Eva Moskowitz’s Harlem Success Academy Charter chain won the Broad award for its high test scores a few days ago.
The next day, news broke that the mother of a child in fourth grade in a Success Academy Charter School in Brooklyn was banned from the school because she used the word “damn” in the presence of children.
“Latasha Battle feared the banishment by Success Academy of Cobble Hill was going to keep her from attending her son’s fourth-grade graduation Wednesday. She said security guards at the Baltic St. school told her they were instructed to call the police if she showed up.
“Enter the Daily News.
“After a reporter raised questions about the apology demand on Tuesday, Success Academy officials backed down. They told Battle she would be allowed to attend.
“The exile began a few weeks back when Battle and other parents and children were stuck standing outside the school in a downpour because the school doesn’t open the building until 7:35 a.m. sharp.
“When the doors finally opened, she admits that she angrily said, “It’s a damn shame the school made these kids stand in the pouring rain.”
“That apparently infuriated Principal Brittany Davis-Roberti, who within hours fired off a caustic letter to Battle with the tone of an adult chiding a child.
“The letter notified Battle she was no longer allowed on school grounds “until you schedule an appointment with me to apologize for your behavior and pledge that it will never happen again.”
“Davis-Roberti then suggested Battle might want to withdraw her children from the school, writing, “We know you can also make the choice not to adhere and not to enroll your child at our school.”
“For weeks, Battle, 40, had to pick up her son, Joshua, 10, and his twin sister, Jada at the school’s front entrance. All the other students leave through the school yard.
“Battle will be at the graduation, but there won’t be a mea culpa.
“I’m not going to apologize for anything,” she said. “I’m disgusted by this whole situation.”
The mother Latasha Battle announced that she is removing her children from Success Academy. She refuses to apologize to the principal.
The overtones of racism and classism are obvious. The mother is black; the principal who demands an apology is white.
Here is the principal’s bio on the SA website:
“Brittany Davis-Roberti Originally from Portland, Oregon, Brittany graduated with honors from the University of Washington, where she played Division 1 soccer and majored in international studies. She then spent two years with Teach for America. Brittany also holds a master’s degree in teaching from the Relay Graduate School of Education, where she graduated with distinction. Joining the Success Academy team, Brittany taught kindergarten and first grade at SA Harlem 5 and then became the Leadership Resident at SA Bed-Stuy 1. Brittany is deeply invested in bringing a quality education to all scholars, and she is thrilled to bring her commitment to joy and excellence for all to the community of SA Cobble Hill.”

The Linked in bio of Ms. Davis-Roberta reveals that she started at TFA in June 2012, and faced her first real classroom likely in Aug.2012 as a teacher. By July 2015 she was a principal at Success — only 3 years later. What a meteoric rise! Problems are all too predictable given this lack of experience dealing with parents– and kids. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-davis-roberti-56981741
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She spent those two years in TFA at Success Academy as “Lead Teacher and Grade Team Lead,” too. What happened to SA’s claim that TFAers do not work as lead teachers but rather as underlings there?
So all she knows about education, becoming a teacher and being a principal is what she learned at a 5 week summer training in a fake teacher program, working at a fake K-8 school and attending a fake graduate school. That’s a recipe for disaster for REAL students and REAL parents who trust the people that work at charters will know a lot more than how to teach minorities to be submissive to whites, including waiting outside in the rain as they are told without complaint.
Her real education was in International Studies at the University of Washington, but it sounds more like she studied Boasting, Berating and Demeaning Your Lessors for Dummies at Trump University. She and company could stand to learn a whole lot from genuine leaders of the world who are intelligent, humorous and have thicker skin. For a good laugh, see: “Trump said foreign leaders wouldn’t laugh at the U.S. Now they’re laughing at him”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-said-foreign-leaders-wouldnt-laugh-at-the-us-now-theyre-laughing-at-him/2017/06/15/de82a340-51da-11e7-be25-3a519335381c_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop
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“Success”
Teacher Fakes
And Master phony
Oil of snakes
And rank baloney
Birthday cake
For business crony
What it takes:
A dog and pony
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Was she the principal when the “model” teacher was caught on videotape tearing up the paper of a girl because she didn’t answer the question correctly and then punishing her for being “bad” by sending her away from the other children to sit as an object of humiliation?
