculed at Sousa. He has such a high turnover rate that many teachers will never know the full extent of his terror."
40 comments:
This principal sounds so much like other DCPS principals who were promoted to Instructional Superintendents. Many of the most notorious ones were trained in the New Leaders program. It seems like humiliation, divide and conquer, union busting, and other foul tactics are used to get the masses to "obey". With a multitude of new applicants seeking positions due to the new salary, veteran teachers will become a drop in the bucket. Unfortunately, when we leave in droves, the scores may plummet. Hopefully IMPACT can help good teachers who used to only rely on evaluations from vindictive principals.
Thanks! For the Honest reporting I believe every word. These principals are so disgusting. Next year when Rhee leaves I think more honest reporting will come out of our schools. Just one more school year and this will be all over. So hang in their colleagues. The next superintendent will not take on the bully approach to school reform.
Karma is real and her name is Bi%$h, Jordon. Hope I get to see your comeuppance, whenever that is.
This is excellent reporting on the issue. My only question is how do we get it in the hands of more education stakeholders. I like the references to other bloggers and teachers with direct firsthand knowledge. Get your cut and paste fix and keep up the good work. Finally something I can read to balance the WaPo pro Rhee nonsense.
Don't Read the Post read the Washington Teacher.
Candi, help us out, please.
Your view in this article is clearly that teachers are largely responsible for increases in test scores.
Colleagues of yours, including your sometime guest columnist, say in several ways that teachers are not responsible for test results.
I hate to ask, as a believer in Educators, but does the claim of responsibility (Y or N), have anything to do with whether the reported scores are increases or decreases?
It is rather confusing to sort through this, but you know teachers, and you will have the answer. Thanks for any clarifications you can give us.
Candi,
Have you spoken to any teachers from Ballou? The reason I ask this is because Rhee held a press conference and praised the school for making significant gains on the 2010 DC-CAS. My question is, if gains were made, then why why is the staff being RECONSTITUTED??? EVERY teacher has to apply for their jobs after a SUCCESSFUL YEAR! This is becoming ridiculous! What do the teachers at Ballou have to say about this?
Anonymous @ 2:35
Since you refer to the guest columnist on The Washington Teacher in your question, I have asked Efavorite to address part of your question.
Certainly it is my hope that people will not take my words out of context in this story. In the comment that I made referencing teachers raise test scores not principals- my point was that If the Post was going to heap all the praise on Principal Dwan Jordon at Sousa, then it stands to reason that teachers hard work at Sousa should also be given credit in improving achievement at this school. I wish this were a simple black and white issue but it is not. There are many variables and learning conditions which impact student achievement not just teachers. I understand that some researchers credit teachers with having 12% influence on students performance with students families having the most influence as would be expected.
Anonymous @ 2:37
No I have not talked to teachers at Ballou. First Rhee has once again over exaggerated claims that significant gains were made on standardized test. This is not true. I get your point, however, I believe that Rhee used Ballou Senior High with students in the background as a photo opportunity for the Mayor and herself to spew more lies. This is more about politics than reality. The reason Ballou is being reconstituted is because this is one of the options Rhee chose under NCLB. She had other options as I am sure you are aware. My guess is that she did this so she could get rid of more teachers especially with this new contract allowing her to terminate excessed teachers. Your questions are excellent and need to be presented to Mayor Fenty and why he allows this kind of nonsense. Of course realistically you could never expect to get a reasonable answer from him even in an election year.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/07/behind_shout-out_to_ballou_unc.html#comments
I feel like I am about to sell-out my fellow coaches but ICs usually take their cue from the principal's personality when it comes to helping teachers. I can name many ICs who go above and beyond to help their school and the teachers of the school succeed. There are ICs who have no idea what they are doing and just "faking it" the best they can until they figure it out. There are ICs who are just using this position as a stepping stone to the next stop in their career and will step on whoever they have to to make the people in charge of their evaluation happy which is what seems to be the case at Sousa.
