Principal's blunt ax
By YOAV GONEN Education Reporter, NY POST, January 22, 2011
LINK
A Bronx principal who kept a so-called hit list of teachers she wanted swept out of the school instructed her subordinates to "get rid" of them by giving out unmerited bad ratings, a probe has found.
Even more shocking than Principal Iris Blige's apparent attempt to ruin the careers of nearly a dozen educators at Fordham HS of the Arts was the Department of Education's agreement to keep her in charge and levy just a $7,500 fine.
In a stipulation signed last month by Bronx high-school Superintendent Elena Papaliberios, Blige was even promised a "neutral letter of reference to any potential employer" should she decide to leave her post.
The two-year probe was conducted only after teachers lodged a host of complaints about Blige's wrongdoings, according to United Federation of Teachers officials.
"I think it's outrageous," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. "If the price for ruining someone's career is $7,500, where's the accountability?"
Asked if Blige was getting off easy, a Department of Education spokeswoman referred a reporter to the signed stipulation -- which makes no mention of why a fine was deemed appropriate punishment.
Blige's lawyer, Stephen Hans, said he was "baffled" that the city had made a confidential stipulation public.
He suggested the light punishment was proof that the findings weren't solid.
"If they had the evidence on this case, they would have gone forward," Hans said. "She's faced with staff members ganging up on her."
The probe by the city's Office of Special Investigations included interviews with a half-dozen teachers -- and assistant principals who were asked to fudge the ratings -- who say Blige was unjustly gunning for staffers she didn't like.
One assistant principal, James O'Toole, made his boss' destructive directives sound like a hit job.
"Get rid of Mr. Herbert Drummond," O'Toole quotes Blige as saying about a teacher, according to the report.
Another assistant principal, Laurice Chambers-Blake, says Blige told her she wanted two teachers "out" by the end of the 2008 and 2009 school years.
Chambers-Blake said she was told "to start to write up the teachers" with negative reviews at the outset of the school year and to focus on another teacher's "weaknesses and deficiencies" rather than her positive skills.
Principal's Hit List
Directives from Principal Iris Blige to her subordinates on targeting teachers, according to an Office of Special Investigations report:
* “At the beginning of the school year, Ms. Blige directed [one subordinate] to “U” rate [unsatisfactorily] three teachers regardless of the outcome of his respective observations.”
* “[Another employee] stated that . . . Ms. Blige . . . told [her] that those teachers were to be ‘out’ by the end of the school year. Ms. Blige then instructed her ‘to start to write up the teachers.’ “
* “[Another subordinate] stated that Ms. Blige directed him to ‘Get rid of [teacher] Mr. Herbert Drummond.’ “
yoav.gonen@nypost.com
A year and a half earlier, Jim Callaghan did this story, and I posted it on my blog:
Bronx principal alleged to have teacher "hit list" still on job
by Jim Callaghan, NY Teacher, Apr 23, 2009 6:04 PM
LINK
The principal of Fordham HS for the Arts (Iris Blige, pictured at right) had a "hit list" of teachers - especially UFT chapter leaders - that she wanted removed from the school even if it meant using trumped-up charges, three Department of Education officials told the New York Teacher.
The Department of Education's Office of Special Investigations is probing Principal Iris Blige's allegedly false allegations against teachers.
According to staffers and students at the school, Blige belittles teachers and is prone to screaming attacks and general all-around bullying of staff and students. Her reign of terror has resulted in an astounding 70.5 percent turnover rate for teachers between September 2007 and September 2008.
"She has turned a fresh, budding school environment into a fractured community of turmoil and betrayal," said teacher Peter Healy, adding that Blige has ruled by "creating a fear-filled environment."
Blige has also accused an assistant principal, another teacher and a student of threatening her. The student and her parents denied the allegation, saying that Blige slammed a door shut on the student's hand.
The principal has never taught a class and in 1999 her guidance counselor license expired because she failed to meet state certification requirements. It was reinstated later.
One former AP at the school, Ahmed Edwards, said he wrote negative comments about one teacher, Fannie Davis, "under duress" because Blige said she wanted to "get" Davis so she could be sent to the rubber room, which is what happened.