Was she the principal who dismissed the concerns of the Assistant Teacher in the room because she knew the model teacher was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing?
It is the same Success Academy school. Located in an affluent neighborhood where the majority of students are middle class or upper middle class and only 1/3 are economically disadvantaged.
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It’s the Doogie-Howser-ization of school administration, or for you Baby-Boomers, the Bugsy-Malone-ization. (Sorry if you don’t get either of those references.)
Success Academy appoints a principal at 25 years of age, someone who has ZERO education or training from a legitimate education entity, no administrators’ Masters Degree or license… someone who just models her persona and professional conduct off of the clueless and untrained Eva… and this is what you’re gonna get, folks.
KIPP and all the KIPP knock-offs do this as well.
(lWARNING: long story, but it’s worth it)
This Doogie Howser phenomenon recently reached its nadir in northern California at the Summit Tahoma charter high school in San Jose, where the school’s neophyte, andgrotesquely incompetent mid-20’s principal, Nicholas Kim, attempted to cover up the on-going, months-long statutory rape of one of the school’s students by Zachary Drew, a mid-20’s teacher and close friend of Kim.
Watch this news report: (THIS IS A MUST WATCH)
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/02/29/police-investigate-whether-sj-principal-broke-law-in-teacher-sex-case/
Incredibly, Kim barged into the room where the victim was being questioned by the police, and tried to stop the questioning and then tried to order the police to leave.
Wow!
Where did he get the nerve to do THAT? The police questioning occurred while Kim was briefly off campus. Upon returning, Kim discovered that his underling had allowed the police to question the victim in a Main Office room. At that point, Kim called the Summit Charter Chain’s headquarters, and then some imbecile there gave Kim that lame-brain order to impede the investigation by barging in and ordering the police to cease and desist, and leave the school grounds..
They didn’t, and eventually the victim spilled her guts about Drew.
Mind you, this is after Kim failed his legally required duty as a Mandatory Reporter to report Drew to police authorities.
In an act of monumental professional misconduct, Kim claimed that he had successfully conducted his own investigation, the results of which led him to believe Drew wasn’t having sex with the student, and so to him, the matter was closed. (My guess is that this so-called “investigation” never happened, and that Drew, a friend of Kim’s, had earlier confessed everything to Kim, whereupon Kim then conspired in a cover-up, pressured the girl to keep quiet, etc. … but all that’s just a guess).
However, even if this dubious “investigation” did, in fact, take place as Kim claims, conducting your own investigation and then deciding not to act, or not to inform authorities based on your own opinion is a major “No-no,” as any California public (though not charter) school teacher or administrator will tell you. Once you’re aware of even a hint of such impropriety, you MUST report it to authorities immediately or within 36 hours… or else. Indeed, if it’s later found you failed to do so, you will lose your own credential, face prosecution, a jail tern, and fines for criminal dereliction of duty.
Indeed, public school employees have to watch a Child Abuse Awareness Procedure video and get tested on it TWICE A YEAR. (Veteran teachers can recite that video by heart 😉 )
Apparently Summit Tahoma administrators and other charter school teachers/administrators have no such requirement.
Ahh … the benefits of de-regulation — all made possible through the work of President Jed Wallace and his California Charter Schools Association!!! Yes, they claim they need “the freedom to innovate, away from onerous oversight, blah-blah-blah …” … the freedom to fail to deal properly and forcefully with teachers’ pedophilia is more like it.
Again, watch this news report: (THIS IS A MUST WATCH)
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/02/29/police-investigate-whether-sj-principal-broke-law-in-teacher-sex-case/
I’m telling you. If all this had happened at a traditional public school in California — and given the public schools’ strict training and on-going oversight, it’s very unlikely that ever would have happened — the principal Mr. Kim would not only have been fired at once, but he or she would have been banned from the field of education for life, prosecuted, jailed, and fined.
Thankfully, the California Commission of Teacher Credentialing (CTC) DID act, and permanently revoked the credential of the pedophile teacher in question, Zachary Drew.