We (ICs) are told to go into classrooms and work with teachers. Almost every meeting we have had it was stated that we are not evaluators and should never evaluate teachers and if we were ever asked to evaluate any teacher then we were given the name and contact information of the person we needed to call/email immediately so they could come out to the school and explain our jobs description to the principal. I personally know of a couple principals they have had to talk to.
How it it that Rhee is trying to take credit for standardized test gains in 2007? She didn't come to this city until after the tests were administered in 07. I would think these gains would be due to Dr. Janey.
Well, Anon @2:37, you've just read what one Ballou teacher had to say. But, really, it does not matter what teachers have to say. Didn't you know that? Rhee does not respect teachers, especially those of us who have chosen this HONORABLE profession as a career. In her eyes, we're just lowly peons, only good for terrorizing and lambasting in the national media.
Like Jordon and others of their ilk (i.e. bullies), they will all get their divine payback in due season. Faint not!
Always thought Jaffe liked Rhee.. but guess because his daughter't teacher got IMPACTED he is taking a more objective view..
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-loses-another-terrific-teacher-1000832-98550609.html
George Parker.. is sounding a little worried!!! Didn't think Rhee would have waited this long to issue checks. Thought it was her plan all along. Cut teachers in July and then early August and issue checks when teachers go back to keep issue fresh for September elections. Riff in early October!!!
Parker writes: I am extremely concerned that DC Public Schools (DCPS) has failed to provide our members with written clarification on the timeline for receipt of retro checks and have been in daily contact with DCPS regarding their compliance with the timeline given to the WTU for disbursement of retroactive pay.
When I read about Ms. Rhee, her hand-picked administrators, and the training they have to go through and complete, it almost sounds like a "cult."
Well, Principal Dwan Jordan was a "Nobody" last school year. Rhee only highlighted Principal Brian Betts who was her "Shiny Star."
It appears that Rhee is desperate and had to highlight any MS Principal who is implementing Rhee's reform of hiring and firing veteran educators by any means necessary.
Teachers are here today and gone tomorrow. Students will continue to suffer in DCPS until stability and accountability are the main standards in promoting student achievement.
DCPS Parents matter and "VOTE" for Vincent Gray 4 Mayor 2010.
Enough is Enough!
We Can Do Better!!
Here is my spin on the Sousa Middle school principal, Dwan Jordan, how in the world did his application for principal get selected, with name like Dawn? Come on, Dwan? I can bet Rhee hired him because of his name. I am not bashing him because of his name. I feel he should be called out for all of the dirty crap he has done to the teachers at Sousa. My school had a principal just like Dwan Jordan, except she was nasty b----- before Rhee showed up. I am confident DCPS colleges, that payback is coming, and in a big way. This BS will stop and cease in this city, stay strong, teach from your heart and mind, research, stay the course, and document anything that seems like harassment. There are other ways in the law to punish Rhee/Fenty, and any person that creates a hostile work environment. Peace!
Sounds like Principal Angela Tilghman at Garfield. She use to be the principal at Miner Elementary years ago.
Candi,
The second article by the former teacher at Sousa sounds like a carbon copy of the year we had at Hamilton. It's hard to believe that Rhee's "rock stars" manage their staff in the same tyrannical manner. Staff are not viewed as human. I am comforted to know that the same (hateful) measure that they are using against staff members will be used double against them.
As a parent, I do not want my children attending a school that has a hostile working environment for staff.
Call the union and the IG. The monies should be returned and if not file a complaint. Who is the business manager over there? Aren't they supposed to oversee the hospitality monies. Better yet, file a complaint with the Police over the theft and/or embezzlement. That ought to get his attention along with the DCPS Central Office and the Washington Post. Justice and karma in one fell swope.
RT
@RT, July 17-6:46--Right On and a Co-sign!
Teachers, principals can be charged with a crime just like other crooks, if proven guilty.
It's time Rhee and Co. have their jobs threatened with dismissal or jail time.
i am regular visitor of your site and you are writing very nice so keep posting.
