A double standard

The Department of Education likes to carp — all facts to the contrary — about how it can’t fire teachers who misbehave or aren’t performing up to snuff. Meanwhile, it treats with leniency out-of-control principals who have wreaked havoc on their schools.

Three recent cases illustrate the glaring double standard.

Consider first the case of Maria Penaherrera — the former principal of Brooklyn’s PS 114, now on the closing list — who ran her school into the ground and left it with a budget deficit of nearly $200,000. After an insurrection by the entire school community that lasted for more than two years and an egregious environmental health incident, the DOE finally acted. Penaherrera didn’t lose her job; instead, she was transferred to an administrative position in another school.

Jason Kovac is still receiving a DOE paycheck despite his track record of intimidating and abusing teachers as principal at PS 14 in the Bronx. When staff complaints about Kovac grew too loud to ignore in December, the DOE dispatched Kovac to a supervisory post at another school.

Most recently, the DOE allowed Iris Blige, the principal of Fordham HS of the Arts in the Bronx, to keep her job after she imperiled the jobs of half a dozen teachers in her school. The city kept Blige in place even though the Office of Special Investigations concluded that she had instructed her assistant principals to give teachers she disliked unsatisfactory ratings without ever watching them teach. Her punishment: a $7,500 fine — a slap on the wrist.

Tweed likes to talk about accountability. But since it doesn’t hold itself accountable for school performance, it’s not surprising that it doesn’t hold its principals accountable for their behavior either. Officials at Tweed would rather spend their time attacking teachers and blaming them for everything.

The union and its members won’t be deterred. We will take on these administrators again if they act up in the future.