If you do a CTC search for Zachary Drew’s credential, you can see that this is so. First, CLICK here:
https://educator.ctc.ca.gov/esales_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEView=CTC+Search+View+Web
1) CLICK Public Search, the top / No. 1 option;
2) Type in “Drew” in the “Last Name” field, and
“Zachary” in the “First Name” field;
3) CLICK “Search”;
4) CLICK the name “Drew” in the first field on the far left;
5) You’ll see that both Zachary Drew’s Preliminary Credential and Clear Credential have been “Revoked” permanently. I assume that is as a result of a negotiated Guilty plea by Drew, as part of a plea bargain, though I don’t know for sure.
Now, where can one find out about the current disposition of Drew’s criminal case?
Hmmm… letl’s see. This all went down in Santa Clara County, which encompasses San Jose, so the next step would be an on-line visit to Santa Clara County Court.
A Santa Clara County Court search generates a Case Number for Zachary Drew:
http://www.scscourt.org/court_divisions/criminal/index_search.asp
1) Type in “Drew” in the “Last Name” field, and
“Zachary” in the “First Name” field;
2) CLICK “Search the Index”.
… and you’ll see that Zachary Drew has a Case Number of C1631161 and a Party ID Number of 1138158607 .
To get the current disposition of Drew’s case, you have to write a letter, give the case number and possibly pay a fee to the Santa Clara County Court, and I’m not doing that.
Here’s the page for instructions on how to do that:
http://www.scscourt.org/self_help/criminal/viewing_crim_records.shtml
Principal Kim, however, remains in charge of the Summit Tahoma charter school in San Jose, and has not yet been prosecuted. How the-hell did that happen?
Incredible.
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It doesn’t take much proof to qualify. All the TFA candidate has to do is prove they are an obedient, fascist, racist, child-abusing monster willing to bully children and parents.
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This country has gone brain dead idiocracy.
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agree.
Here’s someone who is the favorite role model of the Success Academy administration, which has honored him for his brilliance in choosing a Secretary of Education who reflects the same values that Success Academy reflects!
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“The overtones of racism and classism are obvious. The mother is black; the principal who demands an apology is white.”
I have to say, I wish we would dispense with insinuations like “the overtones of racism” and just say what we mean. “Davis-Boberta’s demand for an apology was racist and classist because she is white and the mother is black.”
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Add: the principal is white and privileged; the mother is neither. The principal disrespected the mother. Ugly.
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AMEN, Diane. SICK!
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Seeing this young woman’s behavior in isolation, without the well-documented context and history of Success Academies, people might reasonably argue whether this “Principal” (really? really?) is racist or just nasty and unprofessional. Or all three.
But knowing what we do about Success Academy, it’s exclusion of so many children and race-heavy authoritarianism, I think it’s willfully obtuse to try to argue that there aren’t, at a minimum, overtones of racism in this encounter.
Is it really necessary to say that not all racists wear white hoods?Some of them even have a cup of coffee in an urban classroom, get anointed “Principal” (preposterous on its face, but so typical) by a privateering “Superintendent” (that would be Moskowitz) and proceed to teach “those people” a lesson.
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Michael,
You are absolutely correct. And what makes this more appalling is this is the same school where a similarly young white teacher — considered the “model” teacher for others — was caught on video berating a young African-American girl who couldn’t come up with the right answer fast enough. Not knowing the answer at that school = being “bad” so the white teacher ripped up her paper, berated her and sent her away from the learning circle to the chair for “bad” kids.
I guess if you are one of the “admired’ young white teachers and principals at Success Academy Cobble Hill, you see your duty as “punishing” the African-American children and their parents who just aren’t up to snuff.
I’m surprised no one has asked if this young principal was ALSO the principal in charge when that “model teacher” was caught ripping up the paper since both incidents happened at the same school. Recall that the Assistant Teacher only videotaped the model teacher because when she brought the model teacher’s behavior up with higher ups at the school, she was basically told it was fine and she should not question it. Was that THIS principal? Or was she appointed to replace the other one?
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What is the evidence that this is racism? There is none. It is most likely just an act of pure stupidity on the part of the principal.
And people wonder why race relations aren’t getting better in this country. Writers love to play the race card to stir up the social justice warriors.
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I’m not saying there is any. I’m saying that if we think that it is racism, we should just say that, rather than talk about overtones or undertones.
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FLERP, there are degrees of racism. Sometimes overt, sometimes subtle.
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Which degree is the worse offense? And which degree is this example? It must not be too subtle, as you describe as “obvious.”
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It is not overt. But I don’t believe a white principal would treat a white parent so disrespectfully.
