A Puzzling Sequence Of Events

Here is another sequence of events:

1. In September of last year, a staffer in a New York City public school lost a gold ring.

2. Two employees, one an untenured male teacher named Donald Peter McCoy and the other a male "family worker" named Julio Pizarro had six male fifth-grade students strip to their underwear in order to prove their innocence. None had the ring.

3. In the uproar that followed, both staffers were suspended. As we reported last September, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for their dismissal.

4. It is now being revealed that the higher-ranking teacher kept his job, while the lower-ranking "family worker" lost his job.

5. Education Department spokeswoman Kelly Devers defended the disciplinary action taken against both employees as swift and appropriate.

Sources said that Pizarro was the more culpable because he was the one that actually conducted the searches.

Pizarro and his lawyer, Steve Newman, said it's unfair that the low-level school employee has become the "sacrificial lamb" and "fall guy" — while other educrats escaped responsibility. --------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the ninth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, April 12, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get our easy-to-follow entry guidelines here. View the latest edition of the Carnival there.

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