Administrative Buffoonery Or Crazy Like A Fox?

Oftentimes, stupidity needs no explanation:

Iowa Central Community College President Robert Paxton will collect $400,000 from the school in return for his resignation.

After 13 years as president of the Fort Dodge school, Paxton resigned Wednesday, one day before the school’s board of trustees was scheduled to discuss an undisclosed “personnel matter.”

The special meeting was called after The Des Moines Register published a July 4 photograph of Paxton aboard a boat with a group of young people, holding the spigot of a small beer keg suspended over a young woman’s open mouth.

College trustee Mark Crimmins was aware of the photo before it was published and told the Register that Paxton had done nothing improper and the matter wasn’t deserving of the board’s attention.

When questioned by the Register, Paxton initially denied knowing anything about the photo or any recent boat outings with young people. After being told that Crimmins had already informed the Register that he had seen the photo and the two men had discussed it, Paxton acknowledged the photo’s authenticity. He said he had done nothing illegal or improper.

But the photograph, along with Paxton’s explanation for it, was picked up by other media outlets and sparked a heated debate in Fort Dodge over the personal conduct of public officials.

At today’s board meeting, the trustees met for eight minutes and agreed, without discussion, to accept Paxton’s resignation and approve a compensation package for him. The deal calls for Paxton to receive $200,000 in January 2009 and $200,000 in January 2010.

Since Paxton is getting some $400,000 in order to leave his job, was this man's actions truly stupid? Or is Paxton much wiser than many might think?

The Disastrous D.C. School System

Take a quick look at the problem that the public school system in our nation's capital has with finding fully licensed teachers:

Next up on Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s agenda to make D.C. Schools more accountable? Getting “highly qualified” teachers into the classrooms. Under the controversial law “No Child Left Behind,” all teachers must demonstrate that they are qualified to teach their subjects, usually by completing graduate coursework or passing certification tests like the Praxis series.

Last year, nearly half of all core subject classes taught in DC schools were taught by unqualified teachers. The worst-staffed subjects?

- Geography — 32.9 percent qualified
- History — 33.8 percent qualified
- Chemistry — 47.3 percent qualified

You really should read the whole thing.

With the third-highest per-pupil spending in the country, the D.C. school system spends at least $12,801 per student and still can't produce good results.

It's a national disgrace.

Administrative Buffoonery: Test Company Gets An "F"

When I learned that these test results had to be set aside because some (undoubtedly) well-paid test gurus had forgotten to proof read their work, I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The reading scores of U.S. students on an international test are being tossed out due to a problem with how the test was printed, federal officials said Monday.

Scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, are due out next month. Fifteen-year-olds in more than 50 countries took the test. It focused on science this time but also included math and reading questions.

Only the reading portion is being set aside, and only for U.S. students, said Mark Schneider, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department.

The problem has to do with a printing error made by North Carolina-based RTI International, the federal contractor hired to administer the U.S. version of the test.

The printing mistake made the test confusing by telling students to view the "opposite" page, though the information was not found there.

Schneider said the test was taken in the fall of last year, but the problem was not discovered until this past summer when the test results were being analyzed. That is despite the fact that a printed copy of the test had been sent to U.S. and international officials, Schneider said.

"There's a lot of shared culpability," Schneider said, calling the incident "an embarrassment."

Schneider said the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which runs the test, decided last month that the U.S. scores should be tossed out because they were invalid.

"We deeply regret that this happened," said RTI spokesman Patrick Gibbons. RTI project manager Patricia Green said the company has subsequently stepped-up its review of tests.

In addition, the company has reimbursed the government $500,000, Schneider said.

He added that this was the first time an error like this had resulted in invalid U.S. scores on the PISA exam or on similar international tests.

In the mid-80s, he said, the results of a national test were deemed invalid because different versions of the test were given to students. In that case, different colors and different printing styles seemed to affect scores.

Kids are increasingly taking standardized tests, and Schneider said the testing industry is stretched and in need of more people who can design and analyze exams.

However, in this case, he said the error was a simple but troubling copy-editing problem.