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I would speculate that there are a lot of white parents who have stories about being treated disrespectfully by white principals. But I admit, that’s just speculation.
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I agree. But unless there is some history of racism on the principal’s part or other evidence, the writer is making a wild and slanderous statement that the principal is racist.
The sentence about racism, whether it was about undertones or whatever, had no legitimate role in that article.
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Matt, the term racism was not in the article. I used the term because I believe that a white principal would not have humiliated a white parent in the same manner.
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OK, fair enough. Maybe this principal is just an idiot. Does that fact somehow mitigate her behavior or this situation? N.B., please, that I don’t ask this question rhetorically.
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This is not racism, per se.
It is the treatment that parents who are “not our kind” get at Success Academy. It’s about not having the right college degree or right job or right friends or right background. There are plenty of parents in NYC of all races who are acceptable to the Success Academy principals but since the majority of at-risk children at Success tend to be non-white, it appears to be racism. Especially when practiced by outrageously young and inexperienced white principals who grew up in affluent suburbs and had very little contact with anyone who wasn’t just like them.
And while FLERP! claimed this “could” also happen to affluent white parents he then admitted he didn’t actually have an example of it happening. Just like a policeman “could” also treat a white teen the way an African-American teen is treated. I’m sure there is some example of it somewhere — so what? Does that mean we don’t call out racism when it happens?
I can tell you that if a group of white parents and their children were made to wait outside in an absolutely pouring rainstorm because the inexperienced principal insisted that “rules” must always be followed and allowing children to wait in a sheltered area is not allowed, that there would be MANY entitled parents who say far worse than “It’s a damn shame the school made these kids stand in the pouring rain.”
And the principal would not demand a PERSONAL apology for it.
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“And while FLERP! claimed this “could” also happen to affluent white parents he then admitted he didn’t actually have an example of it happening. Just like a policeman “could” also treat a white teen the way an African-American teen is treated. I’m sure there is some example of it somewhere — so what? Does that mean we don’t call out racism when it happens?”
By all means, call out racism when it happens. Was this an example of racism? Diane suggests that it’s “obvious.” Me, I don’t know.
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By the way, there IS a history at this school.
This school is where the MODEL teacher — the one who Success Academy says does such a good job demonstrating the teaching methods that they taught her to use on children — was videotaped.
This is the school where that model teacher was a nice white young woman just like this principal and she made a habit of punishing at-risk children who didn’t know the right answers.
This is the school where the Assistant Teacher in that class went to the higher ups and told them that there was something wrong in the class and was told in no uncertain terms that she should shut up because the administration LOVED the model teacher and anything she did was fine with them.
This is the school where the Assistant Teacher eventually decided to videotape that model teacher to show to her family/friends to make sure she wasn’t making a mountain out of a molehill.
This is the school in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Brooklyn that got its charter claiming it would give priority to kids zoned for failing schools and turned around and said “oops, changed our mind, we want to give priority to kids who live in the district.” This is a school where only 1/3 of students are economically disadvantaged.
This is the school where the many affluent parents go on record saying that their children are treated with love and respect. This is the school where the many affluent parents have basically said they don’t care what happens to the 1/3 of kids who aren’t their kind. But if they happen to be stellar students who behave in the manner they expect children who are poor to behave, then they welcome those children to sit next to their own.
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FLERP! says: “Was this an example of racism? Diane suggests that it’s “obvious.” Me, I don’t know.”
It’s just a “coincidence” that this happened to an African-American mother at the very same school where another white teacher was caught on tape targeting an African-American 6 year old.
I’m sure affluent white children — and there are many at that school — and their parents are targeted in just that way and it’s just a “coincidence” that we haven’t heard of it yet.
It’s like insisting that because EVERY African-American teenager isn’t stopped and frisked it means that the fact the ones who are seem to be disproportionately African-American isn’t racism. It’s just a “coincidence.”
It seems very clear to anyone paying attention that at-risk children are disproportionately singled out for punishment at Success Academy and get characterized in the racist way that the teenagers who get killed by police despite having committed no crime are characterized. They are always “violent” and anything that happens to them is always their own fault.
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Can I just go ahead and put you down for a “yes, the principal’s actions were clearly racist”?
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You can put me down as noting — as I said in the first post — that Success Academy targets certain at-risk kids and their parents.
