Ebony Murphy-Root was intrigued by what she heard on television about Steve Perry’s Capitol Prep school in Hartford, and she applied to teach there. This is her report on her year teaching in Perry’s school.
She started work during the six-week summer session. And she noticed something strange:
“But within that six week period, six teachers disappeared. I didn’t yet know this but such sudden disappearances were a regular occurrence at Capital Prep. After the December break, one of the best teachers in the school simply failed to return. I never found out if she’d been fired or had just become disenchanted with the place. By that point the shine was already off for me. Dr. Perry was gone constantly, traveling the country on paid gigs even as he was accepting his sizable salary. Once we went almost a month without paper in the copy machine with no explanation.”
She was puzzled by Perry’s hatred of unions:
“Perry directed his insults toward members of the Hartford Board of Education, the Hartford Federation of Teachers, even other principals. I could never figure out Perry’s obsession with unions, and as the daughter of a Teamster it didn’t sit well with me. What sort of jobs did he envision for his students after college? I wondered. After all, Perry himself belonged to a union. If our poorest students had parents with union jobs, steady wages and paid time off, they might be able to support their kids better, both financially and emotionally. I wondered how Perry, if he’d ever been a classroom teacher himself, might teach about the history of the labor movement.”
She was not happy, and the school was not happy with her. By February, she was offered a choice of resigning or being fired.
This is an interesting insider’s view of a school that boasts of miraculous results.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Read all comments on Edushyster….parents and students weigh in.
Pelto has a new post. He’s traveling again and has missed 20% of the school days, which exceeds the truancy policy for HPS students.
I think he is at Disney now. Someone hide Mickey and Minnie!
http://jonathanpelto.com/2013/12/07/steve-perry-continues-record-excessive-absences/
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Pelto has missed 20% of the school days?
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Pelto writes the blog Wait, What? Perry has been absent, see link.
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Stephanie Simon @StephanieSimon_ 2h
Expect sea of blue Monday as teacher unions rally to #ReclaimPublicEd — but behind scenes, there’s tumult & dissent: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/education-teachers-unions-moment-of-truth-national-education-association-american-federation-of-teachers-100813.html#.UqSGuYhRQeU.twitter …
I just wanted to object to this framing by media. I’m going to a rally for public education Monday and I’m not a teacher nor am I a union member. I’m a public school parent, and I intend to keep my local public schools and I also intend to try to limit any (further) damage to my local public schools.
The constant framing of this as “unions versus ed reformers” is inaccurate. It’s the framing ed reformers chose, because “unions” are easier to demonize and defame than “parents”. Media shouldn’t parrot it, prior to the rallies taking place.
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Yet, an editorial in today’s Hartford Courant from a parent bemoans the long waiting list for charter and magnet schools: “Parents should never have to cross their fingers and wait as their kids attend a failing school. But if the board of education allows even more high-performing schools to expand, everything could be different. More students would be taken off the waiting list for a great school, giving hope to me and all other parents who fear for our children’s future and access to education.”
The message that these schools are not what they claim to be is not getting to the parents of urban children. Or, maybe they see them as a better alternative than what they currently have. Insights, anyone?
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The waiting lists are contrived and exaggerated. They never take kids off when they choose another school; they keep siblings on who are not even school age and they never adjust the number when they are not even fully enrolled.
Is a failing school based on test scores alone? I wouldn’t send my dog to Perry’s school.
Who wrote this letter? Same verbiage spewed by CP, AF, etc.
Remember Rhee considered herself a “parent” on GATESNBC miseducation nation.
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Actually Lehrer there is a way to jump the Perry “lottery”. Read comments by parents on Pelto: good test takers and athletes seem to get “chosen”, even six girls from one town who play basketball pretty well. Blind lottery my arse.
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The buzz phrase “failing schools” discredits this paragraph right away. But you are right, not enough parents seem to know that is a buzz phrase that is truly too complex to really define. What, exactly, is the school failing at? How about they be descriptive?
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Those are Perry’s words.