On another topic, Candi- can you explain how our union allowed the DC Council and Congress to strip us of the right to negotiate how we will be evaluated. The mistaken impression is that Congress ordered the city to take away that right. If the union feel asleep in 96 and again in 2010-what good are they?
This sounds so familiar to me, even across the country in Denver! I linked this on my blog, and am sharing it with anyone who will listen. It's simply unconscionable, the things that are happening in the name of so-called "school reform".
Job Fair this Monday at Columbia Heights Education Campus. RSVP required go to your DC.GOV account.
I think the link below will be very helpful to tyrannized teachers.
Deluge the school district with requests seeking public access to all types of school records, including grievances and complaints against principals and assistant principals, performance evaluations of principals and assistant principals, etc.
http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php?op=browse&state=DC
What better form of staff development could there possibly be than reading the performance evaluations of all principals and assistant principals in a particular geographic area?
Here's an interesting judicial decision involving public access to school records in Michigan:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=mi&vol=/supreme/1997/07/bradley&invol=1
Principal Jordon sounds a LOT like Principal Michael Johnson at Phelps high school. He is a tyrant, to say the least. I feel sick to my stomach on Sunday nights knowing that I will see him the next day.
I believe that when you mix politic in education our children are the one that suffer. According to what I have read this principal thinks that he is absolute. As an educator we are there for the children not to make a name for ourselves.How can they praise this principal(Mr.Jordan)
when clearly he does not have any respect for his staff. How can you praise someone like him when he has a high turnover of teachers leaving or getting fired. If he was working in New York he would not have last this long.Thank God that New York teacher union is a strong one and maybe some other union should start remembering who they suppose to work for and grow some back bone.
Candi- Given all the craziness with Sousa I was disappointed that the WTU president agreed to a photo op at Sousa yesterday. Not only was this principal obviously a problem but this has been a classic cheating case by Rhee. My children attend Langdon PK-8 school which had an audited free and reduced lunch enrollment of 284 and a total enrollment of 421 compared to Sousa's total enrollment of 296 with 225 F&R. So with 70% of our enrollment and fewer F&R kids they are getting $3,138,425 compared to Langdon's $3,780,177, or $12,771 per Student at Sousa vs. $8,979 per student at Langdon. If you look just at local funds Sousa is receiving $10,182 per student and Langdon is getting $8,601 per student. This is a play she learned from her mentor Joel Klein, create demonstration programs that are given much more money than other schools and then say if all schools just get with the program everyone will improve, but not everyone gets the resources. This is then used to do more teacher bashing.
Candi- Given all the craziness with Sousa I was disappointed that the WTU president agreed to a photo op at Sousa yesterday. Not only was this principal obviously a problem but this has been a classic cheating case by Rhee. My children attend Langdon PK-8 school which had an audited free and reduced lunch enrollment of 284 and a total enrollment of 421 compared to Sousa's total enrollment of 296 with 225 F&R. So with 70% of our enrollment and fewer F&R kids they are getting $3,138,425 compared to Langdon's $3,780,177, or $12,771 per Student at Sousa vs. $8,979 per student at Langdon. If you look just at local funds Sousa is receiving $10,182 per student and Langdon is getting $8,601 per student. This is a play she learned from her mentor Joel Klein, create demonstration programs that are given much more money than other schools and then say if all schools just get with the program everyone will improve, but not everyone gets the resources. This is then used to do more teacher bashing.
I am not surprised by these comments at all. He is now the principal of Suitland High School, where I teach, and he is doing the exact same things. I have never seen anyone as immature and cruel as this man. I have also never seen the moral of the teachers so low at our school. I blew away all the state certification exams for this?! The teachers hate him, the parents hate him and the students hate him. He kisses up to the students to find out what he can about teachers so he can use the info against them. In one collaborative planning meeting, he brought up his sick mother, using her to say "you don't know where a person is at in their lives as some of you have went too far." This, in reference to a teacher having a petition signed to get him out of here. Considering the things this guy has done in the past, I found that amusing. What a jerk and what a mistake as an adminstrator.
