The Restoration of the Manhattan Center of Science and Mathematics

The Reformation of MCSM

In the past five years there have been several outrageous events that occurred in MCSM. (i.e. Corruption, Protests, Fires, Employee Fights, Harassment, Missing Funds, Nepotism, Racism, Prejudice, Sexual Harassment, Fraud)

The negative nature of the school's environment is well known to all. It’s the most toxic school in the city and no high level authority figures seem to care. 5 consecutive F ratings on the environmental surveys are not enough for a top superior to take action. The decline in academic performance has not caused concern either. 

DOES ANYONE OUTSIDE OF MCSM CARE ABOUT THE SCHOOL AT ALL?

At this point, exposing the problems is like beating a dead horse. So much damage has been done. Some of it cannot be undone. Some of it can. The corrupt administration moves forward with their selfish agenda. The agenda is not centered on providing higher quality services to students. Action is necessary. It is plain to see their agenda is self preservation and it includes a con-game of keeping up the appearance that MCSM is still a top school (which it no longer is), and has not been for many years now.

Instead I'd like to look forward and propose an action plan to restore this once great institution of teaching and learning. Although there are ongoing investigations and legal action taking place, surely there are more to come. Hopefully, these will be resolved fairly, but my faith in the authority figures of the Department of Education of New York City has seriously waned; especially considering how little Mayor Bloomberg appreciates the field of education. He is more concerned with banning soft drinks rather than supporting the civil unions that provide high quality services to the people of New York City, especially the city’s youth, which I regard to be the most important way to invest to assure our city strives. After all, they are the future, ours and yours.

Instead, NYC public schools have been devastated by budget cuts and its’ teachers have been demonized by the Mayor as being ineffective and unworthy of their salaries. The Mayor believes teachers make too much money. This is why he has instituted a hiring freeze and launched a covert attempt with puppet chancellors, superintendents, and principals to undermine, and ruin as many teachers as possible to “save the city’s budget”.

This whole notion of this is absurd considering how much personal wealth this one man has accumulated. With the interest earned on one of his many private bank accounts he could fund every school in NYC tenfold. Mayor Bloomberg once visited the Love Café right across the street from MCSM. One teacher told him how corrupt the school was and suggested he visit to become more familiar with it. Instead, he was more concerned with what flavor latte he was having. He quickly got into his armored cavalcade and left quickly after posing for a picture with the owners of the coffee shop. Their coffee’s good, but not as important as MCSM! I wonder how much sugar he took. His picture's still in the cafe but he's done nothing for MCSM.

ACTION PLAN: SUBMITTED FOR PRE-APPROVAL

1. Change the Current Table of Administration.

The first administrator to be demoted or removed should be Principal Jimenez. He is directly responsible for hiring some of the worst teachers and administrators in NYC.  He also removed and forced out some of the best teachers in NYC. His administrative cabinet is a joke. It’s more of a self serving elitist merry-go-round than an effective administration. Each year the administrative organizational chart is changed, placing different AP’s in different roles (some in which they are unqualified). The changes never improve the functionality of the cabinet. He never excesses them either. His primary assistant principal holds too many titles as well.

He acts as the AP of Security, AP of English, AP of Social Studies, AP of Health, AP of Physical Education and Athletic Director.

However, He is only licensed to teach physical education and holds an almost decade old administrative license. It was granted to him before the state implemented strict testing protocols to grant administrative licenses (It’s my opinion that all CSA (Council for Supervisors and Administrators) members who hold an administrative license be re-tested as part of their professional development and license retention. This would surely screen out those who are not currently competent in the roles they maintain. It might also save millions of dollars in the state and city school budgets which is desperately needed.) 

As Athletic Director he is responsible for overseeing close to twenty different sports teams. This position alone should be designated to one person due to the large scope of responsibilities the position requires. He rarely attends games and provides little to no funding to the majority of the teams he oversees. His relationships with coaches are strained to say the least. He provides no financial or moral support for any of the team’s contests. He is also incompetent at acquiring field permits and security permits for games and practices. As a result of his negligence, coaches in the past were forced to cancel games and practices or re-schedule team events. He does not maintain the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) machines and the medical kits are not properly equipped with the basic necessities to treat injured players. He does not even provide adequate amounts of ice or ice packs to the sports teams. If you check the PSAL (Public School Athletic League) www.psal.com website you will notice the decline in the success of the majority of the teams since he became athletic director (especially the Boy’s Varsity Soccer Team). He has also been audited for improper record keeping regarding player’s medicals and parental consent forms. Dedicated coaches spend their own money on necessary items to run their programs and are seldom reimbursed, if ever. He also gives his friends coaching positions in sports they are not qualified to coach. He does this to curry political favor and win allies within the school or hires them as rewards for serving his devious agendas. 