Davis, who had an unblemished 35-year record, spent one year away from her students based on Blige's accusation, which was lodged the day after Davis grieved the fact that she was excessed in violation of the contract. Davis also said that Blige accused her of threatening her.
The DOE never formally charged Davis.
Another former AP, Osvaldo Mancebo, told the New York Teacher that Blige had a list of teachers who she wanted to rate Unsatisfactory even before any observations took place.
Another DOE official, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from Blige, said charges against one chapter leader were invented by Blige because she wanted to show teachers in the school what could happen to them if they "crossed" her.
"She treated chapter leaders like garbage," the official said. "She was paranoid. I heard her say many times that she would destroy the union."
The chapter leader, too, was released with no charges filed after spending two years in the rubber room.
Teachers say that Blige uses the rubber rooms as a way to punish them when they defy her "my way or the highway" management style. She has sent seven teachers to the rubber rooms.
Educators from across the Bronx rallied in support of their colleagues at Fordham HS. ABOVE: The school’s chapter leader Virginia Barden with Dante Cao from Astor College Academy.
Virginia Barden is another chapter leader targeted by Blige. She has received an Unsatisfactory rating after 30 years of teaching. According to the DOE official, the U-rating was pre-ordained as a way to harass Barden and to weaken the union.
"This is the price I am paying to bring justice for my colleagues. This is the least I can do for others," Barden said.
Linda Vinecour, a former guidance counselor at the school, said Blige - who she called "a star graduate of Bloomberg's principals' academy" - accused a student of forging a college application and asked the student if Vinecour had helped her with the forgery. Vinecour later resigned, telling Blige "your tactics are cruel and dishonest."
These incidents and other outrages led more than 400 educators, parents and students to protest Blige's actions at a rally outside the school on March 13. More than 30 UFT Bronx chapter leaders supported the rally, as did teachers from other schools.
Opening the rally, UFT Bronx High School District Representative Lynn Winderbaum said Blige's educational policy is "to ruin the lives and careers" of educators.
"She has lost nine out of 11 assistant principals and more than 100 teachers in five years," Winderbaum added.
As students and educators cheered wildly, Winderbaum said Blige is a "hostile and mean-spirited individual" who stifles dissent and "rules by terror."
UFT Bronx Borough Representative Jose Vargas said Blige should be given a desk job at Tweed or "sent to a finishing school where she can learn how to speak properly to people."
UFT Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr told the crowd that the UFT will stand by the embattled teachers and said the union would not stop "until [Blige] modifies her behavior."
When not abusing educators, Blige turns her venom toward students. Upon hearing that seniors were planning to participate in the March rally, Blige threatened them at a College Night event, telling them she would withhold their diplomas, cancel their senior trip and not refund senior dues.
The also sent an assistant principal into classrooms to tell students the protest was illegal and that they would be arrested if they attended.
Students and teachers told the New York Teacher that on the Monday after the protest, students were pulled out of classrooms and asked for names of other students who attended the rally.
Michael Mulgrew, UFT vice president and chief operating officer, praised the community for standing up to Blige. He pledged that the rally was not the end, adding that the message will be heard "from this sidewalk to Tweed where Klein sits."
Blige refused to be interviewed by the New York Teacher.
March 16, 2009
High teacher turnover draws hundreds to protest principal
by Philissa Cramer, Gotham Schools
Hundreds of Bronx teachers turned out on Friday to protest the high school principal they say is responsible for a 70 percent teacher turnover rate. In record time over the weekend, the Bronx division of the United Federation of Teachers produced a video about the event, which it coordinated.
Teachers charge that in the four years since Iris Blige has been principal of Fordham High School for the arts, a small school that opened in 2002, the school has run through nine assistant principals, four business managers, and more than 100 teachers. (This data point is in clear view on a protester’s poster in the video.) Blige replaced the founding principal, Sal Mazzola, who was removed after two years in charge because of poor performance, according to the school’s Insideschools review.