I am a parent of two students who attend Langdon Educational Campus where the middle school science teacher bullied my son because the principle called a meeting about the teachers performance. She put my son in the back of the science lab facing the wall from 1/2012-4/2012 after yet another meeting on why the science teacher would not except my sons science fair project . I say all of this to say dcps are like the mob they protect their own. My son has to spend 1st period in the main office because there was no punishment for this teachers miss conduct. Mrs.Campbell was fired on friday think
That dcps needs to do a clean sweep at this school thanks
Reply to Anonymous 5/30 @ 4:59
A more appropriate solution to you as a parent was to address the matter with the principal who is in charge. If she fails to act, then the principal has a boss who is the instructional superintendent. If that person fails to act then they too have a boss all the way to the Chancellors level and beyond.
I have to disagree with you about your generalizations about a mob mentality in DCPS. Maybe that was the case @ Langdon but I have seen problems addressed at other schools in the District by local school principals and beyond.
Candi Peterson
AKA The Washington Teacher
This article says a lot.... but not even close to the true Dwan Jordan. He is FAR worse than described.
He calls himself the "turn-around" Principal. Well he is on his way to "turning around" the number 1 rated High
School in Sacramento City School District. He is continuing his tyranny at a school where 90% of last year's seniors were accepted into a 4 year university. The way he treats the teachers (second class citizens) you would think Sacramento Charter High
School is the worst rated in the district.
He is "spot on" an immature bully with a "do as I say, not as I do" style of management.
You should be very thankful he came out here - but we are not! He has no business being in school administrration.... period.
The principal @ Langdon Education Campus was a true tyrant. Her tactics were so toxic and devious in methodology that she enlisted many staff members to forge her actions. She was bold enough to place her own impaired daughter and granddaughter on the payroll of the school's aftercare program. Soon we would learn her daughter was paid at a rate of $700/week while legit employeees were paid $300/BIweekly. How does this misuse of funds go unmonitored ?
Dwan Jordan will be a problem wherever he goes. I do not believe that all the complaints made against him from teachers and parents were fabricated. The question is "What was PGCPS thinking when they hired him back. It is no secret that the man has some problems and does not have the student's best interest at heart if he does not have the teache'rs best interest at heart. The next thing you know, there will be a problem in PGCPS with him.
When your best most loyal staff are spoken to as if they are robots rather than intelligent, responsible, educators there is a serious problem with the LEADERSHIP! If Jordan is a reflection of Rhee to any degree then I now question her reputable judgement and ability. Horrible person because he made the majority of Sac High, teachers and students alike, miserable. The sad truth is that he doesn't seem himself as the common denominator and likely believes everyone else is the problem. He came to Sacramento and left it worse; worse academically, culturally, and emotionally.
Jordon have never changed and its 2013 , hes the principal of my school CESAR CHAVEZ . He made 3of our teachers leave anf about to get rud of our BEST VP . whps been at chavez for 12 years , WE HATE JORDON AND FEEL LIKE WE ARE IN DANGER , SOMEONE PLEASE REPORT H , HE BULLYS US
He is doing it again at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy in Washington, DC. I am a parent who tried to talk to this principle on several times. He does not return phone calls and is always busy doing something else but his job (as I am concerned). I have one daughter who graduated from Chavez School already and loved the way the school ran the last several years. The last principle was great! The students loved her and appreciated all the she did for them. She made herself available to the students and parents for any questions. She got to know all the students and could call them by name. Mr. Jordan is an ASS! The one time I meet him…I felt like he brushed whatever I had to say off. I don’t have to listen to what he says because the next thing will be is pulling my daughter from this school or transferring her to the other Chavez High School. I feel like he is going to run this school in the ground and it will close under his supervision.
I worked under Jordan-- I still have PTSD. With a little distance I can say that he doesn't know how to manage-- only micromanage. His lack of ability to delegate important tasks to those around him leads him to be overly involved in the minute doings of all things on campus. Not to mention his picture is next to the word "hubris" in the dictionary. I feel bad for any school community that puts their trust in this man. I wish you luck-- but you'll need more than that Chavez.
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