This one supervisor is also the AP of the Social Studies and English Departments. He has no background in Social Studies or English whatsoever, yet he is in charge of implementing these departments academically rigorous curriculum. He's also responsible for observing and rating approximately 25 teachers within these departments (who are all far superior teachers than he is). The running joke in the school is the worst speller in the administration is in charge of English (He constantly makes typos in observation reports and letters of reprimand and general emails). However, the principal deems him competent to be their instructional leader and superior rating officer. He has actually given unsatisfactory observations to teachers in these departments. 

As if this were not ludicrous enough, he is also the AP of Security and the AP of Physical Education, and AP of Health. He has at least one health teacher teaching out of license. This is a great disservice to students in this very important subject area. However, to his credit he is licensed as a physical education teacher. Since he was promoted, he has not taught a single lesson to demonstrate the level of efficacy he expects from the teachers he supervises in ANY of the departments he oversees. In regards to the physical education department, he has completely dismantled the entire department. Only one teacher remains since he was promoted. His name is Mr. Weinfeld. He has no respect for Mr. Weinfeld and treats him terribly. He mocks him whenever he gets a chance and asks him to do things beyond his scope of duty. For fear of retaliation, Mr. Weinfeld obeys. Despite the various favors Mr. Weinfeld carries out for him, he has rated him unsatisfactory on formal lessons in the past as well. The rest of the teachers in the department are either new probationary teachers, absentee reserves, or cronies he brought in from other schools. These cronies are his former colleagues from prior schools they worked in together. He forced out Mr. Decruz and Mr. Bialowitz, both competent educators; to create vacancies for his old friends from Automotive High School. This is a complete violation of the hiring protocols of the DOE. Mr. Hernandez was his first friend he brought from Automotive High School to teach Physical Education at MCSM. Soon after, Mr. Hernandez was promoted to dean and COSA (Coordinator of Senior Activities) after a few years as a gym teacher. As a dean Mr. Hernandez almost came to blows with several students. He was very aggressive and intimidating towards students. He is also being investigated for stalking a female freshmen girl while he was dean. He was demoted from dean and given another compensatory time position as a COSA. Many of the senior students decided to boycott senior events due to the fact that Mr. Hernandez was in charge of organizing the events. Students fear, despise, and avoid Mr. Hernandez at all costs. Mr. Hernandez is also the Boy's Varsity Soccer Coach. In 3 years as coach his team's record his 2 wins, 35 losses, and one tie. In a school who placed any emphasis on athletics or winning he would have been removed from the position. However, having your best friend as your athletic director has its' advantages. Another teacher he cleared the way for and hired is Mr. Mitru who is the most unprofessional person in the department. Mr. Mitru is notorious for verbally and physically abusing students. He often uses profanity and teaches inappropriate material to students. He gets away with it because his supervisor protects him.

His supervisor does not teach any classes in MCSM and as such does not lead by example. He also does not reprimand his friends. Academic supervisor's are required to teach a certain amount of classes per day, usually two (See CSA Requirements). From 2010-2012, he added himself to Ms. “G’s” attendance sheets to make it appear as if they were co-teaching together which they never did. He did this to show the CSA he was abiding by their requirements. After 2012 Ms. "G" did not return to the school. Her reasons for leaving are still unknown. This supervisor is also responsible for the removal of Mr. Mckenzie who he removed 6 months later. On his first day as AP he announced to certain members of the P.E. department that “This is my department now. And the first thing I’m going to do is get rid of that stupid fucking Jamaican idiot, Mr. Mckenzie.” Additionally, he did not even provide his department with a curriculum. Instead he forced each of the members to create individual units themselves. He later merged them together and designated it as the official department's curriculum. Since then he has forced every teacher in the department to follow it. If he is such a great instructional leader why did he not provide the curriculum himself or even demonstrate the teaching he wants to see by leading by example? Conversely, why would he entrust this important task of creating a curriculum only to later remove its' creators for personal bias or "incompetence"? After all, if they were not competent enough to hold their positions under his leadership, how could their contributions to the curriculum be validated or even implemented?  

As AP of Security he is totally inept at his position. The fire drills are sloppy and dangerous to students. They were so sloppy he decided to hold some of them during “Zero” period to make them look successful. “Zero” period takes place from 7:15am to 8:05am before 90% of the students even arrive. What good is a fire drill if 90% of the students and teachers aren’t actively participating in them? His methods of discipline are selective and not aligned with the chancellor’s regulations. He chooses when to be harsh or lenient without consulting other departments or colleagues. He currently has one official dean who is highly ineffective at maintaining discipline of close to 1800 students. It really isn't her fault. After all, she is just one person. You would think an AP of security would understand the importance of utilizing an effective security team approach to maintaining discipline. It's just the opposite. He removed Mr. DeCruz and Mr. Silvers (Who were both regarded as highly successful deans). This AP trusts no one so he would rather have chaos in the school with one inexperienced dean rather than utilize effective deans because of personal bias against them. With one dean under his boot there can be no threat of the truth emerging when he sweeps major violent and drug related incidents under the rug. The only one who oversees him is the principal and he has a vested interest in keeping the incident rates down as well. One dirty hand washes the other yet both hands appear to be as clean as a fresh bar of Dove. But a bar of soap does not last forever.  He cannot even clear a single hallway as the students are habitually late, cutting, and roaming the halls long after the late bell rings. Students run amok in the building unsupervised after school hours as well. Instead of clearing the building after the last period of the day, he elects to stand on the corner of 116^th street and Pleasant Avenue and plots his plans with his pals. School surveillance cameras will show this practice almost everyday since the cameras were installed. Apparently, the man does not even know how to effectively deploy himself!