You can put me down as noting that while there are affluent and middle class students of all races at Success Academy, the at-risk students are disproportionately non-white.
You can put me down as noting that Success Academy has been enabled by the SUNY Charter Institute and the affluent white parents who attend schools like Cobble Hill to treat the unworthy kids — who are almost always the non-white ones — in a way that would never be acceptable if their parents were affluent.
You can put me down as noting that the only reason Success Academy gets away with this is the RACISM of their oversight agencies and the public.
When Eva Moskowitz characterizes the 5 year olds who she suspends — who are disproportionately non-white — as “violent” she gets away with it in the same way that the police characterize the non-white teens who get killed as “violent”. It is always the fault of the victim.
Using the racism of the public to excuse behavior that is unacceptable is racist.
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Let’s hope Davis-Boberta never comes to work in Buffalo. I’ve heard parents cite a string of obscenities (and not one of them was the word damn). They also would get threatening when treated with such disrespect.
A parent, no matter what their background/ethnicity, has the right to advocate for their children. Standing out in the rain should not be an acceptable option. That principal is lucky there isn’t a lawsuit.
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Mrs Battle could well have used a few more “choice” words concerning the apology.
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All right, this isn’t going to be a popular response, but anyway….
First, if school policy is to open at 7:35 sharp, just how early should the school open just because of bad weather? There’s still a matter of staffing – in fact, the staff themselves may have difficulty getting in because of the bad weather.
Second, are we seriously defending that saying “damn” is a good thing in front of a bunch of elementary students? I mean, I’m rather known for my salty tongue, but not in front of young children. Please.
Now, yes, obviously Davis-Roberti escalated the situation well beyond what was called for and made it an unnecessary power struggle with Ms. Battle, and I’m not excusing that. And I’m certainly no fan of SA in general. I’m just saying that there’s bad behavior on both sides. Both sides could have made concessions and tried to understand the perspective of the other and the reality that each one has to deal with.
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It’s a “damn” shame that you feel that way. Do you feel like I am swearing at you? Now, if she had said, ” Da** **! Why can’t these f******* Idiots let these children in out of the rain?!” I would agree with you, but I would not agree with the principal’s response under any circumstances. A closed door meeting with the mother would have been far more appropriate where the principal addressed the mother’s concerns and expressed her own. It is laughable that this young woman is in charge of a school, and that she feels it her duty and right to rudely and disrespectfully chastise one of the parents.
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McCoy: Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a conversationalist!
Kirk: Bones, I demand an apology for your behavior or you can’t go home on my ship.
Spock: That would not be logical, Captain. The Enterprise belongs to Federation taxpayers.
Kirk: Mine! Mine mine mine!
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We’re werewolves, not swearwolves.
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LeftCoastTeacher
Damn that was funny
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Joel,
Thanks. I hoped you would like my little screenplay. I was going to write a funny poem, but I figured that was someone else’s DAM job.
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Thanks FLERP!
Reminds me of my middle school days. 😀
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It’s a gosh darn shame those kids had to wait in the rain.
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The text included doesn’t say what time of year the children were left standing out in the rain. In winter, forcing them to do so is a serious health hazard, not to mention that even in warmer weather some are inevitably going to have portions of their clothes get wet. If the school can’t manage to have someone there to open the doors early in the event of inclement weather, they have an obligation to provide sufficient shelter for those who wait.
It’s not a case of your comment being “unpopular.” It’s a case of your comment being condescending. Maybe middle-class suburban white kids are going to be shocked by the use of the word “damn,” but I have no qualms saying it’s probable those attending that school hear worse on a daily basis. Imposing one’s own standards and criticizing those who don’t adhere to them regardless of the reality those others live in is privilege at its finest.
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Dienne,
In NYC parents walk their children to school, and Success Academy punishes the kids severely if they don’t get to school on time. “No Excuses”, remember?
It is rare for there to be an extreme rainstorm during drop off but when that happens it is certainly not unusual for the school to let parents who arrive a bit early to enter.
And if those parents do have to wait, it is UNHEARD of for a principal to demand a personal apology for a comment like that. At the very worst, perhaps she would send an e-mail saying “I know it was a difficult drop off but we must following the rules and please do not use profanity in front of the kids.” If she had sent an e-mail like that, the mom is just as likely to have offered an apology unbidden. “I’m sorry, I did get carried away and should not have said “damn” but I do hope you will consider making plans for accommodating children in the future when terrible weather is happening.”
