Comments on: As school transformation begins, some principals are let go

By: J. Rock

J. Rock — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:10:15 +0000

Mr. William Bassell was absolutely ridiculous. All he ever did was pander to the UFT representative Mr. Ken Achiron. When he took over the school he was one of the youngest principals in NYC. He didn’t care about students— he was a pure functionary waiting to be promoted up the DOE ladder. He found out that Ms. Epstein was have sex with students and giving them coke….and he had her transferred to Bayside High School instead of having the scandal that occurred under his tenure become public. Good riddance.

By: Minnie

Minnie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:47:38 +0000

I agree with Ms. Smith. No one is paying attention that these LARGE OVERCROWDED High Schools have a high % of ELL students who CANNOT take and PASS a Regents exam in their 1st year since migrating to the US. Who is the DOE trying to blame??? Certainly not their incompetence at handling a system that has gotten out of control. I really don’t understand how the principals and teachers get blamed when the raw materials their given to work with are already flawed. Try spending a day in the life of a principal or teacher in one of these 11 LARGE OVERCROWDED schools then send your feedback.

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Fundraising Ideas For Schools | Fundraising Resources — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:58:08 +0000

[...] As school transformation begins, some principals are let go … [...]

By: Eon Moore

Eon Moore — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:58:43 +0000

The principal of Grady received a bonus in his first year for making outstanding gains. In four years the graduation rate climbed by 16%. His removal has more to do with teachers and other staff being hed accountable for the work, than with the transformation model. This is all part of a plan by the UFT representative to remove an effective leader.

By: Fleuron

Fleuron — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:35:40 +0000

@edwina: Here’s what the CSA had to say: http://www.csa-nyc.org/node/322

By: Michael Fiorillo

Michael Fiorillo — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:50:24 +0000

Norm,

So William Bassell was induced to train his own replacement.

That’s an honest, respectful way to honor someone’s years of service to the school system? Then again, they’re eventually going to dismember the school, a far greater crime against the community.

By: Jeff S

Jeff S — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:01:53 +0000

I wouldn’t worry about Mr. Bassell. Although I don’t know him, I am sure that if he has been a Principal since 1993, he is old enough and has enough service to retire on a very handsome pension. Maybe he might feel it isn’t his time, but he’ll do fine and discover that there is life after the Board (or Department) of Education.

By: Norm

Norm — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:51:45 +0000

“Long Island City High School: William Bassell; principal since 1993″

This is an interesting case. The Leadership Academy used to send numerous interns there to be trained by Bassell because he was considered to be doing a good job of running a large complex comprehensive HS. Of course Jolanta Rohloff who took a bad situation at Lafayette and turned it into a nightmare was supposedly one of them.

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Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:21:52 +0000

[...] As school transformation begins, some principals are let go … [...]

By: Ms. Smith

Ms. Smith — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:22:35 +0000

What about the schools like FDR that have one third English Language Learners? The system continues to not serve these students by insisting that they make impossible gains in such a short period of time. The system now only gives them three years to become academically functional in English. This goes against all research on learning a second language especially when they are not at grade level in their native language. ELL’s, new comers in particular, are also being placed in small schools where they are not being served properly. Many of them need to be in transitional Bilingual programs but are not. They are also in mixed-level classes and are doomed to failure. How many of these other schools are on this list because of the same reason?

By: edwina

edwina — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:22:58 +0000

I have not seen any comment whatsoever in Gotham Schools or any media about the principals’ union’s reaction to any of this- the CSA. What are they doing for these people who tried to turn these schools around under impossible circumstances with no support?

Also, I see two of them are among the most senior principals in the DOE.

By: I noticed that...

I noticed that... — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:59:09 +0000

I.C., Thank you for the link.

However, is it possible to find information regarding Leonie’s questions: “how many got big bonuses for good performance? how many are Leadership Academy grads?”

By: Informed Consumer

Informed Consumer — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:35:18 +0000

“How many have many years in the classroom? How many were former TFA teachers? How many have absolutely no teaching experience?”

If you’d like to know, look them up here: http://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/Inquiry.do?Done.x=26&Done.y=14

You’ll find that many of them have years of previous teaching experience.

By: Fair-minded Observer

Fair-minded Observer — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:02:01 +0000

Another competent and qualified educator falls prey as a result of invalid and unreliable testing data. As a result of this erroneous data, Grady was labelled a failing school.

By: I noticed that...

I noticed that... — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:13:15 +0000

How many have many years in the classroom? How many were former TFA teachers? How many have absolutely no teaching experience?

By: Leonie Haimson

Leonie Haimson — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:56:54 +0000

how many got big bonuses for good performance? how many are Leadership Academy grads?