Not surprisingly, since this latest scandal involves incompetence among the sacred cows tax payer-supported private "contractors" (as opposed to some hapless classroom teacher whose test scores haven't risen by the federally prescribed amount) Her Royal Highness the Queen of All Testing and Teacher Accountability has nothing to say on the matter.

Banning 'Lil Ghosts And Goblins At The School House Door

Halloween is still weeks away. But already in Colorado the PC crowd has begun its campaign to suppress yet another harmless childhood rite of passage:

BROOMFIELD - There won't be little ghosts and goblins at Kohl Elementary School this Halloween.

In a newsletter sent home to parents, Principal Cindy Kaier wrote that the traditional Halloween party celebrated in classrooms each year will be replaced by a fall party on Friday.

And because the party is focused on fall, not Halloween, children can't wear costumes.

Parents expressed frustration that they weren't included in the decision.

Brook Kimber said it's hard to explain a random Oct. 5 party to a child.

The decision came after a discussion that culminated in an "emotional" meeting with teachers that focused on school holiday parties and how Kohl could continue to celebrate without leaving out anyone.

What's next? Is somebody going to say that we can't celebrate the 4th of July because it might offend the English?

Administrative Buffoonery: Principal Photoshop

One Louisiana elementary school excluded portraits of its special education students from the school yearbook:

MANDEVILLE, La. -- If you look at the yearbook for one St. Tammany Parish elementary school, you won't see all of the students.

Parents said portrait shots of special education students with learning disabilities were left out of Pontchartrain Elementary School's yearbook. Instead, there are only candid shots of the students.

"Being her last year at the school, it seems pretty hard for her to have a yearbook with no picture of her in it," father Gil Cacho said.

Special education students who are considered gifted were included, though.

The principal has apologized for the omission, and according to the school board, she's working to rectify the problem.

"She's investigating a number of options about what she can do to reprint pages from the yearbook," Linda Roan of the St. Tammany Parish School Board said.

But parents said a pattern has been developing for years and that they've voiced numerous concerns.

"You know the saying 'the straw that broke the camel's back'? I think this camel's kind of done, and it seems like the ability to talk to them, to sit down and have a conversation has not helped anything," mother Jolie Cocho said.

Over on Ponchetrain Elementary's website, Principal "Dr." Kathleen Wiseman has nothing to say on the matter.

Was it simple incompetence, monumental insensitivity, or did Principal Wiseman do the right thing? You make the call.
---------------------------See our latest entries.

Unprofessional Conduct

A Tennessee elementary school administrator and several teachers have been accused of participating in what just might be one of the most tasteless (and possibly unlawful) stunts that have been inflicted on unsuspecting students in recent memory:

MURFREESBORO — Parents of students at a Murfreesboro elementary school are outraged that teachers and an assistant principal staged a phony gun attack on their children, telling them repeatedly it was not a drill, while the children cried and took shelter under tables.

Sixty-nine sixth-grade students from Scales Elementary school were on a weeklong trip at Fall Creek Falls, a state park about 130 miles southeast of Nashville. On Thursday, the last night of the outing, the staff played a prank on the kids, convincing them there was a gunman on the loose.

A teacher wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled on a locked door, pretending to be a suspicious subject in the area.

The students were told to lie on the floor or crawl underneath tables and keep quiet. The lights went out, and about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said. Some held hands and shook.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ ” Shay said Saturday afternoon as she recounted the incident. “At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out. (A teacher) told us, ‘We just got a call that there’s been a random shooting.’ I was freaked out. I thought it was serious.”

Some parents said Saturday they were outraged, especially in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

Scales Elementary Principal Catherine Stephens held a meeting Saturday afternoon at the school to discuss the matter with a handful of concerned parents who contacted school officials Friday night.

She said she was saddened by the situation and that the school was handling it, though she declined to elaborate on whether the teachers involved would face disciplinary action.

Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip, said the entire scenario lasted about five minutes, after which the teachers gathered the students and explained it was a prank.

“We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation,” he said.

Several parents said they were troubled by the staff’s poor judgment.

“The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them,” said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

“This was not a good experience,” said Alisha Graves, whose son attended. “Those kids were crying, and they were terrified.”

Brandy Cole said she found out about the incident shortly after her son returned home from the trip Friday afternoon.