I’m guessing this is the same kind of selective targeting that Success Academy specializes in when they don’t like the kids. Notice she said her son was graduating, but had no plans to continue at Success Academy. Why? Shouldn’t he have been encouraged to come to the middle school that seems to be for all the Success Academy schools in rich neighborhoods? Or was he made to feel unwanted?
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She graduated with distinction from Relay Graduate school. Isn’t that a fake degree from a fake school giving out fake distinctions? How could a chosen one not graduate with distinction from Relay?
I agree with Leonie. Her extreme lack of experience for the principal position Moskowitz thrust her into made this kind of unwise behavior more than likely.
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1,000 likes with distinction!
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Distinction at Relay is the very definition of distinction without a difference.
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Diane,
As someone who appreciates your many legitimate critiques of charters and SA, I do wish that you’d sometimes read these articles with a little more skepticism.
I witnessed this event and Ms. Battle used words much stronger than “damn” in front of children. She was loud enough to be heard in adjacent hallways and she was asked to lower her voice by several parents, as well as teachers, which she refused to do.
I don’t think the response by the principal was unusual, and these situations are usually resolved very quickly with a meeting where the “apology” is just an acknowledgement that maybe yelling and cursing in front of 5 year old children is not appropriate and should not happen going forward.
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Thanks for the additional information. The principal’s response may not have been unusual at SA, but it certainly showed the principal’s lack of training in conflict resolution. Such situations are not easy for anyone but show the need for seasoned professionals to be in positions of authority.
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Not only should seasoned professionals be in positions of authority… they also should put the concerns of children first. So just why would this principal suggest that Ms. Battle remove her children from her school on the grounds of her – the parent – failing to apologize??? Makes no sense at all!! If anything, the principal should have suggested Ms. Battle discuss the matter with her children and explain the frustration she had and what she could have done alternatively. The point is learning and this certainly was a teachable moment that the principal was incapable of seeing. Instead, this principal – too immature and too inexperienced – chose to make it a power play to show “whose boss” not giving one iota about the students!! Not giving one iota about showing maturity and respect for another individual who was frustrated and did not make the best decision at that moment.
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Very well said.
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thegreenbear,
Another parent has GONE ON RECORD by name saying that the parent’s response was not as you described.
And the fact that a (no doubt affluent) parent at Success Academy Cobble Hill is anonymously smearing this parent sure reminds me of your charter school smearing a 6 year old boy.
I watched the videos of you and your fellow parents talking about how the “model” teacher treated their own child like gold. Just like I imagine this principal treats you like gold.
Do you know the proper way to resolve this? Treat parents with respect. My guess is that if this had been one of the many affluent white parents at the school, when she complained about the treatment she would have received an apology, not a rude response that her opinion didn’t matter because she — like all kids who can’t keep up — was worthless to the charter school.
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If what greenbear says is true, it sounds like there is a lot more discord at SA than Eva would like to admit. At my public school, there is not a great deal of screaming because we listen to parents, community members, and students. We often disagree, but in addition to having trained, credentialed, experienced teachers and administrators on staff, we work out our disagreements at school councils wherein every stakeholder has a voice and a vote. It’s called democracy. Charter schools should try it sometime.
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There is no discord because the affluent parents are complicit. Whenever something is revealed — like the videotape of the “model” teacher humiliating and punishing an African-American child who didn’t know the right answer — Success Academy parents can be counted on to defend their school.
Just like greenbear defended this, claiming to be a witness. Here is another witness who actually used her name in a news article (no doubt her grandchildren will be the next targeted children):
NY Daily News: “But parent Marlena Mitchell, whose granddaughter has attended the school for three years, corroborated Battle’s version of events and questioned the principal’s letter demanding an apology.
“It’s not right. She (Battle) was not directing her complaints to no other parents. I would be livid for them to do something like that to me,” Mitchell said. “If it wasn’t for people making a stink, they were going to try to keep her from coming to graduation. This is a milestone in a child’s life-how are you going to tell the mother she can’t be there?”
Mitchell said she had no issues with the school’s curriculum, but blasted the school for its treatment of families.
