A lot of buzz about this incident at a UFT charter school in NYC. Two quick scatology- free thoughts:
First, this is the sort of anecdote that charter haters would be having a field day with so a little back and forth is to be expected. Second, that said, UFT chief Randi Weingarten has been very forthright about dealing with it. You can’t ask for much more than is in this story.
Update: An edusavvy and connected Democratic NYC reader who wished not to be identified further writes to chide Eduwonk for being too charitable:
Remember, part of the basis for the UFT’s charter experiment was to prove that teachers were capable of running their school without a principal messing things up. The school head is not a principal, and they clearly point that out in their charter application. It is interesting that with the first sign of trouble, they turn to a retired Brooklyn principal to calm the waters and restore order. Perhaps now the UFT will concede that leadership and management at the school site DOES matter? In any event, the rest of us will have a slightly easier time brushing off their claims that the contract isn’t the problem, since this case shows this school is unlike any other in the city. Elsewhere it would be very hard to “discipline” a teacher so quickly.