“I was shocked,” said Cole, whose husband, Jimmy, immediately sent an e-mail requesting a meeting with Bartch.

Barbara Corbetta, whose child also went to Fall Creek Falls with the group, said she spoke to several different parents and kept hearing the same details — kids on the floor crying and begging for their lives.

“The circumstance that occurred involved poor judgment,” Stephens said. “My hope is that we can learn from this, and in the end, it will have a positive result of growth for all of us.”

Shay and her mother, Niki Morris, said they forgave the teachers and wanted to move on. It “went too far because it was too gruesome,” Shay said. “You’d think a teacher wouldn’t do it, but they did. But they’re great teachers. If (the assistant principal) loses his job, I will break into tears. He’s the best assistant principal I’ve ever had.”

Kathryn Sherrod, a Midstate psychologist who works with children, said she can see how kids could be traumatized by this, especially in light of the Virginia Tech shootings.

“That’s too close to real,” she said. “It’s important for teachers and school administrators to realize they have a degree of trust with children. When you play a prank of that nature, you run the risk of losing that trust.”

Given the school-related gun violence of the past few years, what on Earth could those nitwits people have been thinking?

Update: (PM) Two knuckleheads school employees (assistant principal Don Bartch and teacher Quentin Masters) have already been suspended and will soon be candidates to receive a Darwin Award in Education.

Other Voices: Joanne Jacobs. -------------------------------See our latest entries.

Administrative Idiocy: Parents And Teachers Fight Back

Administrators in one Texas school district really know how to disrespect teachers and anger parents:

ANNA – The story of Black Friday has shaken the small Anna school district, but tonight many people here hope to make it a legend of the past.

Some residents of this rural Collin County town have painted their cars, donned T-shirts and posted signs to protest Black Friday, the day known by staff for the practice of publicly firing teachers.

Many parents and teachers plan to attend tonight's school board meeting when the board is scheduled to hear appeals in closed session from three staff members who say they were pushed out of their jobs in a humiliating way the day before spring break.

Black Friday drew widespread attention last month when staff members told the school board that administrators dressed in black suits had pulled them aside in front of their co-workers to notify them that their contracts wouldn't be renewed for the coming school year, tantamount to firing in the education field.

"I can't believe they can get away with doing that," said Shannon West, who plans to attend the meeting with several other parents. "They've got it so all the teachers are scared. What kind of work environment is that?"

Some of them accused officials of retaliation tied to TAKS testing security breaches, nepotism and other issues. Joe Wardell, the district's superintendent, declined to comment on specific personnel matters but said he plans to review the dismissal process.

Former Central Campus principal Laura Jenks and two teachers, Tiffaney Taylor and Carol Falls, are scheduled to appeal the decisions tonight. Dr. Jenks was moved off campus to an administrative job on Black Friday. Ms. Taylor and Ms. Falls lost their contracts effective at the end of the school year.

Dr. Jenks said many of the teachers who spoke out against Black Friday at the March board meeting have reported to her that they have been retaliated against in the past few weeks. Some of them say administrators have eavesdropped on their classes through the intercom system, Dr. Jenks said. Others say their computers were searched.

"They do feel they are being mistreated and not treated the same as other teachers," said Dr. Jenks, who said the superintendent has treated her well.

Dr. Wardell said he hasn't received any reports of retaliation.

"I can't imagine how to respond to that," he said when asked about the intercom allegations. "Why would anyone want to be doing something like that?"

Ms. Falls, one of the teachers who was let go, said she's confronted some people who she feels have treated her differently since she spoke out.

"The general atmosphere at the campus is tense," she said.

Ms. Falls told the school board in March that she felt she was fired in retaliation for reporting that she saw Assistant Superintendent Dirk Callison enter the room holding TAKS tests and answer sheets after hours. Mr. Callison said he was looking for computer parts and didn't disturb any testing materials.

Dr. Jenks reported the testing breach to the superintendent, who reported it to the Texas Education Agency. The TEA did no further investigation.

Dr. Jenks said she believes she was pushed out of her job because she reported the breach and also recommended that the district not renew one of her employee's contracts. Others identified that employee as Mr. Callison's wife, Jan, an art teacher at Central Campus.

