Exposing A. Philip Randolph High School Hack Principal David Fanning
Happy
teachers make for happy students and a safe teaching environment makes for a
safe learning environment. It is too bad Carmen Farina is not paying attention
to a cascade of principals who are undermining the teaching and learning
conditions in so many schools. I get stories every single day and have a
backlog of posts on a number of schools.
Even experienced chapter leaders are under assault by principals clearly trained in tactics of divide and conquer - they isolate certain people and woo others. All while the UFT dithers and provides few weapons and support and barebones training. What is funny that because I get so many reports on these principals I can see the pattern of behavior and can advise people - the UFT does not teach this pattern of behavior and help people format a broad array of responses -- which includes a political response - but more on this aspect in future posts.
Even experienced chapter leaders are under assault by principals clearly trained in tactics of divide and conquer - they isolate certain people and woo others. All while the UFT dithers and provides few weapons and support and barebones training. What is funny that because I get so many reports on these principals I can see the pattern of behavior and can advise people - the UFT does not teach this pattern of behavior and help people format a broad array of responses -- which includes a political response - but more on this aspect in future posts.
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Would
you want to work for a guy who clearly has a stick up his ass
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One key charge against Fanning is that he covers up incidents to make the school look clean and oppresses staff members who would report. Nothing reported, nothing fixed.
Here is a composite report from various sources on principal David Fanning and the school.
A.
Philip Randolph High School was recently ranked by The Daily News as one of the
best public schools in New York City.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/best-high-schools-new-york-top-60-institutions-article-1.1973796
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/best-high-schools-new-york-top-60-institutions-article-1.1973796
This
comes as a shock to anyone who attends the school, works there, or reads the
news. How can a school with three harassment and/or discrimination
lawsuits filed against the school in the past two years--the first years of
David Fanning's appointment as principal--be the best of anything?
http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2013-14/Survey_2014_M540.pdf
That's understandable when you consider that the principal is so negligent
about safety that he didn't even seek medical attention for a student
who was shot in the face with a bb gun in the classroom last year.
And,
again, it's not just the lack of a variety of classes. There is a lack of
safety and mutual respect. This isn't just about teachers like Sonia
Burke and Monte Kuhr, both of whom have filed lawsuits against the DoE
regarding theirpoor treatment at APRHS.
http://nypost.com/2014/03/16/teacher-colleagues-made-fun-of-my-dress-lawsuit/
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/teacher-heart-condition-sues-city-claiming-principal-students-bad-heart-article-1.474987.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/teacher-heart-condition-sues-city-claiming-principal-students-bad-heart-article-1.474987.
This
is also, of course, about the students. A glance at insideschools.com should
give you an idea.
http://insideschools.org/component/schools/school/259
"This is honestly the worst school in the city. I've been here for 4 years. Don't listen to what the "Student Government" person is saying, he's sugarcoating it. The school has a bunch of incidents all the time which are covered up all the time. There was a fire in the bathroom and wasn't reported, which smoke was all over the 2nd floor the school reported it as a false alarm. They also had a classroom whose boards where set on fire and the school called the janitors to put it out. Seriously if you love your kid, don't send them here. There is some staff that I absolutely love, Ramirez, Calcano, Lacera, Ross, Stone, Dermott, but that's it."
"The staircases smell like weed. Students go to school high. Students have sex in staircases. Students cut ALL THE TIME. Students are EXTREMELY rude. The classes get disrupted all the time. There are ALWAYS physical fights (At least once a week!). Not to mention the pranks that are far dangerous.
http://insideschools.org/component/schools/school/259
"This is honestly the worst school in the city. I've been here for 4 years. Don't listen to what the "Student Government" person is saying, he's sugarcoating it. The school has a bunch of incidents all the time which are covered up all the time. There was a fire in the bathroom and wasn't reported, which smoke was all over the 2nd floor the school reported it as a false alarm. They also had a classroom whose boards where set on fire and the school called the janitors to put it out. Seriously if you love your kid, don't send them here. There is some staff that I absolutely love, Ramirez, Calcano, Lacera, Ross, Stone, Dermott, but that's it."
"The staircases smell like weed. Students go to school high. Students have sex in staircases. Students cut ALL THE TIME. Students are EXTREMELY rude. The classes get disrupted all the time. There are ALWAYS physical fights (At least once a week!). Not to mention the pranks that are far dangerous.
Because
of this environment, it is almost impossible for any student to not follow
these same steps. Many students have admitted that they started caring less
about school once they enrolled to APRCHS. Even though the students can succeed
academically (if they try to ignore the craziness), the behavior in this school
isn't acceptable. It isn't a school where I would want MY child to
attend."
"I
don't recommend this school to anyone. I have been in this school for 2 years
already and I absolutely hate it. I was really excited about it at first, but
it's not a good learning environment for your kid. The staircases smell like
weed, there are always students skipping class in the hallways, many students
disrupt the class, and much more. There's also no respect towards teachers or
students. A few weeks ago I was in my math class and a student had thrown a
water balloon at my teacher. There was also the situation when a student had
disrupted a class to shoot a student who was sitting in class doing his work.
There was even a report on it.http://nypost.com/2013/11/25/s...
The
students are absolutely out of control. They "twerk" most of the
time. There is dealing of drugs going on. They are extremely rude to the
adults. Due to the behavior of this school, I'm afraid that colleges might look
at my grades and think that I only have good grades because I look good in
front of those awful students. There are, of course, some very good students.
But the majority of the students do not care about school and go to school to
waste our time and theirs."
The student from the first comment
makes a very good point. "The school has a bunch of incidents all
the time which are covered up all the time." Indeed, this appears to
be the case. How else could APRHS rank as one of the best high schools in
NYC? Maybe the principal, David Fanning, got his covering up degree when
he was an AP of Organization at Brooklyn Tech. Anyone remember this?
http://www.nycsci.org/reports/11-20%20brooklyntech%20rpt.pdf
The scandal at Brooklyn Tech about
administration not reporting violence and robberies.
It appears Fanning comes from
violence cover-up central. If it's not reported it didn't happen, right?