I’m certain I’m violating the New York Times‘ copyright by reprinting the entirety of Javier C. Hernandez’ article headlined, “At School Union Runs, Principal Steps Down,” but I don’t care.
The principal of a charter school run by the city’s teachers’ union, a rare type of school that has been described by some supporters as proof that charter schools could flourish even under strict labor rules, has resigned after clashing with teachers and union leaders, people affiliated with the school said.
Drew D. Goodman stepped down last week as principal of the union-run school, the United Federation of Teachers Secondary Charter School in East New York, Brooklyn, after union leaders grew dissatisfied with his handling of brewing teacher dissatisfaction. He has been replaced temporarily by Mary Butz, a school system veteran who led a mentorship program for city principals, until a permanent leader is found.
The departure marked the latest flare-up in the union’s efforts to nurture a successful, labor-friendly alternative to traditional charter schools, which are publicly funded but operate independently of the school system and typically shun union rules in order to provide longer class days and give principals more freedom in hiring and firing staff.
Mr. Goodman’s resignation mirrored a shake-up last spring at the union’s elementary charter school, also in East New York, when the principal resigned amid complaints by teachers and parents of heavy-handed governance. Mr. Goodman has moved to Public School 215 in Far Rockaway, Queens, where he is assistant principal, and declined to comment.
Mr. Goodman, 36, who led the school since its opening in 2006, had struggled to navigate a hazy line between administrator and teacher. In designing the school, the union defined his position as “first and foremost an educator” whose authority “will stem not from title or rank,” according to the union’s Web site.
Several people at the school or active in the union, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear that they would suffer professionally if they were named, said Mr. Goodman’s support among the faculty dwindled as some teachers saw him as making unilateral decisions. When he asked staff members to supervise middle school students who were performing community service at an elementary school, for instance, teachers complained that he was taking away time that they could be spending at professional development seminars.
Edward Morrissey, a language arts teacher at the school, said Mr. Goodman often got caught between teachers and the union leaders who run the school. When textbooks arrived late or photocopy machines remained broken, teachers blamed Mr. Goodman, even if the problem was the result of delays above him, Mr. Morrissey said.
This fall, when he tried to revise the school charter to cut the number of students in each grade and increase collaboration between the elementary and secondary charter schools, he angered union leaders who thought he had overstepped his authority, the individuals said.
In a letter to the school’s trustees sent on Wednesday, Randi Weingarten, the teacher’s union president, described Mr. Goodman’s departure as a mutual decision. In an interview, Ms. Weingarten said the school was simply working through the kinks facing any new institution, noting: “It’s tough to be the founding school leader of a school that may be one of the few that really believes in teacher collaboration.”
She pointed to high test scores among students at the union’s elementary school — this year, 81 percent of third-graders passed state English tests and 98 percent met math standards — as evidence that the schools were succeeding.
Teachers and principals at the union-backed schools said they posed unique leadership challenges. Michelle Bodden, who took over the union’s elementary charter school in August, said that satisfying all constituents can be hard, but that she has built good relations by seeing her role as “secondary to what’s going on with the teachers.”
“I think you listen a lot, I think you encourage conversation,” she said.
Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, said the union’s secondary school’s innovative methods, which include staggered teacher shifts to allow a longer school day, could become models for other unions.
Mr. Morrissey, the teacher at the union school, said many of the students had viewed Mr. Goodman as a role model. “I think the kids are in complete shock,” he said.
(Emphasis added in all cases.)
I have no idea if Goodman did a fine job or a lousy job, but it seems the kids are performing well, and that’s a good thing, regardless of who runs the school – the district, the union, the mayor or Andre Agassi. But consider this:
* How different the union reaction is when similar problems arise in charter schools not run by UFT. When other new charter schools faced difficulties, I don’t recall Randi Weingarten telling the press that they were simply working through the kinks facing any new institution.
* People “speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear that they would suffer professionally if they were named.” Suffer what from whom? The union runs the school. They fear the union would make them suffer professionally? I thought that was right-wing, anti-union fantasy spawned by opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act.
* Goodman asked teachers to supervise students performing community service and tried to reduce class sizes without consulting UFT. What a tyrant!
* Best of all, Weingarten defends the school by pointing to its high standardized test scores, even though, as we all know, using standardized test scores to evaluate teachers and students “distorts and constricts our understanding of quality teaching and learning.”
I believe UFT can run a successful charter school, or it can run a successful Potemkin village, but not both at the same time.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that its Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, Steve Breen, had been invited to speak about his work to students of Sunset View Elementary School. But the invitation was rescinded soon after the accompanying Breen cartoon was published in the Union-Tribune‘s December 3 edition.