His relationships with the school safety agents are abysmal as well. He frequently tries to force them to take on duties that are outside of their spectrum of duties as described in their separate union’s protocols. This supervisor has poor relationships with most of the school safety agents and even tries to report them to their superiors to try and get them in trouble. He is also suspected of harassing several teachers in the school and writing fraudulent letters to their personnel files. He is also abusing the investigative services of the DOE by making false accusations of teachers and fabricated events to dirty up teacher’s personnel files. It's one thing to be a snitch but it's a far worse thing to snitch on someone who is innocent! This distracts teachers and wastes valuable time the OSI (Office of Special Investigations) can use to investigate true violations of the chancellor’s regulations (like false reporting). 

Finally, he has had inappropriate relationships with a teacher inside the school and another outside of the school. You may think his personal business is not fair play but as a married man he is committing infidelity (which is against the laws of marriage) and doing it during school hours (which is against the rules of his employment). He is also known to use the school’s surveillance cameras to monitor teachers social activities and conspire against those who talk to certain teachers he despises. Principal Jimenez hired this incompetent man which also illustrates the low level of competence and poor decision making skills the principal himself exhibits. This particular subordinate of Mr. Jimenez holds 6 separate titles and is incompetent at each and every one of his job duties. Technically, you’d have to be an Octopus-Human hybrid member of Mensa on steroids, and taking 5 hour energy everyday to do half of these jobs appropriately, let alone 6. The only positive aspect of his job performance is his punctuality. He is early almost everyday. To the dismay of most of us, we have to start our day clocking in, while beholding this freak’s ugly cock-eyed face first thing in the morning.

2. Name AP Salek the Interim Acting Principal.

AP Salek is in charge of the guidance department and would be a strong candidate to remain as he is professional, tenured, and competent. He has also successfully held many other supervisory and administrative positions. He also taught for many years successfully. He is responsible for student admission. He is also in charge of the guidance department who is consistently doing more with less as his department loses members first before teachers, due to union protocols in regard to employee excess regulations. After losing several amazing counselors to budget cuts, the guidance department does a respectable job of serving students in various ways. Mr. Salek is an excellent leader and his team works hard for him. The work they do is overwhelming, especially around scheduling time. Mr. Salek manages to keep things together to make sure students are taking the right classes and setting schedules and correcting scheduling errors. He is pro-active in nature and professional to the highest degree in MCSM (Which isn't saying much but still worth mentioning).

To his credit he even finds time to deal with students on an individual basis. His department holds many charity events that are beneficial to the school’s environment. They are essential to keeping the flickering flame of school spirit alive. They are the sole reason the entire school community has not completely crumbled (and a few other outstanding teachers who go above and beyond). Mr. Salek’s only weakness is that he is totally subordinate to the tyrannical principal. Perhaps Mr. Salek is scared for his own job security but he has played roles of reprimanding innocent teachers at the behest of the principal. There are 2 ways to view this. You can view Mr. Salek as a loyal subordinate to his principal or a reluctant coward who is too afraid to get involved in bringing crooks to justice; or both if you’re open minded. I do not envy Mr. Salek. Being forced to work closely with these disgusting bureaucrats must be gut-wrenching work, but somehow he does it and survives. 

Damn him, or kudos to him; I can’t decide. Time will tell. However, all things considered equal, he would be a very valuable asset to the school after the others are gone. I am lucky to work with him on a consistent basis. It seems surviving as employees is the best we can aspire to under this administration. Thriving is not possible unless you sell out to the principal and his minions.

3. Remaining Members of the Administration...

A. AP Bradley is one of the newer assistant principal’s in the building. He is in charge of the special education department which consists of approximately 200 students.

I respect Mr. Bradley for actually teaching and leading by example. He is one of the few AP’s who actually teach classes. I co-taught with him. For the most part he is effective at what he does. However, he has gotten himself involved in some very dangerous territory. For starters he spends entirely too much time at the teat of Principal Jimenez as well as other administrative cronies. Perhaps he does this since he is an un-tenured AP and is wise to stay in their good graces. Although staying in the good graces of these tyrants presents problems still unforeseen by AP Bradley.

Mr. Bradley has involved himself in several matters outside the scope of his duties. He tried to do a demonstration lesson for Mr. Silvers in an attempt to improve Mr. Silvers’ efficacy as a pedagogue. Mr. Silvers is a social studies teacher and AP Bradley is a special education teacher. AP Bradley did this as a favor to the principal and the AP of Social Studies who are extremely desperate to get rid of Mr. Silvers. This was a folly in my opinion because he had no business stepping into the realm of social studies to try and show a teacher with close to 20 more years of experience than he had and (excellent student achievement results) how to teach. It seems as if he is a minion to the AP of Social Studies and Principal Jimenez which is reason enough to sweep him out with the rest of the trash. 