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Using the link provided above, I reproduce two other paragraphs of this teacher’s experience:
1), “The school lacked the warm, fuzzy, familial atmosphere of any of my previous schools—not even the lower school which served small children as young as three—but I figured this was part of the ‘no excuses’ package. In morning meetings, Perry often talked about “franchising” Capital Prep. He was fond of the ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ language that President Bush had used. Once, in the spring, after the girls lacrosse team lost a game to Fairfield, Perry went on a tirade about how the girls on our team were ‘disgusting’ and ‘out of shape’ compared to the lithe, slender, mostly white girls from down state. I was livid at this attack on teenage girls’ bodies and as I looked around the ‘bull pen’ it was the first time I saw that others were also offended by Perry’s rhetoric.”
Skip a paragraph, then—
2), “Still I knew I needed to work on my classroom management. The easy going yet firm style that had come naturally to me at other schools didn’t work with a segment of my students at Capital Prep. When I finally got up the courage to speak to my supervisor about the rampant use of the ‘n’ word and other racially abusive language, he chuckled smugly, asking: “Did you grow up around a lot of black people?” I was taken aback, unsure of what he meant.”
Students learn from the adults around them—and when the students and teachers are routinely and casually treated with sneering contempt, what are the lessons learned that students take away with them for the rest of their lives?
Hint: they don’t include self-respect or respect for others or independence of thought or the moral fortitude to stand up against bullies. But if your fundamental approach is that young people are like dogs that need to be trained to be docile and obedient regardless of mistreatment, then you’ve succeeded.
Actions speak louder than words. Dr. Steve Perry is responsible for creating the same kind of atmosphere that let Michelle Rhee get away with making the mouths of dozens of small children bleed—with not one known word of complaint or correction from co-workers, parents, or her principal.
This is miseducation that inculcates values that are antithetical to a healthy democratic society.
Ebony Murphy-Root is to be commended for refusing to cower before this poster child for edubullies.
😎
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There’s some kind of self-hating racism
at play here, where Perry criticizes his
own African-American girl students’
physiques, as they compare unfavorably
with the Caucasian girls… the African-
American girls are rounder, fuller—FATTER—
so aesthetically unappealing (to Perry,
that is) compared to Perry’s preferred
Caucasian girls’ and their
svelte, tight athletic bodies.
What’s up with that? I mean, that’s
just plain creepy. Perhaps this is part of
Perry’s own internal conflict over his
being bi-racial.
White = Good…. Black = Bad.
That’s one of the reasons Perry states
that one of his goals for his schools’
ethnic make up is… well… in his
own words, (repeated on countless
occasions, by the way)
“We need to make it snow around here,”
meaning that they should be replacing
some or most of his African-American
students—male and female—with
Caucasian students (i.e. “snow”) from
presumably more upscale communities,
and who score higher on tests, and
bring up the school’s over all scores….
oh and don’t forget their hot bods!
That seems to be contrary to his claim
at the Michelle Rhee town hall…. “All
you need to get into my school is
a pulse and and an address in our
attendance area.”
If I were one of the African-American
fathers of the girls whom Perry derided for
what Perry believes is the aesthetic
inferiority of African-American girls’
bodies… or if I were any relative
of one of these girls (brother,
uncle, grandfather, whatever-in-law)… and
I found out that Perry said this to my
daughter (sister, or whatever relative of mine)…
… I would beat him to within an inch of
his life… or at least, would be engaged
in a hard-fought internal battle within
myself not to go and do so…
… but that’s just me.
I mean, just think of how damaging
this would be to a teenage girl’s
psyche. That would leave quite a
scar.
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No surprise for a “No excuses” school. Isn’t it amazing that CNN, etc. put a man like this on tv as an expert on education? Why on earth would any parent send their child to this school? Isn’t it funny how there are no excuses for the staff and students yet, the CEO gets to roam around the country and fill his pockets full of money while the school lacks supplies. What I find offensive is how this man exploits racial issues to make money for himself. I can’t believe how easy it is to buy celebrities these days to promote this garbage. This is a classic charter environment where a CEO rules with impunity and has no real checks on his power. They bully people to keep their cash cow alive and well. He is doing nothing more than exploiting children and adults.
