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Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 08:36 PM Oct 2015

Principal Doesn't Want Teachers Sitting , So......

....well... "figure it out." Sigh. Google her. Well known local head case. People have been trying to get rid of her for years but she has buds in high places, evidently.

>>>>A Bronx principal ordered her teachers to give up their desks last week, and had the furniture dumped at the curb — telling staff she doesn’t want them sitting in class.

Donna Connelly, principal of PS 24, the Spuyten Duyvil School in Riverdale, also told teachers to empty their filing cabinets, which she then discarded. With class in session, teachers were told to push their desks and cabinets into the hallway. Custodians then hauled them outside and piled them like trash on the blacktop of a school across the street.

“It’s the 21st century — you don’t need desks,” Connelly said, sources told The Post.

The diktat demoralized staff at the K-5 school, where diverse students perform well above the city average on state exams.

Connelly told teachers she “does not want them sitting,” an insider said, although though no chairs were tossed.
“Figure it out,” she snapped when staffers asked where to store their supplies, a source said.
As to where teachers should grade papers, Connelly answered, “Use the lunch room,” sources said.

Connelly had custodians haul filing cabinets and desks out of the school like trash.
Teachers had to remove student paperwork and items such as devices to help kids with asthma.

“All their stuff is in boxes, bags and on the radiators,” a source said.
Children watched as the furniture was cleared out, one said. “The kids saw their teachers upset about what was going on. It was dehumanizing.”
Photos of the desk dump made it onto a teacher’s >>>>>>
http://nypost.com/2015/10/18/principal-forbid-teachers-to-sit-so-she-threw-out-their-desks/

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Principal Doesn't Want Teachers Sitting , So...... (Original Post) Smarmie Doofus Oct 2015 OP
Duyvil!!! elleng Oct 2015 #1
New research shows that standing for long periods is bad for you as well. MADem Oct 2015 #2
Bet she still has her desk though. Cassiopeia Oct 2015 #3
"to facilitate better instruction." LWolf Oct 2015 #4
Oh. It's right here: Smarmie Doofus Oct 2015 #5
Wonder is the School Board approved the disposal of property. Historic NY Oct 2015 #6
We don't have a board so much as a mayor. Smarmie Doofus Oct 2015 #9
People like that leave scars Demeter Oct 2015 #7
Having spent over 30 years in education... marew Oct 2015 #8
You're right. Too bad we don't have one. Smarmie Doofus Oct 2015 #10
Not a fair statement angrychair Oct 2015 #12
I'm stuck. Igel Oct 2015 #13
"Children watched ...It was dehumanizing.” < This should be "Children learned..." jtuck004 Oct 2015 #11
 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
9. We don't have a board so much as a mayor.
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 09:56 PM
Oct 2015

Meaning his chancellor... and her vast, byzantine bureaucracy would have to pass on it, at some level.

According to the Post story, the local superintendent, Connelly's direct supervisor, ---- another NYC ed administrator w., imho, untreated psychiatric problems ( She was my son's principal in elementary school. Wow.) had the desks, etc. dragged back in the bldg and stored in the basement. My guess is crazy super approved it first and then was told to back off by up the ladder educrats or local pols when it hit the media.

I guess she's waiting for them to tell her what to do next . Sound like their both caught in a bit of a pr pickle! (These people aren't exactly what you'd call " the best and the brightest.&quot

Such leadership 14 years of ed "reform" has inspired.

marew

(1,588 posts)
8. Having spent over 30 years in education...
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 09:31 PM
Oct 2015

With excellent evaluations and degrees in education and social work... That principal is nuts! Seen a few crazy things but never heard before anything about a teacher's desk being a detriment to education.
This is just one reason why teachers need unions!

 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
10. You're right. Too bad we don't have one.
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 10:00 PM
Oct 2015

A *real* union, I mean. We just have dues.

>>>This is just one reason why teachers need unions!>>>>

angrychair

(8,699 posts)
12. Not a fair statement
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 11:46 PM
Oct 2015

As a state employee and shop steward the union is not some office building where you send your dues. The union is not the staff there. The union is you and your co-workers. A union is only as strong and influential as the commitment and number of its active members. True power is not with the union representatives, who are only there to facilitate the needs of its members, but with its membership.
Stay strong my union brothers and sisters!

Igel

(35,300 posts)
13. I'm stuck.
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 04:43 PM
Oct 2015

I've seen teachers who sit behind their desks and text and do email in class, class after class. For those teachers, their "growth plan" basically said, "Put away the phone and don't sit down." All the other points were footnotes.

I've seen teachers whose desks were seldom inhabited because they were out and about, fielding questions, tutoring, doing small group instruction. If they used their desk, it's to take attendance, stack materials on for distribution, and work at before or after school.

This principal's a bit loony.

(My desk is built into my lab demonstration bench. I hate it.)

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
11. "Children watched ...It was dehumanizing.” < This should be "Children learned..."
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 11:09 PM
Oct 2015

Later, when someone is complaining about where the hate comes from when someone shoots the family, or blows up a movie theatre, or sends a drone which kills off innocent children and families, they might want to re-read this.

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