One major mistake he made was divulging an actual student’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) at a faculty meeting in his first month of school. This was a direct violation of the student’s rights under the provisions of the IDEA act. He could have been terminated for that but Principal Jimenez was either unaware that this was a serious violation, or let it slide since AP Bradley is young and prone to rookie mistakes. 

AP Bradley also took over the position of proctor scheduling and handling testing protocols for administering regent exams. In this capacity he has made unfair schedules showing favoritism to the teachers Principal Jimenez likes and giving unfavorable schedules to those Principal Jimenez dislikes. Also, in my opinion Mr. Bradley appears to be more suited for acting than he is for school leadership. He does not seem genuine when addressing his colleagues often speaking to them in a condescending manner as if they were in kindergarten or special education students with learning disabilities. 

Perhaps without the influences of the poison around him he may have turned out to be a competent administrator, but in my opinion he is currently on the wrong path. I found his IEP reports to be inaccurate with improper assessments of many students. Since this is his primary function he cannot be forgiven for this. It seems he rushed through the process and did a disservice to the special education students in the school. Since the special education population is rising I think a more seasoned and experienced AP of Special Education would better suit the needs of MCSM. His biggest mistake was mainstreaming students who were not ready to enter normal classroom environments. This decision hurt the school academically. It made the jobs of teachers more difficult, increased student behavioral problems and lowered academic achievement on a widespread level.

Finally, the primary reason AP Bradley should be removed from the cabinet is the ongoing inappropriate sexual relationship he is having with a school aide. There is substantial evidence of this. AP Bradley is married with children. Committing infidelity in a public school is not the type of behavior our students should be subjected to. They need role models, not “hole models”. If not for the previous mentioned items, I actually like Mr. Bradley. He's cordial to me every time I see him.

B. AP Bonnick is another AP that I would consider as a candidate for maintenance. She is currently the outcast of the administration. 

As AP of English she has been stripped of her duties in performing observations of her departmental teachers by the principal. I don't know why. When I talk to her every now and then she seems totally competent. It would seem that the Principal would be wiser to let an AP of her extensive experience supervise the department she has background content knowledge in. Furthermore, considering how many AP’s he has supervising teachers in which they have NO content knowledge in it is a major folly on the part of the principal. At the very least AP Bonnick can spell beyond an 8th grade level, contrary to the English department's current supervisor.

Principal Jimenez often refers to the English department as the worst department in his school and of course he places the blame entirely on AP Bonnick. However, there are other factors to consider. MCSM consists primarily of Spanish speaking students. Most of these students come from homes where Spanish is the primary language spoken. This poses a major obstacle for an English department in a poorly funded school with very few ESL teachers, ELL teachers or paraprofessionals of the caliber it would take to run a highly effective English Department. His focal point should be the English department yet it seems as if this is not a priority of his at all. If he plans to blame it on AP Bonnick it would be catastrophic for him since he is the one who handcuffed her to begin with. To take the blame himself is to dig his own grave. Good luck with that one Principal Jimenez. I suppose you forgot that a proverbial sword is double-edged.

There is also the generation of our students to consider. They grew up in the technology age where "texting" has taken precedence over speaking, meaningful reading, and proper writing. What makes this situation more complicated is the English teachers in the school are excellent. 

Another caveat that must be mentioned is Mr. McCue is the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) Chapter Leader in the school and is teaching fewer lessons than before. However, he was elected to the position because of his extensive knowledge of DOE protocol, union contracts, and standard procedures for employees. It just so happens he is also one of the best English teachers in the school who has been heavily targeted by the administration for removal. If Principal Jimenez was so concerned about the performance of the English department why would he choose to stay at odds with their true administrator, unofficial departmental coordinator and the chapter leader? It’s almost as if Principal Jimenez is trying to unravel that entire department and use AP Bonnick as a patsy. It is a good thing she is tenured for if she was not, Principal Jimenez would have removed her for sure by now. Unfortunately, as good as Mr. McCue is as a pedagogue he is far more suited as UFT Chapter Leader to defend the countless teachers under bureaucratic assault by the principal and his cronies.

As it stands now, nobody including Principal Jimenez has specified a role for AP Bonnick nor has he implemented a plan to improve the English department. He should be throwing every available resource at them to help them attain the results he desires. Instead he allows the department to go forth with a lame duck administrator, an incompetent official supervisor, and no plausible direction for success other than trying to frighten the teachers with the wrath of his number one crony. Too bad for him the English department does not scare easily.