“I have a problem with the administration,” she said. “The way they treat parents and deal with parents is ridiculous. They don’t talk to the parents about how they’re going to treat your children, and when they make a decision it’s final. They get offended if you disagree.”
My guess is both Battle and Mitchell are not the kind of parents that are desirable in that school and parents like greenbear pretend not to see that they — and I suspect their children — are treated differently.
Was the graduating 4th grader one of those unwanted students who Success Academy tries to discourage from continuing on to middle school even more this incident? Was he already on someone’s got to go list?
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An appropriate response to the principal’s demand for an apology: “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn.” No excuses! Saying damn was a big deal — in 1939. But even in 2017 as in 1939, if you want to speak frankly to the Scarlett O’Haras of the world, it helps to be Rhett Butler instead of Mammy. I never understood why audiences ever sympathized with slaveholder Scarlett O’Hara. Then again, I never understood why anyone ever sympathized with Civil Rights opponent Eva Moskowitz either. I’m just saying Success Academy reminds me of a plantation.
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Since we’re discussing this person’s credentials, or lack thereof, I have to repeat in paraphrase a question asked above: isn’t Relay Graduate School an unaccredited, and therefore dubious, “institution.” I am hard pressed to imagine why I am supposed to take seriously someone like this principal.
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Relay is a fake grad school, with no scholars on its faculty. It’s faculty consists of charter teachers teaching charter teachers and handing out masters degrees. No campus, no library, no research, no credentials.
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OK, and those of us who have done post-graduate work in a real university understand that this kind of closed loop doesn’t generally produce good scholarship or able alumni.
And thanks, Diane.
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Damn, that’s a shitty policy and attitude by Evita. WTF!
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Sorry, just couldn’t resist that one!
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The threat of being banned from your child’s school is something lots of charter parents fear. It happened to one mom at my kid’s charter school (considered one of the “good ones”). Racism may have added another layer to this, but the attitude that a school is like a private company with the right to refuse service underscores the need for some ground rules. That’s called regulation–another dirty word these days.
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Listen not for nothing . Her child was there probably 5 years, she has a second child enrolled in the school. In that time period how many instances of inappropriate disciplinary
actions taken against her or other peoples children came to her attention . Brought to her attention by her children or other parents. How many news stories were in papers or in the media about children being disciplined, ridiculed or suspended till they dropped out.
Am I supposed to be upset that this adult who probably felt no empathy for other peoples children , got a little taste of the humiliation her children or their classmates or the parents of children in these drop out mills, put up with on a regular basis. If that Principal had the audacity to treat an adult like that,extrapolate how much worse children were humiliated especially the ones who never made it to graduation.
You can extend that logic to a hell (oops) of a lot more than issues of education . Perhaps ridicule is more appropriate than empathy on a broad spectrum of issues. Including other events we witnessed this week .
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How long before the affluent parents of kids at that Success Academy call a press conference to explain how she treats all of them with the respect they deserve?
The hugely disproportionate “punishment” this principal meted out to this parent seems to be how parents who the school would prefer to leave are treated.
It’s one of the nastiest practices of the charter school — and among all the affluent parents and the young teachers there seemed to be only a single person who recognized that targeting the kids who you hope will leave (the unwritten “got to go” lists) is wrong.
One Assistant Teacher who spoke out was shut down immediately and her job threatened in a very Trumpian manner. It was “suggested” that if she didn’t agree with the program, she might be better off elsewhere. She videotaped it and everyone who watched understood that she was right and the entire administration of Success Academy would look the other way because they didn’t care.
No wonder Eva Moskowitz has embraced Betsy DeVos. Success Academy is run the way Donald Trump runs the White House. Lots of “suggestions” and if the “suggestion” isn’t taken, you are punished. As in “I suggest you might want to look elsewhere for your kid’s education” or “I suggest you might want to teach elsewhere if you don’t like our teaching methods that target one of the few disadvantaged children in the class”.
Eva Moskowitz has gotten away with it for years because the SUNY Charter Institute is like the Republican Congress. They enable any practice because it furthers their goals and they pretend not to notice how this is NOT NORMAL.
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Granted, I do not visit Diane Ravitch’s blog much these days, but I must have missed the “NYC: DOE Principal Brutally Assaults 11-Year-Old Girl” post.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx-principal-accused-attacking-fifth-grade-girl-class-article-1.3250945
Right?