"I care about my teachers, and I care about my kids, and that's why I'm not on campus," Dr. Jenks said. "That's what I believe."

Mr. Callison has said there is no connection.

Ms. Taylor, a kindergarten teacher, said she's not sure why she was dismissed on Black Friday. Since the March meeting, she said, she's heard from parents and others in Anna, a tight-knit town of about 7,000 people.

"The support is great," Ms. Taylor said. "The parents have been awesome."

Connie Montgomery, whose granddaughter is in Ms. Taylor's class, made T-shirts and posted signs against Black Friday after the board meeting in March.

"The way it was handled was wrong," Ms. Montgomery said. "Ms. Taylor is one of the greatest teachers Anna has ever had. When my granddaughter goes to school and Ms. Taylor isn't there, she cries."

Many teachers said they had heard about Black Friday but thought it was a rumor until March 9, the day before spring break.

Dr. Wardell said he didn't realize the teachers had that outlook about the notification process. State law requires school districts to notify teachers whose contracts won't be renewed at least 45 days before the end of the school year, he said.

"It's good that you're letting people know that early," he said, "but the negative side of that is that you have 45 instructional days with kids, and you may wind up with a person who is not happy you made that decision."

Dr. Wardell said he would review the process in coming years.

"I never dreamed there was any level of that perception out there," he said.

Maybe the governing board ought to "review" Dr. Wadell's contract.... ------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Principal Pornstar Meets Ms. Horndog The Teacher

School principal Leroy Coleman and 8th grade teacher Janet Loften thought that it would be cute to "get their honey 'lovin where they get their money." He and She have now ended-up starring in their own adult film which was produced on location in his office: (Ed's note: See latest updates at the bottom of this entry.)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A principal and a teacher at a suburban elementary school quit amid allegations they were caught on video having sex in the principal's office, authorities say.

In keeping with Cook County's reputation for bare-knuckle politics, the scandal broke after copies of the sex tape were mailed anonymously to parents this week, just days before a contested school board election.

The case has also created something of a mystery: Who planted the camera that recorded the action?

Leroy Coleman and Janet Lofton submitted their resignations after meeting with the district superintendent Thursday, said John Izzo, board attorney for the Sandridge Elementary School district, about 20 miles south of Chicago.

Izzo said that Coleman, the school's principal since 2005, wrote that he was quitting for health reasons. He said Lofton wrote that she was stepping down immediately "due to the illness of a family member."

Kim Grivakis, the mother of a 13-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy who attend the school, said she received a copy of the 2½-hour DVD in the mail Wednesday. She organized a meeting Thursday with other parents to call for action from the school board.

Grivakis said she could identify Coleman and Lofton on the tape.

"It made me sick," Grivakis said. "It's very graphic. I can't tell you how graphic because I have two children standing right here."

The Cook County Sheriff's Department is investigating.

"At this point we don't know if a crime has been committed," department spokeswoman Penny Mateck said, adding that investigators had a copy of the video.

Lofton has an unlisted telephone number, and no listing could be found for Coleman.

Izzo said that he had been told by a sheriff's official that the two on the tape are Coleman and Lofton. "They asked to look at pictures of the staff members and they identified them," he said of the investigators.

The school board attorney said Coleman and Lofton apparently did not know about the camera. "Somebody got access and planted a bug in a school office," Izzo said.

He said sheriff's investigators searched the office on Thursday and apparently did not find a camera.

Copies of the video, apparently taped in December and January from the date stamps on it, emerged just days before Tuesday's elections. Eight candidates are competing for four board slots.

"How come it took five days before the election?" said School Board President Cheryl Ward said. "I think that is sick."

Updates: Australia's Brisbane Times has a video screenshot of the romantic couple here NBC has a little more about the particulars here. Drop-in and visit the school's website over there.

Heh. We'd be willing to bet that "merit-based promotion," isn't the method used to select and retain administrators in the Sandridge Elementary School District.