The most disturbing aspect of this department is it happens to be a fact that English is the most important subject in any school because it provides students with opportunities to express themselves and become enlightened through reading classic text which provides morals and ethics; characteristics the administration sorely lacks. English is also the language that every instructor in the building teaches in so one can assume that if the English department was vastly improved and treated better overall student achievement would improve across the board in all major subjects. Principal Jimenez’s failure to see this is a huge folly. As a Spanish speaker perhaps he forgets that English is the official business language of the world, which also means he is failing to prepare his own students for the global business market once they graduate. "Stupido"

Rather than support the department he actually placed two of their better teachers in excess (Ms. Gonzalez and Ms. Chiavola). Both claimed their right of return but it took months before they were brought back. That was precious time the students could not afford to lose yet they did. We missed them while they were gone. The students missed them even more. It created a gap between transitioning of teachers that was unnecessary. Still, AP Bonnick holds her head up high and conducts herself with dignity despite the principal proverbially gagging her and casting her aside. It would be unfair to remove her after the way she has been treated. She has great wisdom that could be put to better use with a more competent principal. Deep down inside her is a true AP just waiting to break out and blossom. The principal seems to think she's just an old lame duck waiting to retire. He's quite wrong. She has value, he just doesn't know how to utilize it.

C. AP Winchester is the current APO of organization. When she was hired by Principal Jimenez at MCSM, she was given the title of AP of the English department (Which she no longer holds).

In this capacity she made major mistakes but they were at the behest of Principal Jimenez. She had the audacity to U-Rate Mr. McCue on a lesson. I suppose this was her hazing into the Jimenez administrative fraternity. Shortly after, she was assigned to AP of Organization where she currently serves as Principal Jimenez’s lapdog (some might say bitch but I have more class than that). I have serious doubts about her professional abilities when it comes to record keeping, finances, and fund raising (All reasons Principal Jimenez used to justify the removal of Felicia Bray, the former AP of Organization who is currently suing the principal for sexual harassment). Principal Jimenez gives AP Winchester her other hackneyed duties like waiting for 8:19am to pass and snatch all the teacher’s time cards to mark them late. Yet she never hesitates to profess her undying devotion and affection for Principal Jimenez. Her sucking up to him is primarily why she has lasted this long. The principal, like most feudal tyrants, likes his crown polished and his divine royal butt kissed and whenever he needs it, and AP Winchester is there with a huge happy grin to oblige and stroke his....ego (I bet you thought I was going to say something else!). 

AP Winchester is prone to mood swings and always seems as if she is overwhelmed by her duties. Other employees have described her as a chicken running around with her head cut off, others say you have to have a head first for that to be the case. Just recently I asked her for some assistance with some paperwork and she snapped at me rudely. She is also responsible for delegating duties to school aides. However, Mr. Ayala is the school aides’ shop steward who handles those employee issues (He is also under investigation for inappropriately contacting students using social media). I always see Mr. Ayala walking around and spending time in the cafeteria. As a SPARK counselor he should be spending more time assisting students. Alcoholism and Marijuana use is a problem in the school. I smell weed on the 3rd floor quite often. AP Winchester enjoys barking orders at Frankie the custodian while simultaneously always placating other administrators. 

She is also un-tenured so this might explain her bizarre behavior. Still, while she may be qualified on paper, she does not have the technical skills to be an AP of Organization or School Treasurer. In the three years she has worked there she has not written a single grant to help bring funding or services into the school for the students. Is that not her or Principal Jimenez’s top priority considering how poor the budget is? To my knowledge, none of the members of the administrative cabinet have written a single grant or have done anything to provide additional funding or services to the school. This is a major oversight as MCSM lost the Children’s Aide Society two years ago which provided countless after-school clubs and programs for hundreds of students. Now, Ms. Winchester is in charge of a makeshift effort where less than twelve teachers volunteer to run clubs for no additional monetary compensation. I believe a new administration would have little use of her services as all she has seem to have achieved is doing whatever Principal Jimenez asks of her.

D. AP Kwan is the assistant principal of the mathematics department

AP Kwan is soft spoken and seldom vocal about anything. He goes with the flow and runs his department somewhat effectively (although some may disagree). Some teachers dislike Mr. Kwan because he is a peon of Principal Jimenez. If Principal Jimenez tells him to U-Rate a teacher or write a letter to file for a teacher he does it without question (Whether he agrees with the decision or not). 

AP Kwan is scared of Principal Jimenez. While he may be spineless he is not totally incompetent when it comes to running the math department. However, since he is spineless the school lost two amazing math teachers several years ago, Mr. Sell and Mr. Winston. Those teachers are irreplaceable, yet AP Kwan has done a decent job of replacing them as I believe the student achievement rates in his department are sustained or marginally up or down. 

It is my belief that a school is only as good as the teachers and employees it retains, and Mr. Kwan’s handling of the Mr. Thomas incident and his indifference to losing Mr. Sell and Mr. Winston should not be overlooked. I cannot say for sure if Mr. Kwan is an effective leader as little has ever been discussed of him being able to improve the pedagogy of his teachers. Fortunately, he has good teachers so it remains to be seen if he does in fact have that ability. If he has that ability he would be worth retaining. If anything he might deserve a chance to remain in his position but since I cannot be certain about his leadership acumen the decision to retain or move forward with or without Mr. Kwan would probably best be made with a democratic discussion by the new SLT (School Leadership Team) in the decision making process.