According to the school’s most recent state report card, more than a quarter of all teachers left the school after the 2005-2006 school year, and the previous year the school lost more than half of all relatively new teachers. The UFT says turnover has only accelerated since then, with more than 70 percent of teachers leaving during the 2007-2008 school year.
Related Story:
Beloved teacher arrested
by Jim Callaghan, NY Teacher, Apr 23, 2009 11:55 AM
On Feb. 9, Iris Blige accused teacher Raqnel James, who is beloved by students and colleagues, of leaving a note in an office mailbox, threatening to kill her and her son. Seven uniformed officers and four detectives showed up at the school. One detective told James and Chapter Leader Virginia Barden there was a video of James leaving the letter in an assistant principal’s mailbox.
In fact, no videotape of the incident has surfaced. Indeed, according to UFT officials, there is no video camera in the room where the mailboxes are located. The next day, James was sent to a rubber room.
On April 13, two months after the alleged murder threat letter was turned over to detectives, James was arrested on a misdemeanor charge. From the beginning, she appeared to be the only suspect.
According to both James and Barden, one detective offered James a “safety transfer” to another school if she confessed to the crime. James found the offer strange since she was being questioned about a murder threat against a school principal which, if carried out, could put students, parents and teachers in harm’s way. Barden said that more than 50 staffers had access to the mailboxes which are in the same room as time cards. No other UFT members were interviewed, Barden added.
[Blige has also accused others of threatening her. See accompanying story.]
Some supporters of James insist that the real reason that Blige told police that James wrote the letter was because of a landlord-tenant dispute involving a consultant hired by Blige to whom James had rented an apartment.
The timing of the murder threat accusation was not lost on James, because this is the time of the year when principals are asked to sign off on work visas for teachers. James’ work visa expires on Aug. 3 and she is in the process of renewing it.
DOE regulations state that teachers who are in the rubber room on an allegation of wrongdoing, not a conviction, will have their green card applications withdrawn, which means James, who is entitled to a presumption of innocence, faces the risk of being deported to Jamaica.
Virginia Barden is another chapter leader targeted by Blige. She has received an Unsatisfactory rating after 30 years of teaching. According to the DOE official, the U-rating was pre-ordained as a way to harass Barden and to weaken the union.
"This is the price I am paying to bring justice for my colleagues. This is the least I can do for others," Barden said.
Linda Vinecour, a former guidance counselor at the school, said Blige - who she called "a star graduate of Bloomberg's principals' academy" - accused a student of forging a college application and asked the student if Vinecour had helped her with the forgery. Vinecour later resigned, telling Blige "your tactics are cruel and dishonest."
These incidents and other outrages led more than 400 educators, parents and students to protest Blige's actions at a rally outside the school on March 13. More than 30 UFT Bronx chapter leaders supported the rally, as did teachers from other schools.
Opening the rally, UFT Bronx High School District Representative Lynn Winderbaum said Blige's educational policy is "to ruin the lives and careers" of educators.
"She has lost nine out of 11 assistant principals and more than 100 teachers in five years," Winderbaum added.
As students and educators cheered wildly, Winderbaum said Blige is a "hostile and mean-spirited individual" who stifles dissent and "rules by terror."
UFT Bronx Borough Representative Jose Vargas said Blige should be given a desk job at Tweed or "sent to a finishing school where she can learn how to speak properly to people."
UFT Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr told the crowd that the UFT will stand by the embattled teachers and said the union would not stop "until [Blige] modifies her behavior."
When not abusing educators, Blige turns her venom toward students. Upon hearing that seniors were planning to participate in the March rally, Blige threatened them at a College Night event, telling them she would withhold their diplomas, cancel their senior trip and not refund senior dues.
She also sent an assistant principal into classrooms to tell students the protest was illegal and that they would be arrested if they attended.
Students and teachers told the New York Teacher that on the Monday after the protest, students were pulled out of classrooms and asked for names of other students who attended the rally.
Michael Mulgrew, UFT vice president and chief operating officer, praised the community for standing up to Blige. He pledged that the rally was not the end, adding that the message will be heard "from this sidewalk to Tweed where Klein sits."
Blige refused to be interviewed by the New York Teacher.
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