But then again, the idea of "merit-based" promotion seems to be a real rarity in the field of public education where folks are more often than not promoted based upon their political connections rather than qualifications, proven track-record of success, and abundant common-sense

As to who planted the camara, our guess is that it was probably an Inside Job, most likely someone who works in the office or had a high degree of access. (Such as a custodian.)At any rate, it was somebody (or somebodies) who wanted that particular principal gone. -----------------------------------See our latest posts.

13-Year Old Busted For Writing On Desk!

Thirteen-year-old New York City middle school student Chelsea Fraser thought that it would be swell to scribble "okay" on her school desktop. She was caught and led away in handcuffs:

In this day and age when young students are frequently charged for serious school offenses such as possessing weapons, dealing drugs, or assaulting other students on school property, one Brooklyn teen's arrest may come as a surprise. A 13-year-old girl was handcuffed and placed under arrest in front of her classmates in Dyker Heights after she wrote "Okay" on her desk.

The "suspect," Chelsea Fraser, says she's sorry for scribbling the word on her desk, but both she and her mother are shocked at the punishment.

"I'm appalled, because here we have rapists, murderers, and you're taking a 13-year-old kid? Wasting valuable manpower to arrest a child who wrote on a desk?" Fraser's mother Diana Silva told WCBS-TV.

Police confirm that's exactly what is written on her arrest record, and for the crime she's been charged with criminal mischief and the making of graffiti. Fraser says the day she marked her desk, she was wrongly grouped together with troublemakers who had plastered stickers all over the classroom.

Fraser was arrested at the Dyker Heights Intermediate School on March 30 along with three other male students. She says she was made to empty her pockets and take off her belt. Then she was handcuffed and led out of the school in front of her classmates and placed in the back of a police car.

"It was really embarrassing because some of the kids, they talk, and they're going to label me as a bad kid. But I'm really not," Fraser said. "I didn't know writing 'Okay' would get me arrested."

"All the kids were ... watching these three boys and my daughter being marched out with four -- they had four police officers -- walking them out, handcuffed," Silva said. "She goes to me, 'Mommy, these hurt!'"

The students were taken to the 68th Precinct station house where Silva says they were separated for three hours. "My child is 13-years-old -- doesn't it stand that I'm supposed to be present for any questioning?" Silva said. "I'm watching my daughter, she's handcuffed to the pole. I ask the officer has she been there the entire time? She says, 'Yes.'"

On her report card, under conduct, Fraser has earned all "satisfactory" marks and one "excellent" mark.

"My daughter just wrote something on a desk. I would have her scrub it with Soft Scrub on a Saturday morning when she should be out playing, and maybe a day of in-house and a formal apology to the principal," Silva said.

WCBS contacted both the NYPD and the Board of Education for a response. The police say the arrests followed a request by the school's principal. The Board of Education said the matter is under investigation, adding that graffiti was found on several desks.

It's stuff like this that causes many people to think long and hard about either private schools or homeschooling their children.... -------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Administrative Buffoonery: Principal Poo Gets The Boot!

And we thought that the "crest-fallen bone-headed school administratrix" was a feces species found almost exclusively in American public schools:

A suspended Toronto elementary school principal has pleaded guilty to throwing feces (excrement) on a child.

Maria Pantalone, 49, was charged with two counts of assault - one against that child and one against another – but only admitted to one of the charges today.

“I couldn’t take it any more,” she testified, in describing the provocative circumstances leading up to the incident last June 30.

But she agreed it wasn't in any way justified.

Pantalone, who is the sister of Toronto Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, was principal of Keele Street Junior Public School and Mountview Alternative, which collectively have 500 students and operate out of the same building near Keele St. and Humberside Ave.

The names of the victims cannot be published owing to a ban imposed by provincial court Justice Howard Borenstein.

Neither were students at her school.

Since being charged last summer, she has been suspended with pay and ordered to stay away from anyone under the age of 16, unless under supervision.

Both Crown prosecutor John Ball and defence lawyer Michael Caroline jointly recommended that she receive an absolute discharge, which will leave her without a criminal record, and enter into a peace bond not to have contact with the two children.

Caroline submitted some 20 letters of support for his client, including one signed by 19 staff members at her school.

We can't help but wonder what juicy smelly details are being left out of this story... -----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.