E. AP Delarosa is the newly appointed Science Department administrator replacing AP Milton who was discontinued by Mr. Jimenez for retaliatory reasons regarding accusations she allegedly made about him sexually harassing her.

From what I know of AP Delarosa, she is an above average teacher. She has excellent classroom management skills and seems professional. She is also very polite to me everyday. The problem remains is that she is most definitely a crony to Principal Jimenez, due to the fact that she is un-tenured in her position and was appointed by Principal Jimenez. Notice how Principal Jimenez specializes in hiring those he ultimately can manipulate and control? 

This is a clever maneuver but he is endangering the positions of the people he leaves behind when he is gone. This is largely due to the fact that he is constantly forming alliances against his enemies and he does not lack for enemies. This causes the tension between the UFT and the CSA (Council of Supervisors and Administrators) in MCSM. The tension is only getting worse. To say it is heightened is an understatement. Everyday I work there is more stressful than the one before. 

Just because AP Delarosa excels at teaching and has an administrative license does not necessarily mean she will succeed in being a formidable school leader. I have no knowledge of her leadership skills yet so she may be a candidate to remain. However, I would want a more experienced AP for the science department since MCSM hangs its’ hat on its’ excellence in Math and Science (almost to the point of total neglect of other departments on the part of Principal Jimenez, hence the school’s name, even though it is not even the located in the center of Manhattan) Perhaps we should change the school name as well! Perhaps the "East Harlem Center for Learning Excellence"? I would be indifferent to her remaining. She deserves a fair chance but if a better candidate was available, I would elect to go through a rigorous hiring process to find a more qualified AP in this position if one can in fact be found, and prove to be a better candidate. After all, fair is fair. She's not a tyrant, not yet anyway.

F. The mystery of AP Arocho.

I don’t even know what department AP Arocho is in charge of but based on his reputation throughout his career he should be removed from the DOE altogether and not shuffled around the system once more. He came to MCSM in the middle of this year and he is courteous to me but I don't get to interact with him much. He played a major role in ruining the Banana Kelly High School he came from and he has not assimilated well into his role (whatever it is) at MCSM. There's enough monkey business going on in MCSM so he can go back to his Banana school for all I care instead of sharing his Banana Kelly ideals with the primitives running MCSM. 

He has no official AP title or duty. It seems his current role is to assist the dean in clearing hallways; which he is miserable at. I see him chasing students around the hallways each and every day. It is my opinion that he was another school’s trash that Principal Jimenez is trying to turn into his own administrative treasure. It’s a fairly easy decision to say AP Arocho did not earn his position. His salary does not justify his worth (like 85% of the school’s administration).

3.  Recently, Principal Jimenez has implemented the most absurd observation process. All of his assistant principals accompany him to do observations together for each and every teacher individually or at least the majority of them.

This is an incredible waste of human resources. From a leadership perspective it is essential to keep things simple. The AP’s of their respective departments should do their own observations themselves. The classes are overcrowded enough. To have 7 or 8 semi-qualified cronies march in on a single lesson is a complete waste of human resources and time. What happens after these inquisitions? Do they sit in the principal’s office and vote “yay or nay” and tally it up and come up with an observation report? Who writes the report? Does the principal have so little faith in his AP’s to do their own jobs themselves? Did it ever occur to Principal Jimenez that he could get 7 or 8 observations done in the same amount of time? Do all of the AP’s have to give pre-conferences individually or all at once? Wait, let me guess, NOT AT ALL. MCSM is probably the only school of its' student population size implementing this ill-conceived method of teacher observations. Do these administrators have nothing else to do for that entire period? What if a parent comes to visit an AP? Are they forced to wait while the AP’s chime in on why they think an art lesson is unsatisfactory because the teacher forgot to wear their “I LOVE DANIELSON” tee shirt? I have an idea. How about you give every teacher the pre-conference they deserve, discuss their expectations and let each administrator (in their OWN background area) do observations FAIRLY, in the standard format prescribed by the DOE. Perhaps the other 7 AP’s could help kill some cockroaches in the basement, or dare I say, clear a hallway? No, that would just make too much sense. How about take the 42 minutes to write a grant so the school gains financial flexibility or new programs? Never mind, that would just be too sensible and efficient. Instead Principal Jimenez has to be trumpeted into the room while the other AP’s throw rose petals at his feet and carry him in a concealed cart so the students don’t throw dung at him as he enters. Then they feed him grapes as he yawns at the lessons.