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What’s even more egregious is that Capitol Prep isn’t a charter school – it’s a magnet school within Hartford public Schools. And yet Perry is allowed to engage In all sorts of edu-knavery without consequence from the superintendent or the DOE.
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Ebony Murphy-Root doesn’t seem to differentiate between public sector unions and private sector unions. Private sector unions are necessary for bargaining with profit making business. Public sector unions go well beyond a proper union representation against unfair dismissal into politicking to elect public officials who will give them excessive raises. That’s pure corruption of democratic control of schools. In addition, Ebony Murphy-Root doesn’t seem to understand where good union jobs come from in the private sector. They come from capitalist entitities, called corporations, offering products and services in the market place, and trying to make profits for their shareholders. Jobs don’t grow on trees—except in a Marxist garden of Eden. Reality is a tough place to live, but it’s easier than in economics delusional lala land.
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By “give them excessive raises” I assume you mean “keep their wages from dropping below the CPI”, which is about all public unions hope for these days. In fact, in my state it’s illegal for my union to even ask for a “raise” CPI is all we can legally get.
Agree about the Marxist fairyland bit though. For example, there’s this little group of imaginary countries called Europe that manage to have economies that are doing as well as anyplace else while their unionized workers seem to be happy and are compensated at wages that allow them to live happy productive lives. Silly gooses.
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Yes, I know the countries you allude to: Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland. Germany’s the only solvent country, and it’s illegal to homeschool there. Some prefer freedom. Some (like you) prefer slavery.
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Harlan, they’re all “solvent”, except maybe Greece.
What they lack is our giant income and wealth inequities.
Some prefer progressive economies that provide happy lives for the maximum number of people. Some (like you) prefer slavery to the wealthiest members of society.
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I teach for LA Unified and we haven’t had a raise in 7 years.
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Defined benefit pension, I suppose, like Detroit. Apres vous, le deluge.
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I teach in Wisconsin and I took a 12% cut two years ago, after no raise (in real dollars) in 15 years.
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I spoke out at the Hartford BoE meeting nearly three weeks ago. Upon losing a vote that would have poured even more money into Steven Perry’s pocket, his nationally commented upon comment was to, “. . . strap it on . . . there will be head injuries!” This threatening comment was openly reported by NCR and The Washington Post. The Chairman of the Hartford Board of Education, Matthew Poland, ordered an investigation. Three weeks later, there is no report on that investigation and Perry keeps mouthing off.
I get the feeling that Hartford is sweeping the incident under the rug. Now, one wonders exactly what would have happened if any teacher had said those words. He/She would have been fired and would have rightly lost their teaching certificate. Why the double standard for this blowhard?
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And he’s still running his mouth, just now:
Still angry over the fact that the Hartford Board of Education would not approve a plan to shift the management of Capital Prep and SAND elementary to a private company Perry created, the embattled Principal of Capital Prep. has lost his cool and his tweeting up a storm.
In the last few minutes Perry has tweeted the following rant:
“’Corporate’ is their big inditement. Even cities are incorporated. It’s simply a legal recognition of an organization. Stop scare tactics.”
“To “incorporate” means that you filed paperwork w the state to be recognized as a legal entity. We’ve got to stop falling for this stuff.”
“Union told parents I would make money if their school was redesigned. Another sign of the weakness of their position. Stop lying to parents.”
“TEACHERS’ UNIONS are PRIVATE CORPORATIONS who take 100′s of millions in and use it to buy influence instead of improving education.”
It is truly incredible that Perry is unable to conduct himself in an appropriate manner.
Here are the facts – plan and simple:
Read more on Pelto:
http://jonathanpelto.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7f1c4dcd87c0b31177f7cb0cf&id=b928e7785a&e=2c455408de
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Correction . . . NPR not NCR.
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