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Tim,
Was the public school principal punished or rewarded?
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Reward, punish — let’s not be hasty. Due process!
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No teacher or principal at Success Academy has ever been disciplined for treating students harshly. I think they get a bonus.
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Tim,
The New York Post story says that investigators arrived at the school immediately to get the facts.
“But non-fiction school investigators descended on P.S. 132 Thursday to interview students and to review surveillance footage of the altercation.”
Did this happen at Success Academy too?
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The investigators showed up yesterday. The child was assaulted 24 days ago.
Looks like the sociopathic principal has enjoyed a LOT of due process. But as the old saying goes, better to have ten thousand 11-year-olds beaten up than to have one traditional public school employee with multiple serious accusations against her be unfairly let go.
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Happens daily at Success Academy and the investigators are never called at all.
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Children are shoved to the floor and have tables thrown on top of them every day?
A Success parent had no problems reaching out to the media when her access to her children’s school was limited after she screamed obscenities in front of kids and teachers. Seems weird that they wouldn’t reach out to reporters or call the police like this TPS student and her parents did.
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No oversight, Tim.
Teachers at SA call me often to tell me how awful it is for them, how they are trying to get out because they don’t like the child abuse.
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That doesn’t explain the disconnect between parents who freely report being barred from particular areas of school for yelling profanity in front of kids and not reporting extreme physical abuse to their own children.
You may want to pass this along to the Success teachers who you allege are witnessing extreme physical child abuse on a daily basis: http://www.nysmandatedreporter.org/MandatedReporters.aspx
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Tim,
I allege because they come to my neighborhood to meet in a coffee shop and tell me what they have experienced.
If they aren’t telling the truth, then SA hires lots of liars to teach children.
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I can’t say it strongly enough: these Success Academy teachers are required by law (my god, to say nothing of simply doing the right thing!) to report these daily incidences of extreme physical abuse to the authorities. Don’t you tell them to do this when you meet with them??
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Tim,
I don’t need to tell them. They all quit rather than spend another year in these abusive schools.
Another reason they don’t report child abuse: they are terrified of Eva.
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Tim,
The difference is that no one defends the public school principal when something like this happens. There are many investigatory agencies who do oversight — not just the DOE but the Special Commissioner of Investigations.
There is no BEHAVIORAL oversight for Success Academy. None. The SUNY Charter Institute only examines the test scores and if they are good, their oversight is done. And there is no one else allowed to do any because Eva Moskowitz will sue in court to prevent it.
Proof of this is that the SUNY Charter Institute Chair said years ago that he planned to convene a committee to talk about how to convene another committee to look at whether there was high attrition – especially for at-risk children and kids with special needs — at the Success Academy schools.
Years later and nothing. Or maybe that committee is still examining how to convene another committee to look at it.
Eva Moskowitz has the same oversight that Donald Trump does. And when you give someone whose moral code is “Does this benefit me or not”? you get Donald Trump and Eva Moskowitz. It’s shocking you keep defending her. I ask you the same question I ask the Republicans: “What does Donald Trump, what does Eva Moskowitz, need to do to make you finally agree that her schools need a REAL investigation of their practices done?”
I think your answer is the same as Congressional Republicans. It’s all the fault of the media because Trump and Moskowitz can do no wrong.
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Also, with public schools, there are layers of administration you may appeal to -your district school board, your county department of education, your state board of education, and in serious cases of widespread discrimination or unfairness, you may go to the federal level.
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“The Battle of Brittany”
When Brittany battled
Brittany lost
Cuz Battle will battle
No matter the cost
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Battle will rattle
No matter the cost
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This whole thing could have rather easily been avoided if Ms. Battle had simply said “It’s a DAM* shame” rather than it’s a damn shame” (*Devalue Added Model)
That’s how I avoid the issue on this blog.
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Lemme try. DAM the torpedoes! Full OptOut ahead! Yeah, that works.
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“A darned shame”
It simply is a shame
And gol-darned one at that
That bull$%!t can’t be named
Wherever it is at
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Anything to restrict or marginalize who participates in “choice” schools.
I wish it might be possible to file a lawsuit over this.
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If you are Ron Simmon’s fan, watch out! Big Brothers are watching you. They are waiting for the moment when you say, 3,2,1,………”DAMN!”
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