5.   After the Administrative Cabinet is Cleaned Up all Teachers’ Personnel Files Should be Officially Reviewed.

All false accusations and reprimands should be officially audited, shredded and mailed to the former administrators as severance pay as a gesture of good faith going forward. After all, 80% of the fabricated reprimands in teacher personnel files were done in a malicious and retaliatory fashion. Interim acting Principal Salek (or other legitimate IAP[Interim Acting Principal]) can use discretion as to which are authentic and which were bogus. Mr. Salek and all chapter leaders, current or former, should be part of this process since they were witnesses to almost every employee incident since Principal Jimenez was appointed. The same day the cabinet is dismantled, the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) should be reinstated. Principal Jimenez banned the teachers and implemented the "PA" (Parent's Association) which ousted teachers from these important meetings. By the name alone it should have ousted any MCSM employee but Jimenez was too dumb to factor that part of the name in. Let's have a good old "Parent's Association". Principal Jimenez, they have a name for that already. It's called a "Community". Good school leaders never inhibit communication. They should encourage it. In good schools, they do.

School letters and emails in English and translated in Spanish (On the back of the same paper, don't forget, WE HAVE NO PAPER. Since most of the school is Hispanic by demographic) should be given to every student and mailed to their homes and posted on Skedula (I'll pay for the postage myself, since AP Winchester has made it abundantly clear the school cannot afford paper or postage for anyone, not even poor students' college applications). 

Parents should be cordially invited to an extremely important voluntary assembly on a weekend where all can attend, where all the muted voices, parents, teachers alike of the last 5 years can speak freely as to what changes they think are necessary. This is necessary because the average rate of parent participation in MCSM is below 20 percent. It is my philosophy (as well as many others) that education begins at home. The parents are vital to the direction the school takes and the direction the education of their child goes.

a.  The teachers should be invited to attend this assembly as well, to see if there is common ground that can be reached. You'd be surprised how many would take a weekend day to attend such a milestone assembly. The assemblies and meetings should be meticulously documented and recorded for further discussion in future PTA, CEP, SLT and UFT meetings. At the request of IA Principal Salek secret ballots should be held to elect teacher coordinators for each department until administrators are re-hired (if at all). If there is a way to secure additional compensatory funding for coordinators it can be decided how many true AP’s the school needs (if any). This will save the school close to a million dollars in funding as the current administration is the most expensive financial burden hindering the progress of the school. The school would probably be able to re-route the administrative budgetary waste to cover departmental coordinators. The date and time of the assembly can be made whenever it is contractually legal and feasible (for both assemblies).

b. The very next day at school a mandatory assembly for students  should be held. They themselves can make their voices heard. The new people in charge will listen and act instead of hear and ignore (The current practice of the current administration). These can be handled with 250 students per period thus involving the entire student body in 8 periods in a single day. Student leaders will be allowed to make their voices heard and records be kept the same as it was done in the parent-teacher meetings (It feels nice to type those two words together hyphenated). In either or both events refreshments should be served and school fund raising should be allowed. Mr. Barretto and other volunteers can oversee these events as he has experience in organizing these types of events as the head of the ASPIRA Club.

c.  The school will continue to operate as normal. However, for at least one month no observations will be held (unless absolutely necessary) until the decision to hire a new principal (if necessary is made.) If Mr. Salek decides not decide to remain as principal he can meet with the SBO (School Based Organization), SLT and other stakeholders in the MCSM community, and the superintendent or chancellor himself to seek a list of qualified principals who will be promptly interviewed via C-30’s where all departmental coordinators, student leaders, aids, paraprofessionals, counselors, teachers, parents and any other vital members of the school community may sit on the counsel. They may ask questions and make inquiries in a formal fashion during the interview process. The candidates for principal should be elected by the MCSM school community members because they are the only ones who know what kind of principal and leader the school truly needs. MCSM cannot afford a DOE principal appointed to the school arbitrarily or by random by the superintendents who usually work hand in hand with corrupt principals. It is too risky to allow another random self-interested and corrupt bureaucrat to infiltrate the school community and continue the atrocities spawned by Mr. Jimenez and hastened by some of the awful decisions he made as principal. Once that ordeal is finished, a new CEP (Comprehensive Education Plan) can be derived and revised until it is ready for true implementation.

6.  RED TAPE.

I realize there will be impediments to this action plan and unionized legality to work through, but drastic times call for drastic measures. If Mr. Jimenez and his cronies have found so many ways to circumvent the DOE, UFT, OSI, SCI and CSA protocols hundreds of times why can’t hundreds or thousands of individuals united, find ONE WAY, just ONE TIME, to save the future of a dying school community. Everyday we are forced to walk the halls that stink of urine and other ungodly things. Some of the employees stink worse than the actual stench. The school needs a breath of fresh air.

Ask yourselves these questions:

1. Can MCSM afford to lose any more good teachers?

2. Has Principal Jimenez truly hired better teachers than those he removed, terminated, denied tenure, or drove out?

2a. Did he bring out the best in his staff members? 

2b. Should all the teachers hired be “friends” of the administration?  

2c. Shouldn’t prospective employees be screened, tested, and hired through more rigorous processes?

2d. Shouldn't certain teachers who were exiled be allowed to re-apply for their positions?

3. Doesn’t the school need more budgetary help?

3a. Does this administration do ANYTHING to raise money?

3b. Doesn't it seem that the school continues to lose funding when serious efforts should be made to raise funding?

4. Can the school continue to suffer this toxicity before it ultimately fails?

5. Should the focus be turned to the students and the community instead of remain on the petty political battles between the teachers and a few nasty administrators?

6. Doesn’t the school deserve to have its’ pride and distinction restored?

7. Doesn’t the school deserve to have a better athletic department?

7a. Doesn't school spirit partially derive from having a great winning athletic department?

8. Does the school deserve to have the very best educators NYC has to offer since it already has some of the very best students as well? Or should Principal Jimenez's friends continue to be bussed in while dedicated educators who would give the shirts of their backs to students continue to be forced out?

9. Shouldn’t every one in the community have a TRUE voice? 

10. Should this TOP-DOWN Authoritarian style of leadership continue when it’s obvious it is tearing the social fabric of the school apart? Shouldn't there be Bottom-up and lateral communication where all are free to speak without fear of being retaliated against?

11. Should outstanding teaching and student achievement be rewarded and celebrated rather than punished with phony teacher investigations and student rights violations initiated by the current administration?

12. Don’t the parents need to be more informed and involved?
SHOW THIS TO THEM. GET THEM TO GO TO THE SLT (School Leadership Team) MEETINGS AND PTA MEETINGS. THE MORE PARENTS THE BETTER.

13. Would the school be a better place with a clean slate or are you happy with the way it currently is? 

14. Does the school really need a principal who's chief accomplishments have been landing on the local news for exiling innocent teachers, assaulting Mr. Thomas, sexually harassing his employees, blackmailing un-tenured teachers, and lying under oath when giving depositions about serious allegations? Do we really need a principal who jukes statistics to make himself look effective? Do we need a principal who has had 3 protests in 5 years? Do we need a principal who allows corruption to run rampant in his school? Do we need a principal who refuses to investigate his own cronies? Do we need a principal who is accused of misusing school funds? Do we need a principal who has no presence, who hides in his office and lies so much he begins to believe the lies he spews? Do we need a principal who cannot lead by example? Do we need a principal who eats off the floor?

I realize the primary focus of this action plan is based on the administration but this is solely due to the chain of command set forth by the Mayor. Principals have too much power that goes by unchecked, unbalanced and unadulterated. When you cure a disease you don't treat symptoms with medication, you CURE it once and for all, otherwise you are wasting time while people remain sick. The current role of the system encourages the type of behavior exhibited by Principal Jimenez and so many other awful principals in the Department of Education. The suffering endured by the UFT within MCSM is simply a microcosm for what is going on citywide. The Mayor is seeking to destroy the UFT chapter by chapter. This is why action is unlikely to occur. However, that does not change the fact that action is necessary. Every year UFT members protest at the Mayor's mansion. It may be time for the UFT to band together and start fighting the smaller battles like MCSM one at a time until the corruption stops and a new Mayor places an emphasis on securing the future of the pathetic system the DOE of NYC has become.

Finally, don’t forget that MCSM is a public school. However, it is being administered by people with private interests. The principal inside is trying to destroy it from the inside out. Charter School enthusiasts are trying to use it as a chess piece to destroy it from the outside in. The rest of us hang in the balance. 

The school belongs to us for NOW. The school belongs to everyone and no one. Some may view it as a building where adults and children come and go in a never ending cycle of futility. Right now MCSM is dying, slowly and painfully. However, I believe schools are living and breathing organisms. Every person or employee or parent is like an organelle playing its' role in the overall function of a system of organs that work together in harmony to comprise the body that is the school. A school is only as good as the people who are in it. The PEOPLE are its' life blood and it's driving force towards success and health. It is time to remove the cancerous people and infuse health back into MCSM.

If this action plan needs amending please make suggestions. The more the better. I am available to talk to anyone who shares my philosophies and views. I am willing to back up my talk. Are you?

That time is NOW. Every second, minute, hour, and day that goes by, under this embarrassing standard set forth by Principal Jimenez at MCSM is a disgrace to public education...In one month he will make important personnel decisions that will not benefit the school community. Do NOT let that happen. Write letters to the superintendents, the chancellor, the mayor, the president even. Go to your assemblyman Robert Rodriguez. Go to the school. Demand answers. Ask the difficult questions. Peacefully gather if you must but doing nothing is just as bad as serving under Principal Jimenez.

Time is the one thing in life you can NEVER get back. It is precious. Do not waste it. Whether you are a student, a parent, a teacher, or an administrator, remember, the actions you take live on forever through time…long after you graduate, retire, transfer, or just visit the school for a single day, it ALL matters.

When we are dead and buried there are two dates on our tombstones. The date we are born, a dash, and the day we died. What really matters is the dash. What do you want your dash to be? 

What you leave behind is ALL that matters.

In the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr...

“If I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I’d still take the time to plant a tree today”